UPDATED: MPs, senators to be sworn in tomorrow

Nyemudzai Kakore, Harare Bureau
National Assembly members and senators will be sworn in tomorrow with Parliament having already secured accommodation for members from outside Harare, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda has said.

The 270 legislators are expected to take their oaths of office.

Mr Chokuda said this will mark the start of business for the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe.

He said the notice of oath of Members of Parliament is done in terms of Section 128(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20 of 2013.

“Parliament is geared for the swearing in of Members of the Ninth Parliament on Wednesday September 5 as required by Section 128 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The swearing in will done starting with the National Assembly at 10:00am and the Senate at 1430,” he said.

“Seeing that we have 270 members in the National Assembly the swearing in will done in batches of 10 MPs to expedite the process. Accommodation for members from outside Harare will be at the usual hotels that we have an arrangement with.”

Mr Chokuda said as an institution, they will take the opportunity to sensitise Members of Parliament on the services that they can get from Parliament after taking their oaths.

He said they will also use the event to collect biodata from the legislators.

Zanu-PF retained its two thirds majority in the National Assembly after winning 145 out of the 210 contested constituencies.

The seven-party MDC Alliance managed only 63 seats, with the National Patriotic Front (NPF) winning one seat.

Independent candidate Mr Temba Mliswa retained his Norton National Assembly seat.

In 2013, the ruling Zanu-PF won 160 seats to the then MDC-T’s 49, with one seat going to the MDC then led by Professor Welshman Ncube, who is now an MDC-Alliance principal.

It is understood that the MDC-Alliance — created in a failed bid to beat the ruling Zanu-PF in the July 30 harmonised elections — intends to become a political party and not a mere coalition of opposition outfits.

Some of the laws that were passed during the Eighth Parliament were Local Government Amendment Act, Public Finance and Management Act, Special Economic Zones Act, Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Act and Gwanda State University Act, The Trafficking in Persons Act, The Public Accountants and Auditors
Amendment Act and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Debt Assumption and Public Debt Management Act.