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Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
The Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders has shortlisted candidates to be appointed as commissioners of independent commissions while parent ministries for some commissions have been asked to promulgate enabling legal statutes to assist in operationalising them.
Parliament recently invited nominations for people who wanted to be considered as commissioners on various independent commissions.
The nominations, which were in line with the new Constitution, closed on May 23, 2014.
The commissions are the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Media Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
Terms of office of the incumbents had either lapsed or were about to expire while others were being created by the new Constitution.
Speaker of the National Assembly Cde Jacob Mudenda yesterday said the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders met recently to consider how to proceed with the nominations.
“We are going to proceed with interviewing those that would have been shortlisted,” he said. “We are just waiting for our Committee on Human Resources which is finalising the short-listing and other related processes.” Cde Mudenda could not be drawn into divulging those who were shortlisted.
He said they had asked the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to promulgate the enabling Act of Parliament for the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission
Cde Mudenda said the enabling Act of Parliament would also inform them in drafting necessary questions for purposes of conducting interviews.
He said once Parliament completed holding public interviews to determine successful candidates, names would be submitted to the President for his consideration in terms of the law.
According to the new Constitution, members of most commissions are appointed by the President in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
Only appointments to the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission do not require the President to consult the JSC.
New bodies created by the new Constitution are the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
The President will appoint chairpersons and eight other members to each commission from a list of not fewer than 12 nominees.
The eighth member on the Zimbabwe Gender Commission will be a nominee from the National Council of Chiefs.
The new Constitution requires that commissioners be chosen for their integrity and experience.
According to Section 235 of the Constitution, the commissions are not “subject to the direction or control of anyone and must exercise their functions without fear, favour or prejudice although they are accountable to Parliament for the efficient performance of their functions”.
The chairperson for ZEC should be a judge or former judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court, or a person qualified for appointment as such; while the ZHRC and NPRC chairpersons should have served as legal practitioners in Zimbabwe for at least seven years.
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