Harare (New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday castigated Parliament for the slow turnover of Bills presented before it and said it retarded development in the country.
He said this while officially opening and tabling the legislative agenda to be considered by the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament.
“The law must be a universal instrument of development as such the slow pace in this August House which has resulted in a low number of bills passing through Parliament cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.
“I thus challenge Honourable members in their individual and collective capacities to play their part in speeding up our Parliamentary processes.”
President Mnangagwa said the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament was expected to deal with a number of Bills, including some that sought to deal with the scourge of corruption.
He said corruption retarded the country’s development, frustrated the ease and cost of doing business reforms and robbed the country of revenue.
In light of that, he said Government would continue to strengthen institutions that assist in the fight against corruption.
“We must rid our society of this corruption cancer, to this there is no going back. It is time we increase accountability and transparency. We must work hard and smarter to serve our people, they deserve better,” he said.
“Government has noted with concern the emergence of monopolies as well as cartels which stifle competition and engage in unjustified price hikes. While government will not revert to price controls, we are nonetheless in the process of reviewing the Competition Act in order to introduce deterrent penalties to combat such business malpractices.”
He added; “The Insurance and Pension Act will be amended to enhance good corporate governance while the Securities and Exchange Commission Bill is expected to strengthen anti-money laundering legislation.”
Parliament, he said, was also expected to continue aligning laws to the Constitution by considering amendments to the High Court Act, the Labour Court Act, the Magistrates Court Act and the Police Act.
It was also set to consider the Persons with Disabilities Bill which seeks to entrench the protection of the Constitutional rights of persons living with disabilities and the Private Voluntary Organisation Bill which seeks to improve the governance of Non-Governmental Organisations.
Parliament would also consider amendments to the Immigration Act to pave way for the establishment of a citizenship and immigration board while the Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, Child Justice Bill and Mandatory Sentencing for Rape and Sexual Offences Bill would also be part of the agenda.
“The Medical Aid Societies Bill will pave way for the establishment of the Medical Aid Regulatory Authority. This Bill seeks to ensure that medical aid societies operate within the law as health care insurers rather doubling up as health care providers,” he said.
To deter theft of electricity infrastructure, the Electricity Act would also come under scrutiny.
“The Electricity Act will see the imposition of stiffer penalties for vandalism and the theft of electricity infrastructure and equipment,” he said.
Other Bills tabled by President Mnangagwa in the legislative agenda include the Pension Provident Fund Bill, Cyber Crime and Cyber Security Bill, Data Protection and Electronic Transactions Bill, the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill, Broadcasting Services Act amendment Bill and Mines and Minerals amendment Bill.
“The Public Finance Management amendment Bill will be placed before this Parliament in an endeavour to align the current act to the constitution. In line with devolution, this Bill extends the scope of application of statutes to provincial and metropolitan councils as well as local authorities including the mandatory submissions of annual budgets and financial performance reports,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said the continued amendment and alignment of laws to the constitution would help further entrench democratic traditions, the rule of law and constitutionalism in the country.
“The ongoing democratic reforms must entrench constitutional rights and freedoms for all Zimbabweans the culture of fear and violence must be uprooted from our societies,” he said.
“Let us be mindful that the Zimbabwe we all want, with opportunities and hope shall only be achieved through productivity, innovation, responsiveness, persistence, deliberate planning and disciplined focus.”
“We must therefore adequately prepare for the opportunities and challenges which are ahead.”
He expressed satisfaction with the progress registered under the ongoing political parties dialogue framework.
“I stand ready to welcome all political parties who contested the 2018 harmonised elections and are yet to be part of this forum,” he said, in apparent reference to the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa which has refused to join the dialogue.
New Ziana