Coming Up in Parliament This Week

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The National Assembly has not published its order paper for this week’s sessions, so what follows should be taken as a guess – though we hope an educated guess – as to what the Assembly will deal with this week.

Not all the items we have listed for Tuesday 3rd September can be dealt with on that day, so some will have to be dealt with later.

Tuesday 3rd September

Bills to be dealt with by the National Assembly

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

Death Penalty Abolition Bill [link]

The Second Reading of this Bill is due to resume.

Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill [link]

The Committee Stage of this Bill is due to continue from where it left off when debate adjourned on Thursday 11th July.  Several amendments to the Bill were passed on that day and many more are yet to be considered.

Parks and Wild Life Amendment Bill [link]

This Bill is due to begin its Second Reading.

Persons with Disabilities Bill [link]

This Bill is also due to begin its Second Reading.

Reports of constitutional bodies

The Assembly is expected to continue debate on the annual reports of the following bodies:

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC]

The National Prosecuting Authority [NPA].

The Assembly will also debate reports of ZEC on run-off and by-elections held in 2023.

Ratification of treaties

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.

SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology

The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education will ask the Assembly to approve the Government’s accession to this Charter, which is available on the Veritas website [link].

Motions on the National Assembly order paper

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

The Minister of Finance’s mid-term review and supplementary budget statement.  The Minister delivered his statement on the 25th July [link] and the Assembly needs to debate it

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

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

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

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

To promote the teaching of more of Zimbabwe’s national languages in schools

Measures to improve public transport

Petitions 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 two petitions, one seeking economic empowerment of war veterans and their dependants and the other for reburial of liberation war heroes.

Wednesday 4th 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

Human and animal conflict

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

The resuscitation of ZISCO and Lancashire Steel

Overlapping claims of small-scale and large-scale miners

The numbers of girls who dropped out of school due to pregnancy since January 2023

Measures to prevent child marriage and curb teenage pregnancies

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

Neonatal and maternal deaths since the beginning of 2024

Plans for the reception of Zimbabweans deported from South Africa

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

The Senate

Not all the items listed on the order paper for Tuesday 3rd September can be dealt with that day, so some will have to be dealt with later.  Also it must be remembered that the Senate can change the order in which it deals with its business.

Tuesday 3rd September

Bill to be dealt with by the Senate

The Administration of Estates Amendment Bill [link]:  The Parliamentary Legal Committee is considering amendments made to this Bill in the Senate on the 23rd July.

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:

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

Compensation for persons affected by depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar

Provision of kidney dialysis machines in district hospitals

Birth certificates for people living in border areas

The provision of shunt devices in hospitals to treaty hydrocephaly

Thursday 5th 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