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Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs fails to provide copies of NPRC bill
24 Apr 2016 at 07:29hrs | Views
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs failed to provide copies of the National Peace and Reconciliation
(NPRC) bill bill to the participants during the hearing in Harare.
Heal Zimbabwe in its report stated that the last hearing on the bill was held on Wednesday in Harare at Parliament building in the Senate Chambers.
Approximately 115 people attended the hearing. The hearing allowed Harare residents to scrutinize and make submissions on the bill.
"The hearing in Harare, just like previous hearings saw the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs failing to
provide copies of the bill to participants before the hearing. The Committee had to assign the arduous task of summarizing the bill to Honourable Jessie Majome," said Heal Zimbabwe.
"The most dominant issues that came out during the meeting revolved around the vast powers given to the Minister of National Healing who has sweeping powers that see him issuing a certificate to prevent a hearing and is the only one with the discretion to approve funding for the Commission. Other issues raised include the use of prosecuting language in the bill which scares away people from reporting their cases and failure by the bill to clearly state how justice will be achieved for those whose rights were violated."
Harare residents said the bill reduces the Commission to an Executive Commission where the Minister enjoys excessive powers and it doesn't
encourage truth telling and it contradicts several provisions in the constitution.
They said the bill uses too much prosecuting language which scares away victims and the bill ignores the role of Traditional mechanisms in peace
building and reconciliation.
In his concluding remarks, Honourable Nyambuya assured participants that all the views collated during all the hearings shall be used to compile a
comprehensive report on the bill which will be used during the debate on the bill in Parliament.
The public hearing on the bill have concluded against a background where Heal Zimbabwe, between January and March 2016, conducted 13 public meetings and 67 consultative meetings with 1 235 people on the Bill targeting marginalized communities that were most affected by violence and conflicts.
The objective of the public meetings was to enhance public participation and input to the Bill. The organisation shall also release a preliminary
report by end of this week on the public hearings.
(NPRC) bill bill to the participants during the hearing in Harare.
Heal Zimbabwe in its report stated that the last hearing on the bill was held on Wednesday in Harare at Parliament building in the Senate Chambers.
Approximately 115 people attended the hearing. The hearing allowed Harare residents to scrutinize and make submissions on the bill.
"The hearing in Harare, just like previous hearings saw the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs failing to
provide copies of the bill to participants before the hearing. The Committee had to assign the arduous task of summarizing the bill to Honourable Jessie Majome," said Heal Zimbabwe.
"The most dominant issues that came out during the meeting revolved around the vast powers given to the Minister of National Healing who has sweeping powers that see him issuing a certificate to prevent a hearing and is the only one with the discretion to approve funding for the Commission. Other issues raised include the use of prosecuting language in the bill which scares away people from reporting their cases and failure by the bill to clearly state how justice will be achieved for those whose rights were violated."
Harare residents said the bill reduces the Commission to an Executive Commission where the Minister enjoys excessive powers and it doesn't
encourage truth telling and it contradicts several provisions in the constitution.
They said the bill uses too much prosecuting language which scares away victims and the bill ignores the role of Traditional mechanisms in peace
building and reconciliation.
In his concluding remarks, Honourable Nyambuya assured participants that all the views collated during all the hearings shall be used to compile a
comprehensive report on the bill which will be used during the debate on the bill in Parliament.
The public hearing on the bill have concluded against a background where Heal Zimbabwe, between January and March 2016, conducted 13 public meetings and 67 consultative meetings with 1 235 people on the Bill targeting marginalized communities that were most affected by violence and conflicts.
The objective of the public meetings was to enhance public participation and input to the Bill. The organisation shall also release a preliminary
report by end of this week on the public hearings.
Source - Byo24News
