Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
The Parliamentary Legal Committee has issued an Adverse Report on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, saying some provisions of the proposed law were potentially unconstitutional, adding that the revised Bill failed to address reservations President Mnangagwa raised in 2018 when he declined to give his assent.
In issuing an Adverse Report against the Bill in the National Assembly last Tuesday, the PLC said it could not be passed in its present form because it was fatally defective as some of its provisions were not consistent with the Constitution.
The PLC also issued an Adverse Report on the State Service (Pension) Bill, Statutory Instrument Number 83 of 2025 and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe Zvataida Rural District Council (Environmental and Natural Resources Conservation) by-laws.
Masvingo Central Member of Parliament, Dr Eddison Zvobgo Junior, chairs the PLC, an arm of Parliament which scrutinises Bills and Statutory Instruments brought before the legislature to establish if they are not in violation of the Constitution.
This is the second time the PLC has issued an Adverse Report on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, the first being in 2023.
In tabling an Adverse Report in the National Assembly, Dr Zvobgo cited several clauses which he said the committee felt were not in compliance with the supreme law.
“What might be of interest to Honourable Members is the fact that this particular Bill, the Mines and Minerals Act in another form, was previously passed by this House, forwarded to His Excellency the President and was returned by the President with various objections to various sections in this Bill,” said Dr Zvobgo.
“This indicates that, to some extent, the PLC had not previously done its work in this matter. It also implies that His Excellency, the President, requires all institutions of Government to fulfil their constitutional mandates. The fact that the President has returned this Bill to Parliament previously does indicate to some extent that Parliament as a whole and the Parliamentary Legal Committee in particular have previously failed in their constitutional duties. We will not allow that to happen again.”
Dr Zvobgo Jnr said the Bill failed to capture issues raised by President Mnangagwa that he said ought to be addressed.
“A lot of these issues were raised by the President and were referred back to Parliament, and in fact the Bill itself has not actually changed to reflect the objections that were raised by His Excellency and a lot of these clauses remain,” he said.
Responding to concerns from PLC, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi concurred with their observations and told legislators that he will make amendments working together with Mines and Mineral Development Minister Winston Chitando to accommodate the issues raised.
“I looked at the report and I agree that this Bill once came and was passed, but the President referred it back with some reservations, some of which were not taken into consideration. I will propose amendments to the Bill in consultation with the Minister and we will engage the Parliamentary Legal Committee and sit again after we have done that,” said Minister Ziyambi.
Presenting the Adverse Report, Dr Zvobgo said Clause Four, which provides definitions, excluded artisanal miners, thereby depriving them of any rights, making it potentially unconstitutional.
“In fact, unconstitutional in that we find that it is discriminatory based on status and monetary wealth. The failure to mention artisanal miners in the definitional section is what we object to, firstly and foremost,” said Dr Zvobgo.
He said Clause 25 of the Bill provides for an appeal to be lodged by applicants whose applications to register as stocking agents would have been refused within two working days.
“Under this clause, we find it objectionable that a stocking agent who is refused their application within two working days cannot then resubmit their application for a period of five years. That seems to be unconstitutional and discriminatory. It is not a reasonable limit,” said Dr Zvobgo.
The PLC also noted that Clause 31 was unconstitutional in that, in providing the criteria to which one may apply for exclusive prospecting licenses, it gave the provincial mining director excessive discretion regarding the reasons to deny a person an exclusive prospecting license, particularly in determining who qualifies as a fit and proper person.
The Minister is also empowered to deem an individual as fit and proper or vice versa.
“However, while that is a customary phrase, there is really no definition of that. It is excessive and wide for you to be deemed not a fit and proper person. It is very difficult. There is no rationale and because of that, we believe it is excessive and therefore it would tend to be unconstitutional,” he said.
The PLC also noted that Clause 37 was potentially unconstitutional as it allowed the deprivation of land without compensation.
Another member of the PLC and Buhera West MP, Cde Tafadzwa Mugwadi, concurred with Dr Zvobgo, saying the Bill allowed the provincial mining director to play a dual role with potential conflict, that of granting titles or rights and on the other hand, had powers to adjudicate disputes arising from his decisions.
