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Bill Watch 4/2025 of 8th February 2025: Next Week in Parliament


On
the
11th
February
both
Houses
of
Parliament
will
come
back
after
a
long
break

they
adjourned
in
mid-December
last
year. 
In
this
Bill
Watch
we
shall
outline
the
business
they
are
expected
to
deal
with
when
they
resume
sitting,
but
please
bear
the
following
points
in
mind:

  • When
    the
    National
    Assembly
    and
    the
    Senate
    adjourn,
    they
    set
    down
    all
    outstanding
    business
    on
    their
    Order
    Papers
    (i.e.
    their
    agendas)
    for
    the
    next
    appropriate
    sitting
    day. 
    There
    is
    usually
    too
    much
    to
    be
    covered
    in
    one
    day,
    so
    whatever
    is
    not
    dealt
    with
    is
    postponed
    to
    the
    next
    appropriate
    day.
  • Both
    Houses
    of
    Parliament
    can
    change
    the
    order
    in
    which
    they
    consider
    business.

NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY

Tuesday
11th
February

International
agreement
to
be
ratified

The
Assembly
will
be
asked
to
ratify
the
African
Charter
on
Statistics,
signed
in
Addis
Ababa
on
the
4th
February
2009.

Bills
to
be
dealt
with

Two
Bills
are
due
to
be
dealt
with
by
the
Assembly:


  • Persons
    with
    Disabilities
    Bill
     [link]

This
Bill
is
due
to
begin
its
Committee
Stage. 
Extensive
amendments
are
proposed
to
the
Bill.


  • Parks
    and
    Wild
    Life
    Amendment
    Bill
     [link]

The
Second
Reading
of
this
Bill
is
due
to
continue.

Report
of
Constitutional
Commission
to
be
considered

The
Assembly
will
be
asked
to
consider
the
report
of
the
Zimbabwe
Gender
Commission
for
2023.

Portfolio
Committee
reports

Reports
to
be
considered
for
adoption
by
the
Assembly
will
cover
the
following
topics:

  • The
    state
    of
    the
    electricity
    supply
    in
    Zimbabwe
  • Meagre
    pension
    pay-outs
    by
    NSSA
  • Non-communicable
    diseases,
    including
    cancer
  • Implementation
    of
    the
    digitisation
    project
    in
    Zimbabwe
  • Failure
    by
    some
    local
    authorities
    to
    submit
    financial
    statements
    to
    the
    Auditor-General
  • Food
    security
    in
    Zimbabwe
  • Statelessness
    of
    migrants
    in
    Zimbabwe
  • Mobile
    and
    internet
    connectivity
  • Infrastructure
    at
    schools
    constructed
    in
    2023
  • Financial
    statements
    of
    the
    Zimbabwe
    National
    Road
    Administration
    for
    2021
    and
    2022.

Motions
on
the
National
Assembly
order
paper

Motions
set
to
be
debated
by
the
Assembly
will
include
the
following
topics:

  • Protection
    of
    indigenous
    herbal
    trees
    against
    over-exploitation
  • Reservation
    of
    30
    per
    cent
    of
    government
    tenders
    for
    youth-led
    enterprises
  • Urging
    the
    Ministry
    of
    Finance
    to
    ensure
    that
    the
    Women’s
    Micro
    Finance
    Bank
    fulfils
    its
    mandate
    and
    to
    enable
    women
    to
    meet
    collateral
    requirements
  • Urging
    the
    Registrar-General’s
    Office
    to
    conduct
    a
    mobile
    registration
    exercise
    to
    provide
    citizens
    with
    primary
    documents
    by
    the
    end
    of
    2024
  • More
    resources
    for
    treatment
    of
    mental
    disorders
    and
    for
    monitoring
    and
    treating
    drug
    abuse
  • Measures
    to
    improve
    digital
    infrastructure
    in
    schools
  • Introducing
    a
    separate
    class
    of
    drivers
    licence
    for
    vehicles
    with
    automatic
    transmission
  • Reply
    to
    the
    President’s
    speech.

Petitions
to
be
considered

  • A
    petition
    on
    menstrual
    health
    and
    hygiene
    management
  • A
    petition
    calling
    for
    reburial
    of
    heroes
    and
    heroines
    of
    the
    Liberation
    War
  • A
    petition
    on
    the
    establishment
    of
    a
    nurse
    aides
    council.

Wednesday
12th
February

Questions
set
down
for
answer

Among questions set
down
for
Ministers
to
answer
on
Wednesday
12th
February
are questions on the
following
issues:

  • Religious
    radio
    licences
  • Community
    share
    ownership
    trusts
    in
    the
    Hwange
    area
  • Reopening
    of
    the
    Cold
    Storage
    Commission
    and
    payments
    to
    its
    former
    employees
  • Compensation
    for
    former
    farm
    workers
    displaced
    during
    the
    fast-track
    land
    resettlement
    programme
  • Maternal
    and
    neo-natal
    deaths
    during
    2024
  • Production
    of
    annual
    demographic
    health
    surveys
    since
    2015
  • An
    upsurge
    of
    HIV/AIDS
    cases
    in
    parts
    of
    Bulawayo
  • Employment
    of
    general
    workers
    in
    government
    institutions
  • Preparations
    for
    receiving
    Zimbabweans
    deported
    from
    South
    Africa
  • Measures
    to
    retain
    skilled
    workers
    in
    government
    departments
  • Pension
    packages
    for
    long-serving
    civil
    servants
  • Scrapping
    compulsory
    third-party
    insurance
  • Reopening
    the
    Bindura
    Nickel
    Mine
  • Liquidation
    of
    the
    Commercial
    Farmers’
    Union
    stake
    in
    Kuvimba
    Mining
    House
  • The
    Government’s
    purchase
    of
    the
    remaining
    shareholding
    in
    Kuvimba
    Mining
    House
  • Progress
    in
    the
    IMF’s
    Staff
    Monitored
    Programme
    and
    the
    structured
    dialogue
    platform
    for
    debt
    management
  • The
    ban
    on
    the
    importation
    of
    10-year-old
    motor
    vehicles
  • Payment
    of
    pensions
    by
    the
    Mining
    Industry
    Pension
    Fund
  • Repair
    of
    environmental
    damage
    caused
    by
    open-cast
    mining
  • Re-engagement
    with
    the
    government
    of
    the
    United
    States
  • The
    position
    of
    SADC
    on
    the
    electoral
    conflict
    in
    Mozambique
  • Allocation
    of
    land
    to
    religious
    organisations
  • Ensuring
    that
    traditional
    leaders
    are
    non-partisan

Parliamentary
Legal
Committee

The
Committee
is
considering
the
Broadcasting
Services
Amendment
Bill [link].

SENATE

Tuesday
11th
February

Bill
to
be
dealt
with
by
the
Senate


  • Private
    Voluntary
    Organisations
    Amendment
    Bill
     [link]
    This
    Bill
    is
    to
    be
    recommitted
    to
    the
    Senate,
    since
    the
    version
    of
    the
    Bill
    passed
    by
    the
    Senate
    in
    October
    contained
    errors,
    as
    explained
    in
    Bill
    Watch
    39/2024 [link].

Report
of
Constitutional
Commission
to
be
considered

The
Senate
will
be
asked
to
consider
the
report
of
the
Zimbabwe
Gender
Commission
for
2023.

Thematic
Committee
reports
to
be
considered

The
Senate
will
be
asked
to
adopt
reports
on:

  • Drug
    and
    substance
    abuse
    treatment
    and
    rehabilitation
    centres
  • Community
    share
    ownership
    trusts
  • The
    roll-out
    of
    ARVs
    and
    the
    effect
    of
    drug
    and
    substance
    abuse
    in
    preventing
    HIV/AIDS
    and
    other
    diseases
  • The
    rights
    of
    elderly
    people.

Motions
to
be
dealt
with
by
the
Senate

The
Senate
is
expected
to
debate
motions
on
the
following
topics:

  • Reply
    to
    the
    President’s
    speech
  • Production
    of
    illegal
    alcoholic
    beverages
  • Improving
    the
    conditions
    of
    unpaid
    care
    and
    domestic
    workers
  • Immunisation
    of
    children
    against
    measles
  • New
    prosecuting
    guidelines
    published
    by
    the
    Prosecutor-General
  • Preventing
    siltation,
    deforestation
    and
    preserving
    natural
    resources
  • Children
    and
    drug
    abuse
  • Increasing
    the
    involvement
    of
    women
    in
    mining
    activities
  • Protection
    of
    constitutional
    gender
    rights
  • Calling
    on
    traditional
    leaders
    to
    engage
    in
    cultural
    practices
    and
    conduct
    ancestral
    appeasement
    ceremonies.

Thursday
12th
December

Questions
set
down
for
answer

Among
questions
for
Ministers
to
answer
on
Thursday
are
questions
on
the
following
issues:

  • Remuneration
    of
    teachers
    in
    government
    and
    private
    schools
  • Labour
    practices
    by
    foreign-owned
    companies
  • Protection
    of
    consumers
    from
    fake
    products
    and
    expired
    food
    products,
    and
    telling
    them
    how
    to
    make
    complaints
    about
    product
    safety
  • Banning
    police
    officers
    from
    using
    cellphones
    on
    duty
  • The
    effects
    of
    Zimbabwe’s
    meddling
    in
    Mozambique
    elections
  • Efficacy
    of
    measures
    against
    cholera
  • Plans
    to
    prevent
    the
    construction
    of
    illegal
    structures
  • The
    establishment
    of
    the
    parole
    board,
    mandated
    by
    the
    Prisons
    and
    Correctional
    Services
    Act.

ADDITIONAL
BILLS

The
following
Bills
have
been
published
in
the
Gazette
but
do
not
appear
on
the
Order
Paper
of
either
House. 
They
will
presumably
be
dealt
with
later
in
the
session:

  • Broadcasting
    Services
    Amendment
    Bill,
    2024 [link] (published
    22/11/2024)
  • Insurance
    and
    Pensions
    Commission
    Amendment
    Bill,
    2024 [link] (published
    20/12/2024)
  • Medical
    Services
    Amendment
    Bill,
    2024 [link] (published
    19/7/2024)
  • State
    Service
    (Pensions)
    Bill,
    2024 [link] (published
    6/12/2024)

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effort
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reliable
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