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Fidelis Munyoro and Paidamoyo Chipunza—
The realignment of a reported 400 laws to the new Constitution could take several years, which could result in clogging of the Constitutional Court with cases brought by people aggrieved by use of legislation already overtaken by the prevailing status quo. Legal experts yesterday urged Government to identify priority areas for realignment to avoid flooding the Constitutional Court.
Opening the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe in September last year, President Mugabe outlined a legislative agenda with several laws in urgent need of alignment with the new Constitution.
Legal experts said MPs should brace for long, hard hours to expedite realignment.
They cited the example of South Africa, which 20 years after the end of apartheid, is still to fully conform to the new dispensation.
Harare lawyer Mr Chris Mhike said Zimbabwe made an error similar to its neighbours by not giving a time-frame for realignment; something that Kenya had done.
“What is worrisome is that since the promulgation of the new Constitution, no single law has been aligned,” he said.
“Although we appreciate that Government might be facing challenges, at this rate it might take decades or centuries before all hundreds of laws are aligned.”
Mr Mhike said Government must categorise laws in need of amendment into short, medium and long-term priorities to efficiently deal with them.
He said laws like the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act needed urgent attention.
Another lawyer, Mrs Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa, said without a clear work plan, realignment “will take forever”.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Deputy Minister Fortune Chasi yesterday could not provide a time-frame, but assured the nation that Government wanted to realign Acts in the shortest possible time.
He said priority was being given to those laws in total contradiction with the new Constitution.
Deputy Minister Chasi said the Electoral Amendment, National Prosecuting Authority, and Criminal Procedure Amendment Bills were already being worked on.
“It is difficult to tell when the process could be complete because some processes are beyond us, but we can assure the nation that it is work in progress,” he said.
President Mugabe, when he opened this session of Parliament, said among legislation expected to come to MPs included the Land Commission Bill, to give legal underpinning to the establishment of the Zimbabwe Land Commission.
The Commission will take over the role previously performed by the Agricultural Land Settlement Board.
The Health Services Act, the Medical Services Act, the Public Health Act, and related legislation would also be urgently amended, President Mugabe said.
The Banking Act Amendment Bill, to strengthen regulation of new forms of banking, and amendments to the Insurance Act, the Pension and Provident Funds Act and the Insurance and Pension Commission Amendment Act would also be tabled.
President Mugabe also highlighted the need to amend the Co-operatives Societies Act, bring forward a new Mines and Minerals Bill, realign labour laws, and introduce a National Prosecution Authority Bill to establish an independent body to take over the functions previously performed by the Criminal Division of the Attorney-General’s Office.
President Mugabe said the composition of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission would also be aligned to the new Constitution.
Online Reporter