THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce has come under fire for failing to conduct consultative meetings on the National Competitiveness Commission Bill in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls after it failed to disseminate information on time.
Source: Industry and Commerce Portfolio Committee under fire over Bill – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 26, 2016
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
The committee, which was supposed to be conducting consultative meetings on the Bill around the country, failed to hold one in Victoria Falls and another in Bulawayo on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, due to its failure to disseminate information to its intended audience on time.
In Bulawayo, for instance, only one business association attended and the rest, such as the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and the Association for Business in Zimbabwe (Abuz), among others, said they were not aware of the meeting.
“It’s very unfair for us as the Bulawayo business community. Parliament must make sure that it communicates with business associations on time. There was no information flow,” Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (Bulawayo chapter) chairperson, Tshidzanani Malaba said.
He said it was important for people in Bulawayo to speak for themselves as “no one in Harare would understand how the economy operates in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls because of variations”.
Abuz chief executive officer, Lucky Mlilo said he did not received communication from Parliament about the matter.
“Let’s do things transparently and notify people on time. If they don’t do that it won’t be people-driven. We didn’t know about it. We never got anything from them,” he said.
When reached for comment, the committee chairperson, Edmond Mhere, confirmed that there was poor dissemination of information and urged business communities in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to submit their contributions in Harare or attend the meeting there.
“Communication with organisations was not done on time. We were in Victoria Falls and the same thing happened. They heard that we were in town in the morning,” he said.
Mhere said they will not hold other meetings in Bulawayo or Victoria Falls, saying “their representatives in Harare will stand in for them”
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