dyton mupawaenda
Zvamaida Murwira-Senior Reporter
THE new 10th Parliament will have to readmit consideration of six Bills that were left incomplete by the 9th Parliament in addition to the new Bills that President Mnangagwa will spell out when he officially opens the first session and outlines the legislative agenda.
At least five of the six Bills lapsed following the dissolution of Parliament at midnight on the 22nd August immediately before the harmonised elections while one was referred back to Parliament after President Mnangagwa withheld his assent to allow legislators to consider his constitutional reservations.
The five Bills lapsed in terms of Section 147 of the Constitution which stipulates that all business lapses at the dissolution of Parliament.
The five Bills that have lapsed while they were still under consideration by Parliament are: The Insurance Bill, the Insurance and Pensions Commission Amendment Bill, the Medical Services Amendment Bill, the Mines and Minerals Bill and the Financial Adjustments Bill. The Private Voluntary Organisation Amendment Bill is set for reconsideration after President Mnangagwa returned it to allow Parliament to consider reservations he raised.
There was a delay in concluding the much awaited Mines and Mining Amendment Bill after Parliament’s Legal Committee issued an adverse report against the Bill and Parliament was set to consider the issues raised.
The legal committee is an arm of Parliament that scrutinises all Bills and Statutory Instruments to establish if they are consistent with the Constitution.
In its report, the committee chaired by Mudzi South MP Cde Jonathan Samkange (Zanu PF) said some sections of the Bill largely dealing with registration of mining titles and how disputes between miners and farmers can be resolved, might violate the Constitution.
The committee issued an adverse report on the Bill, which among other clauses, would provide conflict resolution mechanisms between farmers and miners that include negotiations, referring disputes to the courts and an option allowing the farmer to sell the property to the miner among other proposed measures.
The Bill, which was gazetted early this year, seeks to reconstitute the composition of the Mining Affairs Board and clarify its functions, establish the Mining Cadastre Register and Registry, and reduce the classes of Mining Titles to three only as well as regulate the activities of prospectors.
The issue of how to resolve disputes with a farmer who in most cases is the landholder and a miner who is coming in to extract minerals has been a thorny matter for many decades, and has become increasingly so as more and more farming involves ever greater investment and infrastructure.
Under Zimbabwean law, all mineral rights are owned by the State, and miners are licensed to prospect and mine, while farm land is owned by the State and leased out or allocated through an offer letter, or is privately owned, or is held in trust for communal farming communities.
The Bill now provides a number of resolution frameworks which are hoped will strike a fair balance between conflicting parties.
With respect to prospecting, it proposes open negotiations between a farmer and a miner but if they fail to find common ground, the prospector might refer the dispute to the Provincial Mining Director who will have to make a determination after a hearing, with an appeal to the Permanent Secretary for Mines and Mining Development and ultimately compulsory purchase or sale of private land.
There are also some Bills which were passed by both Houses of Parliament but are yet to be gazetted as Acts.
They are: the Child Justice Bill, the Institute of Chartered Loss Control and Private Security Management Bill, and The Police Amendment Bill.
The new Members of Parliament have since been sworn in and now await the official opening of the First Session of the 10th Parliament by President Mnangagwa where he will give direction and guidance in terms of the legislative agenda.
Online Reporter