News / National
Mugabe convenes parliament
25 Oct 2014 at 12:46hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe will next week open the second session of the 8th parliament of Zimbabwe.
In a proclamation published in the Government Gazette, President Mugabe would be reconvening the national assembly as provided for by section 146 of the constitution.
"Each house of parliament determines the time and duration of its sittings, other than its first sitting and its period of recess, but- (a) the President may summon parliament at any time to conduct special business; (b) no more than 180 days may elapse between sittings of a house.
"And whereas it is expedient that parliament should be summoned to meet; now therefore under and by virtue of the powers vested in the President as aforesaid and as resolved by parliament, I do by my Proclamation fix, (a) parliament building, Harare as the place at which the official opening of the second session of the Eighth parliament shall be held and (b) twelve o'clock noon on Tuesday the 28th of October, 2014, as the time and date at which the second session of the eight parliament shall begin," the President said in the notice.
While the first session saw about nine bills, among them the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Electoral and Trafficking of Persons bills being passed, the second session is likely to prioritise the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Debt assumption bill, among not less than 200 laws that are up for re-alignment with the country's new constitution, adopted in a referendum last year.
Government has indicated that lack of funds and technical expertise have hampered the re-alignment of laws with most ministries slammed for failing to initiate the process.
President Mugabe is also yet to appoint a new Attorney-General (AG) following the creation of the NPA under the new governance charter which saw AG Johannes Tomana assuming the position of NPA head.
Among its first order of business, the second session of the country's eighth parliament will also likely seek to adopt next year's budget statement that should be brought before the house sometime in November as has become the norm by Finance and Economic Development minister, Patrick Chinamasa.
Zimbabwe is still struggling to resuscitate its ailing industry and the country's new economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Sustainable Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), is yet to take of again because of lack of funding and weak capital inflows.
In a proclamation published in the Government Gazette, President Mugabe would be reconvening the national assembly as provided for by section 146 of the constitution.
"Each house of parliament determines the time and duration of its sittings, other than its first sitting and its period of recess, but- (a) the President may summon parliament at any time to conduct special business; (b) no more than 180 days may elapse between sittings of a house.
"And whereas it is expedient that parliament should be summoned to meet; now therefore under and by virtue of the powers vested in the President as aforesaid and as resolved by parliament, I do by my Proclamation fix, (a) parliament building, Harare as the place at which the official opening of the second session of the Eighth parliament shall be held and (b) twelve o'clock noon on Tuesday the 28th of October, 2014, as the time and date at which the second session of the eight parliament shall begin," the President said in the notice.
While the first session saw about nine bills, among them the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Electoral and Trafficking of Persons bills being passed, the second session is likely to prioritise the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Debt assumption bill, among not less than 200 laws that are up for re-alignment with the country's new constitution, adopted in a referendum last year.
Government has indicated that lack of funds and technical expertise have hampered the re-alignment of laws with most ministries slammed for failing to initiate the process.
President Mugabe is also yet to appoint a new Attorney-General (AG) following the creation of the NPA under the new governance charter which saw AG Johannes Tomana assuming the position of NPA head.
Among its first order of business, the second session of the country's eighth parliament will also likely seek to adopt next year's budget statement that should be brought before the house sometime in November as has become the norm by Finance and Economic Development minister, Patrick Chinamasa.
Zimbabwe is still struggling to resuscitate its ailing industry and the country's new economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Sustainable Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), is yet to take of again because of lack of funding and weak capital inflows.
Source - thezimmail
