Coming Up in Parliament This Week

 

Something has gone seriously wrong with Parliament’s website and many of the Hansards and Votes have vanished.  It is to be hoped that they will be restored as soon as possible.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Not all the items listed on the order paper for Tuesday 17th September can be considered on that day, so some will have to be dealt with later.  Also it must be remembered that the Assembly can change the order in which it deals with its business.

Tuesday 17th September

Not all the business set down for this day can be dealt with in one day, so some will have to be done later.

Bills to be dealt with by the National Assembly

There are five Bills that may be dealt with this week:

·      Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill [link]

The Parliamentary Legal Committee issued a non-adverse report on the amendments made to this Bill in the Committee Stage.  The whole House is due to consider the amendments (largely a formality) and then the Bill will go to the Third Reading stage (again largely a formality).

·      Death Penalty Abolition Bill [link]

The Second Reading of this Bill is due to continue.  The Assembly last debated the Bill on the 30th May.

·      Administration of Estates Amendment Bill [link]

The Assembly is due to consider amendments the Senate made to this Bill on the 23rd July.

·      Persons with Disabilities Bill [link]

The Second Reading of this Bill is also due to continue.

·      Parks and Wild Life Amendment Bill [link]

This Bill is due to begin its Second Reading.

Report from ZEC still being considered

The Assembly is expected to continue debate on the 2023 annual reports of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC] and to debate reports of ZEC on run-off and by-elections held in 2023.

Ratification of treaty

·      SADC Protocol on Environmental Management for Sustainable Development of 2014

There will be continued debate on the motion by the Minister of Environment, Climate and Wild Life asking the Assembly to ratify this Protocol.

Motions on the National Assembly order paper

Among the motions set to be debated by the Assembly are the following:

·      To urge the Government to start and intensify cancer awareness programmes and to provide modern cancer equipment at Parirenyatwa and Mpilo hospitals

·      To combat piracy of intellectual property rights and to set up a compensation fund for people whose rights have been pirated

·      To pass a law prohibiting foreign entities from promoting LGBTQI+1 activities and condemning those activities

·      To establish a parliamentary radio and television station for broadcasting parliamentary debates

·      To provide tax relief for businesses that invest in arts, sports and culture

·      To urge the Registrar-General’s Office to conduct a mobile registration exercise to provide citizens with primary documents

·      Measures to improve public transport

Petition to be considered

Debate is scheduled to resume on the report of the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs, Security Services and War Veterans’ Affairs, on a petition seeking reburial of liberation war heroes.

Bill being considered by Parliamentary Legal Committee

·      Finance Bill 2024 [link]:  the Bill will give effect to the Minister of Finance’s supplementary budget, presented on Thursday 12th September

Wednesday 18th September

Questions set down for answer

Among questions set down for Ministers to answer on Wednesday 24th July are questions on the following issues:

·      Re-engagement with the US Government

·      Provision of piped water to communities along the shores of Lake Kariba and the banks of the Zambezi

·      The completion of the Gwai-Shangani and Lubongo Dams and provision of water to Bulawayo and Gweru

·      Payment to cotton farmers for their 2022-3 deliveries to COTTCO

·      Measures to resuscitate industries in Bulawayo

·      The resuscitation of Lancashire Steel and ZIMASCO

·      The amounts collected in carbon and sugar taxes and how the amounts were disbursed

·      The renovation of the National Sports Stadium

·      The collection and distribution of the community social responsibility levy on mining of lithium, black granite and other minerals

·      Payment of pensions from funds in the private sector

·      Payment of pensions to persons who left government service in 2007-9

·      Companies that tendered for the refurbishment of power stations since 2017

·      Measures to curb cattle rustling

·      Neonatal and maternal deaths and child mortality since the beginning of 2024

·      Production of annual demographic health surveys since 2015

·      The surge of HIV/AIDS cases in areas of Bulawayo

·      Government drought assistance for disabled and elderly persons, and statistics of those receiving government assistance

·      Partisanship of traditional leaders

Many of these questions have been stood over from previous weeks.

The Senate

The Senate’s Votes and Proceedings for the 12th September, which contains the Order Paper for the coming week, are not available on Parliament’s website (the document purporting to be the Votes and Proceedings for that day is in fact the Hansard).  What follows therefore is largely guesswork.

Tuesday 17th September

Charter to be ratified

The Senate will be asked to approve Zimbabwe’s accession to the SADC Charter establishing the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Organisation.

Annual reports of constitutional bodies

The Senate is expected to debate the 2023 annual report of the following body:

·      The National Prosecuting Authority [NPA]

and to continue debating the 2023 annual reports of the following bodies:

·      The Judicial Service Commission [JSC]

·      The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC], and

·      The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission [ZHRC]

Motions to be dealt with by the Senate

The Senate is expected to debate motions on the following topics:

·      Human-wild life conflict

·      Service delivery by local authorities

·      Water shortages, particularly in Harare and Bulawayo

·      Rehabilitation of mines and the participation of communities in profits from mining on their land

·      The provision of shunt devices in hospitals to treaty hydrocephaly

·      Birth certificates for people living in border areas

Thursday 19th September

Questions set down for answer

Among questions for Ministers to answer on Thursday are questions on the following issues:

·      Remuneration of teachers in government and private schools

·      Labour practices by foreign-owned companies

·      Composite classes in remote rural areas.

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