The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi – Chief Reporter
The alignment of laws to Zimbabwe’s new Constitution is on track and Government will not push “half-baked Acts” as a response to those alleging that the process is taking too long.
A few weeks ago, Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda took a swipe at Government for not speeding up alignment of laws while also questioning the State’s commitment to the exercise.
Secretary for Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza said her office had, since adoption of the new Constitution in 2013, identified 390 pieces of legislation inconsistent with the supreme law.
Of these, 158 are being harmonised via the General Amendment Bill, which is at the second reading stage in the National Assembly.
The second reading stage entails legislators proposing amendments, before the Bill is read for the third time which translates to it being passed into law upon being signed by the President. Mrs Mabhiza said an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Legislative Alignment was recently established to speed up alignment.
A work schedule availed to The Sunday Mail shows that 25 Bills are at the consultation stage, while six are at drafting level with four now before Parliament.
Some of the Bills at consultation stage are the Children’s Bill, which will govern issues to do with children’s rights, including the age of sexual consent; and the Citizenship of Zimbabwe, Provincial Councils, Land Commission and Special Economic Zones Bills.
“It is pertinent to realise that the consultation stage is very crucial as it ensures input from various stakeholders relevant to the laws under review. The consultation takes time and is expensive to undertake depending on the nature of the Bill and the number of stakeholders involved.
“The Speaker (of the National Assembly) is the presiding official of one of the chambers of the legislative arm of Government and therefore is entitled to echo his views, which seem to be shared by a number of stakeholders.
“However, as we have always maintained, the alignment of laws is not an overnight event, but a process that should be meticulously carried out without emotions as that would potentially lead us into coming up with harried and half-baked laws.
‘‘Even the Speaker himself will agree with us that even when we ensure that Bills are brought before Parliament, they would not rubber stamp, but take time to scrutinise them,” Mrs Mabhiza said.
