Farirai Machivenyika– Senior Reporter
President Mnangagwa is expected to give his State of the Nation Address (SONA) tomorrow where he will also open the Second Session of the 10th Parliament as gazetted by the Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, last week under General Notice, 1527 of 2024.
The First Session of the 10th Parliament which ends tomorrow started after the harmonised elections held on August 23 last year.
“It is hereby notified, for public information, that His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa will – (a) in terms of section 140(1) of the Constitution, address a joint sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly on Wednesday, the 2nd of October, 2024, at 2pm, during which he will set out the Government’s legislative agenda for the Second Session of the Tenth Parliament and (b) in terms of section 140(4) of the Constitution, deliver the State of the Nation Address,” Adv Mudenda said.
The recalls that were instigated by the CCC’s interim secretary-general, Senator Sengezo Tshabangu, against legislators aligned to the party’s former president, Mr Nelson Chamisa, meant the First Session began with infighting that has become synonymous with the opposition party.
Following the harmonised elections held last year, Zanu PF had won 136 of the 210 contested constituencies while the CCC won 73 seats with the recalls providing the ruling party with a platform to increase its dominance in the National Assembly.
After the elections, Zanu PF also won 33 of the 60 proportional representation women’s seats and seven of the 10 youth seats while the CCC won 27 of the women’s proportional seats and three youths’ seats.
Following the by-elections held to fill the vacancies necessitated by the death and recalls of MPs by the CCC, Zanu PF increased its contested seats to 150 while the CCC’s total decreased to 60.
After adding the seats for the women and youth quotas, Zanu PF now has 190 seats, while the CCC has 90, which means the ruling party now has a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
While the recalls of the opposition party’s legislators are one of the major highlights of the First Session of the 10th Parliament, the signing of the Criminal Laws Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Act, 2024 by President Mnangagwa nearly two weeks ago raising the sexual age of consent from 16 years to 18 years also provided a significant legislative development during the First Session. The new law is meant to protect children from sexual exploitation in line with Constitutional requirements.
The Bills that are currently before Parliament and likely to be carried over to the next session include the Persons with Disabilities Bill, Death Penalty Abolition Bill and the Parks and Wildlife Amendment Bill, which are currently being debated in the National Assembly.
The Private Voluntary Organisations (Amendment) Bill was passed by the National Assembly and is now before the Senate, while the Administration of Estates Amendment Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament and is now at the printers for proof-reading before it is transmitted to the President for his assent.
Other Bills include the Mines and Minerals Bill which is awaiting gazetting after President Mnangagwa withheld his assent on the Bill that was initially passed by Parliament in 2018 as he felt some of its clauses violated property rights as it gave rights to a miner ahead of a farmer if a mineral was found on agricultural land.
The Medical Services Amendment Bill is now ready for tabling in Parliament while the Insurance and Pensions Commission Amendment Bill and the State Service (Pensions) Bill await gazetting.
SOURCE:The Herald
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