Constitutional alignment almost complete

28 May, 2017 - 00:05 0 Views
Constitutional alignment almost complete

The Sunday Mail

Lincoln Towindo
Over 340 laws have been aligned with the new Constitution, with the Justice Ministry now coordinating directly with Parliament to clear the remaining Acts.

Alignment began in 2013 following nationwide adoption of the Constitution, and only 43 out of 390 laws are yet to undergo the process.  The outstanding legislation includes provisions for operationalising the provincial council, regularising new commissions, citizenship rights, abolishing the death penalty, procurement and broadcasting services.

The Sunday Mail understands that a number of lay drafts have since been submitted to the Justice Ministry’s Legislation Drafting Department which is leading synchronisation.  An inter-ministerial task force created to expedite the process is also updating Cabinet weekly while all State law officers have been trained in legal drafting.

The Centre for Applied Legal Research — a research institution that offers specialised legal training and technical support — oversaw training.  Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza told this paper, “We are still working on aligning the laws and have made very good progress. What was really required was co-operation from line ministries, which was lacking at some point.

“But what we have done now is engage Parliament and the respective portfolio committees to pressure line ministries with laws that still require substantive make-overs. “We are now coordinating directly with Parliament to speed up the process through parliamentary portfolio committees that have direct oversight of ministries.”

Mrs Mabhiza added: “Through this process, we expect to make a lot of progress by year-end; to the extent that we expect much of the work to have been done by then. “To date, 43 Acts require substantive alignment. We have gradually progressed from the over 300 laws that needed stitching up after the Constitution was signed into law in 2013.

“Most of the alignment was done through an omnibus Bill which sailed through in 2016. Another measure we have introduced to speed up the process is updating Cabinet regularly through the Bill Tracker System. This system was developed by an inter-ministerial task force overseeing the process.”

Prominent Harare-based lawyer Mr Terrence Hussein said, “I think if they are committed, that (realignment) is a good thing. It has been a long time and this must be done with absolute haste. “It has been five years after the adoption of the Constitution and we need to see meaningful progress. I think we have been moving way too slow. If Government is not resourced, then it should appeal for resources so that it moves fast.”

University of Zimbabwe law lecturer Professor Lovemore Madhuku said, “When was the Constitution established? In 2013. So, whatever they are doing, they are far from aligning those laws.”

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