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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
GOVERNMENT has aligned the majority of the country’s laws to the Constitution but is being hampered by Covid-19 to complete the exercise as it derails Parliament work, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Parliament is sometimes forced to adjourn sittings when Covid-19 cases surge in the country.
Over the past week the country has recorded an increase in Covid-19 infections forcing Government to place some areas under localised lockdowns.
In 2013, the country adopted a new Constitution and since then Government has been aligning the country’s laws to it.
This has seen Government repealing Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and enacting Freedom of Information Act, Zimbabwe Media Commission Act and the Protection of Personal Information/Data Protection Act to replace the previously criticised law.
Several other laws have been aligned to the Constitution while Government works to enact a law to fully operationalise devolution of power.
In an interview on the sidelines of his tour of Khami Prison Complex on Friday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said more than 200 laws have been aligned to the Constitution so far with less than 30 laws remaining.
“The major issue that (I’m dealing with) is law reform and alignment of laws which is an ongoing process which we need to ensure it’s done. We are hampered by Covid-19 and Parliament work is stalled here and there when we have outbreaks like what has happened right now. That work is derailed but we are hoping that we clean up the majority of our laws,” said Minister Ziyambi.
“We have an inter-ministerial committee which is dealing with identification and preparation of laws that need to be aligned before we eventually take some laws to Parliament. I think we have done a lot of good work in that regard. We have aligned more than 200 laws and those that are remaining are under 30.”
He said alignment of laws is work in progress and has to be constantly fine-tuned.
“Remember even when we pass a law today, we may realise later that there is something that we didn’t notice when we passed the law, that is inconsistent with the Constitution. Hence the need to align it will always come on board. So, it’s a process that will be part of work to ensure that we continuously look at our laws and see which ones would be in contravention of the Constitution and we deal with that,” he said.
Minister Ziyambi said the pandemic has also disturbed Government in terms of providing periodic reports on human rights to international bodies.
“Also, we have been hampered by Covid-19 in terms of our human rights obligation to international organisations. The state party reports have been lagging behind. But we are happy that we are catching up. Last year, we managed to go on board in terms of our reporting obligations to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Human Rights Council we have been doing that,” said Minister Ziyambi. — @nqotshili
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