Government officials, including Cabinet ministers that ignore recommendations by parliamentary committees, may face prosecution in future once the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act is amended.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
This was revealed by National Assembly speaker Jacob Mudenda during the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (Sapst) 10-year anniversary celebrations in Harare on Friday.
Mudenda said the new provisions, approved by Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee (Sroc), will ensure that those that do not implement recommendations of parliamentary committees will be prosecuted by the courts.
“On Wednesday, the Sroc passed revisions to the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act, and one of the provisions is that where those who have been asked to respond to recommendation of committees fail to do so – not only are we going to charge them with contempt of Parliament, we are going to use the prosecutor-general to bring them to court, ” Mudenda said.
“Some people have been saying Parliament has no teeth, but if you want to see our teeth, ask us to open our mouths and you will see that our teeth are sharp and can bite.”
Ministers routinely ignore recommendations by parliamentary committees, much to the chagrin of Parliament.
“If a committee comes to the conclusion that there has been some corruption, and if no action takes place, we shall write to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to say that they must do their work, and if they fail to do so, we will summon them to Parliament to ask them why they are not doing their work, because they are not independent to the extent they cannot be summoned by Parliament,” Mudenda said.
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“We are tightening our screws to ensure there is will to act accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Mudenda said Parliament would intensify security at public hearings after a number of events were disrupted by rowdy Zanu PF supporters.
He said plain-clothed security personnel would be deployed at the hearings to spot trouble causers.
“Public hearings are for ideas and it is the constitutional right of members of the public to give their views. We want people that think with their brains, not those who think with their pugilistic styles. Public hearings are not a boxing ring,” Mudenda said.
He said Sapst had in the past 10 years strengthened parliamentary committees and also increased visibility of Parliament.
Mudenda said Sapst was reviewing the Public Finance Management Act with a view to propose amendments to align the law to the Constitution and lead to the adoption of best practices.
USAid country representative Stephanie Funk, speaking at the same event, said it was imperative for Zimbabwe’s laws to be aligned with the Constitution.
She lauded Sapst for supporting rural women farmers to the extent that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe released $10 million for their support.
Sapst chairperson Innocent Matshe said they would continue to support parliaments in southern Africa through capacity building of MPs.
He said they would also take Parliament to the people to enhance transparency and accountability.
John Makamure, the Sapst executive director, said with the support of his institution, Parliament committees had improved their oversight role.
