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Finance
and Older Persons Acts gazetted - Bill Watch 44/2012
Veritas
September 25, 2012
Both Houses
stand adjourned until Tuesday 9th October
No Date
Yet for Ceremonial Opening of Next Parliamentary Session
There is still
no news about an opening date for the new session of Parliament.
Leaving the opening so late means that Parliament will not have
much time to deal with business – including the Budget, and
perhaps the debate on the draft of the new constitution –
before the end of the year.
Important
Acts Still NOT Gazetted
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission Bill and the Electoral
Amendment Bill have still not been gazetted as Acts. The HRC
Bill was held up by the discovery of errors in the copy prepared
for the President’s signature. Parliament submitted a corrected
copy on 17th September. Parliament were unable to explain reason
for the delay on the Electoral Amendment Bill.
Three
Other Acts of 2012 Gazetted
Three Acts were
gazetted in a Gazette Extraordinary late on Monday 17th September:
- Older Persons
Act – No 1/2012 [not yet in force – date of commencement
to be fixed by the President by statutory instrument in due course]
- Finance
Act – No 4/2012 [into force 17th September 2012]
- Appropriation
(2012) Amendment Act – No 5/2012 [into force 17th September
2012]
Bills Ready
for Presentation when Parliament Reopens
The Status of
Bills list [see below] shows that two Bills from the Minister of
Finance will be ready for presentation when Parliament eventually
gets down to work again once the President opens the new Session:
Both Bills were
gazetted several weeks ago which means they can be given their First
Readings as soon Parliament meets. After that they will be referred
to the Parliamentary Legal Committee for a report on their constitutionality.
Meanwhile they will also have to be examined by the Portfolio Committee
on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion as soon as it reassembles,
which may hold public hearings on the Bills.
Veritas will
notify dates where public input will be invited by the committee.
But there is no reason why interested parties should not prepare
and submit inputs to the Committee Clerk now. These inputs and suggested
amendments will be considered by the committee when they prepare
a report on the Bill to be presented to the House of Assembly when
the Bill comes up for its Second Reading, and often these reports
result in changes being made to Bills. Legal opinions on the constitutionality
of either Bill may be submitted for the attention of the Parliamentary
Legal Committee.
New
Vacancy in the Senate
MDC-T Senator
Josiah Rimbi died in Mutare on 24th September. As his was a constituency
seat – Chipinge - this brings up the total number of Parliamentary
by-elections waiting to be held from 26 to 27 [in the Senate from
10 to 11]. It also reduces the MDC-T’s current voting strength
in the Senate from 23 to 22 [made up of 3 appointed Senators and
19 elected constituency Senators]. MDC has 8 Senators and ZANU-PF
38. There are 16 Senator Chiefs.
Note: The late
Senator Mudzingwa’s appointed Senate seat has been vacant
since April; the MDC-T has so far not nominated a replacement for
formal appointment by the President in terms of GPA Article 20.1.10.
Inclusive
Government Problems
President Fails
to Swear in Deputy Minister
The MDC-T post
of Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and Infrastructural
Development has been vacant since the death of Senator Tichaona
Mudzingwa on 10th April 2012. Under Article 20.1.10 the GPA in Schedule
8 to the Constitution the vacancy should be filled by an MDC-T nominee,
formally appointed and sworn in by the President. The Prime Minister
forwarded MDC-T’s nomination of Senator Morgen Komichi, MDC-T
National Vice-Chairperson, to the President in June, but the President
has not yet sworn in Senator Komichi.
No National
Security Council Meetings since May
The Zimbabwe
National Security Council Act states that the President, in consultation
with the Prime Minister, must call meetings of the National Security
Council at least once in each calendar month. The Council has not
met since May.
Media
Commission Forms Media Council
On 13th September,
the Zimbabwe Media Commission [ZMC] announced the appointment of
the first members of the Media Council in terms of section 42A of
the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act [AIPPA]. Hitherto totally unimplemented,
this provision has been on the statute book since January 2008.
Under AIPPA,
the main functions of the Council, which is essentially a 13-member
ZMC committee, are:
- first, to
assist the ZMC to formulate a code of conduct and ethics for journalists
and mass media services
- then to
assist the ZMC to implement and enforce that code, by recommending
penalties to be imposed by the ZMC for breaches.
It will probably
take some time before the Council becomes operational in its disciplinary
support role – before that happens the code of conduct and
ethics must be completed and gazetted, and regulations must be gazetted
by ZMC for the procedures to be followed by the Council.
The Minister
of Media, Information and Publicity did little to allay fears of
a future crackdown on the independent media when he said last week
that he would work with the ZMC to cancel the media licences of
those who denigrate the President. Independent media organisations
have not participated in the setting-up of the Council; instead
they have stuck to their policy of voluntary self-regulation under
the aegis of the Voluntary
Media Council of Zimbabwe established in 2007.
South
African Court Ruling Against Zimbabwe Government
South Africa’s
Supreme Court of Appeal, sitting in Bloemfontein, on 20th September
dismissed
an appeal brought by the Zimbabwe Government in an effort to stop
the sale in execution of immovable properties belonging to it in
South Africa – the object of the sale being the enforcement
of an order for payment of legal costs made by the SADC Tribunal
in favour of dispossessed Zimbabwean farmers. The court rejected
all legal arguments raised on behalf of the Government – including
Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s contention that the SADC Tribunal
was never lawfully established. [Full judgment available in PDF
from veritas@mango.zw]
Status
of Bills as at 25th September 2012
[Bills available
from veritas@mango.zw
unless otherwise stated]
Passed Bills
awaiting Presidential assent and gazetting as Acts
- Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission Bill [resubmitted for assent 17th September]
- Electoral
Amendment Bill [submitted for assent 4th September]
The Constitution
requires the President to grant or withhold his assent within 21
days of a Bill being presented to him.
Bill gazetted
and awaiting presentation in Parliament
- Microfinance
Bill [gazetted on 31st August] [not yet available]
Securities Amendment
Bill [gazetted on 10th August 2012] The Minister of Finance has
given written notice of his intention to present this Bill when
the House next sits.
Bills
being printed
None.
Government
Gazettes of 7th to 21st September
[copies not
available]
Acts
The first three
Acts of 2012 were gazetted on Monday 17th September [see details
at beginning of bulletin]
Bills
No Bills were
gazetted
Statutory
Instruments
Customs duty
SIs 142 and 143/2012 provide for 3- and 5-year suspensions of duty
for the benefit of a few listed mining companies.
Domestic violence
SI 145/2012 replaces two forms used in domestic violence proceedings
– Form DV3 [Application for Protection Order] and Form DV7
[Protection Order].
Pesticides SI
144/2012 enacts a new set of Pesticides Regulations under the Fertilisers,
Farm Feeds and Remedies Act, replacing regulations of 1977 and amending
regulations of 1981.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal responsibility for information supplied
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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