<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body bgcolor="#88EAE8" lang=EN-ZW link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1>BILL WATCH 9/2015<o:p></o:p>[17th March 2015]<o:p></o:p>Both Houses of Parliament Will Be Sitting All This Week<o:p></o:p>Both the Senate and the National Assembly sat in the first two weeks of March, on 3rd, 4th and 5th, and on 10th, 11th and 12th March.  Sittings will continue this week, starting today Tuesday 17th March and next week, ending on Thursday 26th March.  No sittings are scheduled during April, with its Easter public holidays, Independence Day celebrations, and school holidays.  Both Houses will resume after the break, starting on Tuesday 5th May and sitting for three weeks.<o:p></o:p>Parliamentary Sitting Calendar for 2015<o:p></o:p>Veritas has condensed the Parliamentary Sitting Calendar for 2015 into a one-page document.  Readers may find this easier to use than the longer version we offered in Bill Watch 8/2015 of 2nd March.  [A soft copy of the new one-page calendar is available from the addresses given at the end of this bulletin].   <o:p></o:p>By-Elections Called to Fill Mutasa and Mliswa Vacancies<o:p></o:p>Note: The Chief Justice yesterday granted Mr Mutasa and Mr Mliswa an urgent Wednesday 1st April hearing of their Constitutional Court application to have their expulsions from Parliament set aside.  The case will be heard by the full nine-member Constitutional Court, which will, unusually, be sitting during its Easter Vacation.  There is no immediate effect on the arrangements already set in train [see below] for by-elections to fill the two vacancies.<o:p></o:p>Declaration of Vacancies in Headlands and Hurungwe West constituencies <o:p></o:p>At start of business in the National Assembly on 3rd March the Speaker put an end to speculation about the effect of ZANU-PF’s expulsions of Mr Mutasa and Mr Mliswa. He announced that on 19th February he had received notice from ZANU-PF that both individuals had “ceased to be members of ZANU PF party and therefore, no longer represent the interests of the party in Parliament” and that consequently, by operation of the law – section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution – vacancies had arisen in the Headlands and Hurungwe West constituencies.  The President and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would, he said, be informed accordingly as required by section 39 of the Electoral Act.  <o:p></o:p>No mandate to consider Mutasa’s claim of wrongful expulsion  The Speaker also said that, although he had received a letter from Mr Mutasa alleging his expulsion from ZANU-PF had not been warranted “as due process was not followed in terms of the internal party democracy”, this raised a matter he did not have the mandate to pursue – because, on receipt of the party notification, he had been constitutionally bound to declare the seat in question as vacant.  [Full text of Speaker’s announcement available from the addresses given at the end of this bulletin.]  <o:p></o:p>Effective date of the vacancies  The effective date of the vacancies has been taken as 19th February, the date the Speaker received the party notification that Mr Mutasa and Mr Mliswa were no longer party members.     <o:p></o:p>By-Elections Called – Voting Scheduled for 10th June<o:p></o:p>Presidential Proclamations 3 and 4/2015 [SIs 35 and 36/2015, respectively] order by-elections to fill these two vacancies.  Nomination day is Wednesday 8th April and polling day is Wednesday 10th June.<o:p></o:p>Nomination Courts<o:p></o:p>Hurungwe West:     Magistrates Court, Gerrard Drive, Chinhoyi<o:p></o:p>Headlands:              Magistrates Court, 102-104 Main Street, Mutare.<o:p></o:p>Comment:  The polling date chosen is not compliant with section 158(3) of the Constitution and section 39 of the Electoral Act, which require that polling in a by-election be completed within 90 days of the vacancy occurring.  To comply, the polling day should have been on or before 20th May.      <o:p></o:p>Potential vacancies<o:p></o:p>MDC-T bid to have 21 Renewal Team/UMDC MPs removed from Parliament<o:p></o:p>Following the announcement of the formation of the United Movement for Democratic Change, Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of MDC-T, renewed the party’s efforts to have the Speaker declare vacancies, in terms of section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution, in the seats held by the 21 Renewal Team MPs concerned [4 Senators, 17 members of the National Assembly].  Mr Mwonzora wrote to the Speaker and the President of the Senate again notifying them that the MPs were no longer members of MDC-T.  The presiding officers are expected to announce their reaction in Parliament this week.  There has been speculation that the recent changes in the factual situation justify an announcement confirming that the seats are indeed vacant – which would be a departure from the previous leave-it-to-the-courts official attitude.  <o:p></o:p>Mudzi South [Jonathan Samukange, MP]<o:p></o:p>Also awaiting an announcement/ruling by the Speaker is the point of order raised on       concerning the position of Jonathan Samukange, holder of the Mudzi South seat and chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee.  The point of order claimed that Mr Samukange’s recently-announced re-admission to ZANU-PF has resulted in the loss of his seat by operation of section 129(1)(l) of the Constitution, which states that the seat of an MP “becomes vacant—(l) if the Member, not having been a member of a political party when he or she was elected to Parliament, becomes a member of a political party”.  <o:p></o:p>Note: Dr Kereke, MP for Bikita West, averted expulsion under section 129(1)(l) in February following his “re-admission” to ZANU-PF.  He did so by satisfying the Speaker that, because his purported expulsion from the party before his election had been unlawful, he had been a member of ZANU-PF when elected and thereafter [see Bill Watch 6/2015 of 18th February].<o:p></o:p>Update on Bills<o:p></o:p>Bill already passed by both Houses<o:p></o:p>Public Accountants and Auditors Amendment Bill – this Bill was introduced in the National Assembly and passed by it without amendment.  It was then transmitted to the Senate, and was passed by the Senate without amendment on 5th March.  It is now being prepared for submission to the President for his assent and subsequent gazetting as an Act.<o:p></o:p>Bills awaiting progress in the National Assembly<o:p></o:p>Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Debt Assumption) Bill – awaiting continuation of Committee Stage, so far stalled by Opposition points of order.  The Minister has given notice that when the Committee Stage resumes he will propose amendments to the Bill: <o:p></o:p><![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>to insert words in clause 4 in order to extend to “any other banking institution” the immunity the clause already proposes for the Reserve Bank itself.  Clause 4, as amended, would read as follows [new words underlined]: <o:p></o:p>     “(4) No action or proceeding shall be commenced or continued against the Reserve Bank or any other banking institution in respect of a prior debt assumed by the Minister on behalf of the State, or any other obligation or claim in connection therewith or arising therefrom.”<o:p></o:p>This amendment is designed to give effect to a recommendation in the joint report of the two portfolio committees that considered the Bill, namely, that it would be unfair to grant immunity to the Reserve Bank but not to the banks which as the Reserve Bank’s agents had carried out its orders, even if some of those orders have been held to be illegal.<o:p></o:p><![if !supportLists]>·        <![endif]>to replace the Schedule to the Bill listing the Reserve Bank’s liabilities proposed to be taken over by the Government under the Bill [the list names the creditors, and this new version includes many pages listing all the small creditors whose names were not individually listed in the original Bill].  <o:p></o:p>Both amendments have been reflected verbatim on the Order Paper since 3rd March [and are available on the Veritas website <a href="http://www.veritaszim.net">www.veritaszim.net</a>].<o:p></o:p>Gender Commission of Zimbabwe Bill – awaiting holding of public hearings before continuation of Second Reading stage. <o:p></o:p>Bills gazetted and awaiting presentation<o:p></o:p>Marondera State University of Agricultural Sciences Bill [Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development]<o:p></o:p>Biological and Toxin Weapons Crimes Bill [Minister of Defence]<o:p></o:p>[The above six Bills are available from the addresses given at the end of this bulletin.]<o:p></o:p>Bills being printed for gazetting [NOT available until after gazetting] <o:p></o:p>Public Debt Management Bill [Minister of Finance and Economic Development]<o:p></o:p>Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Bill – this very important Bill will deal with the alignment of our law of criminal procedure and evidence to the Constitution.  It has been urgently needed ever since the Constitution came into operation.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied<o:p></o:p>To subscribe or unsubscribe from this mailing list please email <a href="mailto:veritas@mango.zw" title="blocked::mailto:veritas@mango.zw">billwatch@mango.zw</a><o:p></o:p>If you wish to contact Veritas please email <a href="mailto:veritas@mango.zw" title="blocked::mailto:veritas@mango.zw">veritas@mango.zw</a> <o:p></o:p>If you are requesting legislation please email <a href="mailto:veritas@mango.zw" title="blocked::mailto:veritas@mango.zw">veritas@mango.zw</a> or look for it on <a href="http://www.veritaszim.net" title="blocked::http://www.veritaszim.net/">www.veritaszim.net</a><o:p></o:p></div></body></html>