I have passed by the building on several occasions and, for sure, seen a number of MPs going in and out. I have heard about some bills being discussed and the likes of Chinotimba saying something. But I haven’t seen any movement in terms of law-making.
The million dollar question, therefore, is: What are those MPs going to Parliament for if not to snooze or engage in some empty talk that does not in any sense benefit the people who went out to vote for them?
In particular I am talking here about the hundreds of amendments that are supposed to be made to align our laws with the new constitution. Just recently, towards and during World Press Freedom Day, there was much talk about the need to repeal the criminal defamation law in accordance with the new constitution that stipulates respect for press freedom. This, of course, is grounded in the unassailable reality that criminal defamation is inimical to press freedom.
A lot of hope was raised when the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Jonathan Moyo, came out in the open and declared that criminal defamation must go. He started saying that late last year. While his words and apparent intentions are noble, it is worrying that the talk has not been matched by any walk. We remain saddled with the law, and that is why the police are still arresting journalists willy-nilly. As it stands, we may see more arrests in coming months.
It would be folly to expect the police to come to Parliament and agitate for the removal of the law, because they clearly would rather have it on the statute books until Kingdom come. It has always been handy whenever they needed it. The point is, MPs are the ones that are supposed to take the lead, together with media stakeholders.
We have quite a number of legislators in the august house who have a media background. One would have expected them to have done something by now. Are they sleeping? Is someone whipping them for whatever reasons? Do they have the will? I don’t know.
Of course, criminal defamation is just but one among hundreds of other laws. I chose it deliberately because it is a law that affects me, as a journalist, directly. We are not hearing anything about electoral amendments, local government statutory changes, etc. At the end of the day, that leaves us with the unenviable task of being the most criminal nation on earth – a country that has a fairly good constitution but is not doing anything to make it work.
This is not good for our image. It undermines other countries’ confidence in us and scares away investors. Other people must be asking: How can these people take four years to make a constitution and then throw it into the archives?
Zimbabwe is a country that is good at finding scapegoats. I know some people have argued that Parliament does not have the money to ensure speedy constitutional amendments to our laws. I think it is just a matter of misplaced priorities. If there was will to get the money, it would be found.
But, again, does debating our laws require so much? Why spend a lot of time debating corruption when it is clear that, when all is said and done, no action will be taken against the culprits. Parliament has no bedrooms, so we don’t expect people to go to it to sleep or engage in meaningless squabbles. – To comment on this article, please contact majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: Analysis