Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike and Farirai Machivenyika Zimpapers Reporters
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is today expected to set the tone for the legislative agenda and update the nation on the state of the country when he delivers the 2026 State of the Nation Address and officially opens the Fourth Session of the 10th Parliament at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
He is also expected to outline his expectations for the forthcoming session.
In an interview yesterday, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda said President Mnangagwa would use the occasion to review the legislative agenda for the previous session and outline Government’s priorities for the coming session.
“His Excellency the President, in his State of the Nation address, will update the nation in terms of where we are as a nation, the work that Government is undertaking and his expectations for the coming year,” he said.
“In the official opening address, the President will reveal the legislative agenda for the Fourth Session. So, basically that’s the event that we have tomorrow and as you know it is that event where you have the three arms of the State in one place.”
Mr Chokuda said they expected President Mnangagwa to lead the Presidium, Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament from the Senate and National Assembly.
“We also expect the procession of the Judicial Service Commission led by the Chief Justice,” he said.
Mr Chokuda said Parliament passed seven Bills during the last session, excluding the Finance and Appropriation Acts, which are passed annually.
“Parliament, for the last session, as the Honourable Speaker indicated last week, passed seven Bills.
“I am not including the Finance and the Appropriation Acts. Those are bills that we pass every year.
“But the major highlight is the passing of the Constitution Amendment No. 3 Bill and the related processes that we undertook as Parliament,” he said.
Mr Chokuda said the passage of Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill was the major highlight of the last session.
“I think we had the highest number of public hearings on any Bill that we have held as Parliament.
“As you recall, we had four centres in each province, which is a huge departure from what we have had.
“In fact, four centres in each district of this country, which is a huge departure from what we normally do with ordinary Bills.
“Basically, that was meant to provide the nation with an opportunity for the public to participate and also we had unprecedented submissions from the public . . . over half a million submissions that came through online so for us that was the highlight of the year,” he said.
Mr Chokuda said Parliamentary Portfolio Committees remained active in their oversight role, with 54 reports tabled during the last session.
He said 16 of the reports were on quarterly budget performance by various ministries.
“Our committees were very active as they are the ones that do most of the work of Parliament, and a total of 54 reports, again, which is a milestone in this Parliament, were tabled during the course of the session.
Out of those, I am also happy to indicate that 16 of those reports were on quarterly budget performance reports by ministries.
“So, committees of Parliament were very active in terms of undertaking their oversight role.”
He said Parliament was still seized with other reports that were at various stages of adoption before being tabled in Parliament.
“We are also glad to report to the nation that in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, all the ministries were compliant in terms of submitting reports to Parliament as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
“What is now required is to ensure that all those reports are submitted to Parliament within the respective timelines, but I can indicate that we now have a 100 percent submission rate from MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies), which is a very positive achievement in terms of the work of Parliament.”
In the just-ended session, Parliament passed seven Bills, including the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill, which introduced changes to the governance of the country.
These included the extension of the election cycle from five to seven years, the election of the President by Parliament, the return of the compilation of the voters’ roll to the office of the Registrar General from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the creation of 10 more senatorial seats to expand the skills base from which Cabinet ministers are appointed.
The CAA3 received bipartisan support, with 226 voting for it in the National Assembly and 41 against, while in the Senate, 75 voted in favour of the amendment and four opposed.
The other Acts passed by Parliament include the IATFCO Entities Hosting Amendment, Insurance and Pensions Commission Amendment, Medical Services Amendment, Tourism, Occupational Safety and Health, and Climate Change Management Acts.
President Mnangagwa also withheld his assent to the Zimsec Amendment Bill after he raised reservations over some clauses and has since returned it to Parliament.
Parliament also launched the Committee for the Future, which will be tasked with anticipating and preparing for future developments to enable the country to respond accordingly and not be caught off-guard.
