[Bill-Watch] Bill Watch 16/2014 of 31st March [Coming up In Parliament This Week; Electoral and Sovereign Wealth Fund Bills]

[Veritas Bill Watch]

BILL WATCH 16/2014
[31st March 2014]
Both Houses Will Sit This Week, Starting Tuesday 1st April
Bills Awaiting Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] Reports
There are two Bills awaiting PLC reports:  
National Prosecuting Authority Bill  [referred to the PLC after its First
Reading in the National Assembly on 26th February]
Trafficking in Persons Bill  [referred to the PLC after its First Reading in
the National Assembly on 25th March] 
The PLC's next meeting is on Thursday 3rd April.  This means that neither of
these Bills is likely to be dealt with by the National Assembly this week.  
Coming up in Parliament This Week 
National Assembly
Bills 
Financial Adjustments Bill
Last week this Bill received a second non-adverse report from the PLC, a
resubmission having been necessitated by the amendment of the original Bill
by the National Assembly on 20th March.  It is now listed for further
consideration by the National Assembly as item 2 on the Order Paper for 1st
April.
Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill   The Committee Stage of this Bill is item 3 on
the Order Paper for 1st April.  This is the stage during which the Bill will
be considered clause by clause and amendments can be made.  The Minister of
Finance and Economic Development, who introduced the Bill, has given notice
that he will propose:
.        amendments to clause 6, which deals with the composition of the
Board of the Sovereign Wealth Fund. These amendments are designed to reduce
the number of Board members appointed by the Minister in consultation with
the President from the originally proposed 16 to 7.  The amended clause
6(1)(b) would look like this:
"(b) seven members appointed by the Minister in consultation with the
President, of whom-
(i)     one member shall be the person who for the time being holds the post
of Secretary to the President and Cabinet in the Office of the President;
and
(ii)    two members shall be appointed from a list of not less than three
names submitted by the head of the Ministry responsible for finance; and
(iii)    one member shall be appointed from a list of not less than three
names submitted by the Minister responsible for mining; and
(iv)   one member shall be appointed from a list of three names submitted by
the Governor of the Reserve Bank; and
(v)    two members shall be appointed for their ability and experience in
finance, law, investment, asset management or banking."
The effect is to drop the original proposal to have Board members
representing industry, commerce, agriculture, indigenisation and labour.  No
change is proposed to clause 6(a), which makes the Board chairperson,
appointed by the President, and the Fund's Chief Executive Officer ex
officio Board members. [Soft copy of Bill available from the addresses at
the end of this bulletin.]
.        the deletion of clause 30, which provides for the replacement of
section 33 of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation Act.  Section 33
deals with the prompt payment of dividends and special dividends to ZMDC
shareholders from the sale of diamonds.  The deletion is explained by the
fact that the necessary changes to the law have already been made by the
Finance Act, 2014 [passed by Parliament , but not yet gazetted as law].  
International Agreement for Approval
Item 1 on the Order Paper for 1st April is the Hosting Agreement between the
Government and the Zimbabwe Watercourse Commission that was concluded on
26th December 2013 in Luanda, Angola.
Consideration of PLC Adverse Reports 
See below.
Motions
Tripartite Negotiating Forum  Hon Hlongwane's motion, which has been
awaiting introduction for some time, is high on the Order Paper.  It calls
on the Government to reactivate the dormant Tripartite Negotiating Forum
made up of Government, business and labour.
Also high on the Order Paper and awaiting introduction are motions on:
Relief for Hwange Colliery company workers, to be moved by Hon Tshuma; and
Duty-free car imports for civil servants, to be moved by Hon
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
Other motions, including Hon Muderedzwa's motion on the plight of war
veterans, which drew support from all sides last week, are listed for
continuation of debate.
Question Time [Wednesday 2nd April]
The number of written questions with notice listed on the Order Paper now
stands at 47, down from the 78 that confronted Ministers last week. 
Senate
Bills
Electoral Amendment Bill  On 25th March the Deputy Minister of Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs delivered a short Second Reading speech
explaining this Bill to Senators, who then requested a week in which to
study it before embarking on debate.  The commencement of debate is listed
as item 1 on the Senate's Order Paper for 1st April.  As the Bill was
introduced in the Senate, it must go to the National Assembly after being
passed by the Senate.  
Consideration of PLC Adverse Reports 
See below.
Motions
Vote of thanks for the President's opening speech  This is item 2 on the
Order Paper.  The debate on this motion is now nearing its conclusion. 
Use of solar systems in agriculture  Continuation of debate on Senator
Mutsvangwa's motion on this subject is item 5.  Referring to the adverse
effect on the agricultural sector of erratic power supplies over the last
decade, it calls for the establishment of a Government policy for enhanced
usage of solar systems in agriculture, including subsidies and
Public/Private Partnerships. 
Indigenous languages, the need for information dissemination within all
local government structures, and environmental pollution and land
degradation  The Order Paper lists the motions on these subjects for
continuation of debates already started.
Question Time [Thursday 3rd April]
Ten questions are listed.  These include questions on: 
The gap between men and women journalists The questioner asks the Minister
of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services' to explain his plans to
close this gap.  
Public assistance for people with disabilities  Senator Mashavakure will ask
the Minister of Finance and Economic Development for an assurance that
during 2014 funds for public assistance to disabled persons will not be
diverted to other purposes; the question alleges that in 2012 such diversion
resulted in disabled persons going without public assistance for almost 12
months
Consideration of PLC Adverse Reports on SIs 142 and 156/2013
These two adverse reports are listed for consideration by both the National
Assembly and the Senate.  [See Bill Watch 15/2014 of 19th March for more
detail on these adverse reports and the new procedure that is activated by
them in terms of the Constitution.]
Government Gazette 21st to 28th March 2014
Statutory Instruments [SIs]
Mining fees  SI 56/2014, the Mining (General) (Amendment) Regulations (No.
18), was gazetted and came into operation on 21st March.  The SI sets out a
new schedule of fees for mining rights and services provided by the Ministry
of Mines and Mining Development.  Both the Ministry's previous attempts at
fixing new fees [SIs 11/2012 and 29/2013] attracted adverse reports from the
PLC  and criticism from mining sector stakeholders on both policy and legal
grounds.  The present SI replaces SI 29/2013, just as that SI replaced SI
11/2012.  As most of the criticisms levelled against the 2012 and 2013 fees
apply to the present SI also, the PLC can be expected to subject it to
rigorous scrutiny [PLC reports and SI 56/2014 available from Veritas - see
addresses at the end of this bulletin].     
Liquid petroleum gas [LPG] regulations  SI 57/2014, gazetted on 24th March
under the Petroleum Act and the Energy Regulatory Authority Act, contains
regulations controlling wholesale and retail dealing in LPG.  A licensing
system administered by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority is imposed
[not available from Veritas]. 
Collective bargaining agreement - Medical and Allied Industry  SI 58/2014,
gazetted on 28th March, contains general conditions of service for workers
in the industry [not available from Veritas]. 
General Notices [GNs] 
Reserve Bank Governor  GN 115/2014 notifies the President's appointment of
Dr John Mangudya as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for the 5-year
period 1st May 2014 to 30th April 2019.
 
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