THE Trafficking in Persons Bill passed through the National Assembly on Tuesday despite suggestions by MDC-T legislators that people should first be consulted to give their input on the law.
VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
Zanu PF MPs said it should be bulldozed through the House to avert financial sanctions as there was a United Nations cut-off date for countries to pass it.
However, MDC-T legislator for Musikavanhu Prosper Mutseyami said it was imperative to consult members of the public first on any law to be passed by Parliament as stipulated by the Constitution.
Kuwadzana MDC-T MP Lucia Matibenga said it was hypocritical for Zanu PF legislators to say there was urgency in passing the Bill and yet Zimbabwe had signed the UN protocol on human trafficking in 2001 and for 10 years sat on it without domesticating it and making it a law.
She said it was important for people to be consulted first to speak on their experiences with human trafficking, kidnapping and being sold as sex slaves or for cheap labour before the Bill was passed.
Her suggestions were, however, thwarted by Zanu PF MPs who said Zimbabwe needed that law urgently to curb instances such as the kidnapping of over 200 school girls in Nigeria by terrorist group Boko Haram.
“I support that the Bill should pass, but with a heavy heart because it is a matter of life and death and human trafficking affects especially the vulnerable groups such as women and children,” said Matibenga.
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“This protocol was signed in 2001 and now we are in 2014 and the Home Affairs Ministry is beginning to say they are running towards the deadline and yet they sat on the job,” she said.
Matibenga said it was imperative for the Bill to ensure victims of human trafficking for sex and other crimes were compensated and a fund set up for that, either through the money confiscated as it was a lucrative business or through funding by the fiscus.
Zanu PF Buhera West MP Oliver Mandipaka said enactment of the law was urgent as Zimbabwe was a potential port for human trafficking for labour, prostitution and even terrorism.
Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi said it was true that the convention was signed in 2001.
“It is important that this Bill should pass as it originated from the UN and there is no violation of the Constitution if we do not do public hearings on the Bill due to that it did not originate from Zimbabwe. Some of the suggestions like compensation and rehabilitation of victims are already provided for in the Bill,” said Mohadi.
Meanwhile, the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Portfolio Committee chaired by MDC-T Harare West MP Jessie Majome yesterday recommended that Zimbabwe Electoral Commissioners should be increased from five and the number of commissioners appointed by the Executive reduced to ensure its independence.
