Approval of International Agreements in both houses
On Tuesday 14th May in both the National Assembly and the Senate the following four international agreements were approved for ratification in terms of section 327(2)(a) of the Constitution.
This was achieved by the National Assembly starting its sitting with this business on the motion of the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, who then moved across to the Senate which dealt with the agreements at the end of its sitting. The four agreements are:
International Convention on the Protection of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families
This convention came into force on 1st July 2003.
Three Protocols to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights [link]
None of these are yet in force because to date they have not been ratified by a sufficient number of member States of the African Union [15 out of 55]. The protocols are:
Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa
Adopted January 2016. Ratifications to date 12, including several SADC countries.
Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa
Adopted January 2018. Ratifications to date 12, including several SADC countries.
Protocol on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security
Adopted February 2022. Ratifications to date 0. If Zimbabwe speedily ratifies this Protocol, it will be leading other African Union member states by example.
Tuesday 14th May in the National Assembly
After the four international agreements had been approved [see above], the House turned to other business.
Presentation of PLC adverse report on twelve local authority by-laws
Ndudzo presented the adverse report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] on twelve sets of local authority by-laws.
The point made by the PLC – entirely correctly, in Veritas respectful opinion – is that the by-laws identified in the report contain ultra vires penalty provisions, because the amount of the fine is not in the by-laws; instead there is a vague reference to “a fine specified by the council” when it should have stated a “fine not exceeding level 5” or some other level on the standard scale of fines.
In the only comment that occurred before the matter was adjourned for further consideration, Hon Mushoriwa observed that all by-laws have to be approved by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works before being gazetted in terms of the Urban Councils Act and the Rural District Councils Act – which meant that the legal department of the Ministry had not spotted the error.
Ideally, the Attorney-General’s Office should vet statutory instruments before they are published in the Gazette.
Continuing debates on motions already moved: There was further debate on Hon Jere’s motion on the protection of deposits and investments in banks and other financial institutions and Shamu’s report of the Observation Mission to the Russian Presidential Election, which took the House to the adjournment at 5.05 pm. Both debates will continue.
Wednesday 15th May in the National Assembly
Tabling of Value for Money Audit Report by the Auditor-General: Management of Revenue General Properties by Local Authorities
The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion tabled this report. [It will be available on the Veritas website when we obtain a copy.]
Question Time consisted of Questions without Notice during which the Minister ofFinance, explained measures being taken to protect the new currency and informed the House that soon some additional taxes would be payable only in ZiG, and the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare assured questioners that food would be available for all without discrimination.
Take-note Motion approved: Report of IPU Parliamentary meeting at the Conference of Parties (COP28), Dubai, 6 December 2023
After two contributions to the debate, Mamombe, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Climate and mover of the take-note motion, wound it up by thanking contributors for their collective commitment to dealing with climate change. Her motion was then put and agreed to.
Thursday 16th May in the National Assembly
Urgent motion: Approval of Loan Agreement between Government and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for Horticultural Enterprise Enhancement Project [HEEP].
Having failed in his attempt to get this urgent business heard late on Wednesday afternoon [because unnamed MPs had objected to this special treatment in terms of Standing Orders], the Minister ofFinance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion requested the House’s approval of this loan, which is from an international organisation IFAD and needs Parliament’s approval in terms of section 327(2) of the Constitution. The agreement was concluded on 7th May 2023.
The loan is for US$37 140 000 to finance horticultural production and sales by smallholder and micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); it has a grace period of 10 years and will remain operative for 40 years, with repayments of 4.5% per annum of principal over years 11 to 30 and 1% per annum of principal over years 31 to 40.
The Minister explained that this was the second of two similar loans from IFAD – the first having been in 2021 –and between them they would benefit the whole country. Governing party MPs praised the loan, while CCC MPs, had reservations about the loan’s sustainability and Zimbabwe’s capacity to pay both principal and interest, given that the SADC limit of borrowing was 60% of GDP and the Zimbabwean Public Debt Management 70% of GDP.
The Minister, responding, assured the House that the loan would not exceed either debt ratio figure; and that “we have applied all the necessary debt susceptibility analysis arriving at the decision to proceed with this loan.”
The Minister left the House when he finished his speech and hurried across to the Senate to present the same motion there. When the time came to put the Minister’s motion, the Temporary Speaker declared that it had been put and agreed to.
There were immediate objections from C. Hlatywayo, Leader of the Opposition, and Mamombe, Opposition Chief Whip, who wanted a division for the purpose of a formal vote count. They were overruled by the Temporary Speaker, referring to Standing Order 133(2) which says: “If, however, the Chair is of the opinion that a division is unnecessarily claimed or is an abuse of the rules or a misuse of the forms of the House, he or she must decline to direct that a division must take place and must immediately declare the resolution”. Hon Mamombe refused to leave the House while continuing to protest and was escorted out.
Comments: Two further points arise about the loan agreement. First, the Minister did not explain the inordinate length of time – more than a year – it took him to seek approval of the agreement from the National Assembly. Second, he should in fact have sought approval before the agreement was concluded, according to a judgment of the High Court [Zimcodd v Minister of Finance and Economic Development [link] given by consent in March last year.
Hon Shamu’s report on the Russian Presidential election The House reverted to this report and several MPs made contributions. Hon C. Moyo drew attention to an interesting point: the disabled in Russia had been able to vote from their homes.
In the Senate Last Week
Tuesday 14th May The sitting ended at 5 pm after the Senate approved the four international agreements proposed by the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare [see above]. Prior to that, Senators continued with adjourned debates on motions previously presented.
Wednesday 15th May saw debates concluded and the following two motions adopted:
· Senator Zvidzai’s call for the overdue enactment of enabling legislation for devolution to provincial councils in line with the Constitution Senator Zvidzai’s short winding-up speech mentioned that provincial councillors had been elected but never sworn in in the 2013, 2018 and 2023 harmonised elections but more was needed: “The second thing is fiscal devolution where sub national governments should be allowed to raise local taxes and make money, attract revenue streams, managing their own budgets and co–operating with Central Government but not master-servant relationship.
You need administrative devolution where sub national governments can make their own laws at local level, they can employ their own staff, remunerate them as they see fit depending on their resource envelopes at the local levels. That is the devolution that we foresee when the law eventually comes in play”.
· Senator Mlotshwa’s motion on dealing with the prevalence of motor traffic accidents during the festive season Before the motion was agreed to, Senator Mlotshwa made a new plea that Zimbabwe sign and ratify the African Road Safety Charter.
Two new motions were introduced by Senator Tongogara on the Report by Hon Shamu on the Russian Presidential Election and Senator Richard Ndlovu on the need for a special mobile exercise to be mounted by the Civil Registry for the issue of birth certificates to people living in remote areas bordering Mozambique and Botswana, given the special problems associated with such areas.
Thursday 16 May – the usual Question Time. Afterwards, Senator Tongogara moved a motion on teenage pregnancies among schoolchildren, calling on the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to provide psycho-social support to teenage mothers on their return to school after giving birth; and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to foster a supportive environment within schools and communities to guard against discrimination.
Motion on Approval of the IFAD Loan
The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion arrived in the Senate to propose his motion for the approval by the Senate of the IFAD loan agreement, just approved by the National Assembly. He had hardly started his speech, however, when Senator Mlotshwa objected that there were not enough Senators to form a quorum.
After the ringing of the division bells for the requisite seven minutes failed to enable produce a quorum, the Acting President of the Senate then adjourned the Senate to 9:30 am on the Friday 17th May, applying the automatic adjournment rule in Standing Order 57(2).
Friday 17th May morning sitting: Approve of IFAD loan The Senate met at 9.45 am to deal with the Minister’s above motion in a sitting that lasted about two hours until the Senate adjourned to Tuesday 21st May at 11.47 am. Despite CCC Senators’ expressed reservations about the advisability of adding to Zimbabwe’s already large Public Debt, the motion for approval of the loan was passed without their calling for a division.
Coming up in Parliament this Week
Bills on the National Assembly Order There are four Bills on the Order Paper for start of the Second Reading stage:
· Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill [link]
· Criminal Laws Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Bill [link]
· Administration of Estates Amendment Bill [link]
· Death Penalty Abolition Bill[link].
Approval of International Agreements in terms of section 327(2) of Constitution There are three new agreements at the beginning of the Order, the first two proposed by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion and the third by the Minister of Energy and Power Development:
· Agreement for Establishment of African Finance Corporation (for ratification)
· Treaty for the Establishment of African Risk Capacity Agency (for accession)
· Agreement amending SADC Protocol on Energy as well as the Amendment Annex 1 (for accession).
