BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA GOVERNMENT last week fast-tracked crafting of the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Amendment Bill and sent it for committee reading at a time when most opposition legislators were not present in the National Assembly.
The Committee Reading Stage is the most important stage as Bills are scrutinised clause by clause at that stage.
On Tuesday, Public Service minister Paul Mavima introduced the Second Reading of the Bill.
In May during the Second Reading Stage, MPs and members of the public that also took part in public hearings on the Bill criticised it for contentious clauses that give too much power to the Public Service minister to interfere in the operations of non-governmental organisations.
The Bill will give the Public Service minister powers to register or de-register NGOs. Government argues that it is meant to suppress money laundering, and to ensure that NGOs declare their sources of funding.
On Wednesday, the Bill sailed through Committee Reading Stage in the National Assembly in a rushed manner, which has resulted in opposition Citizens Coalition for Change MPs complaining that leader of the House, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi denied them an opportunity to scrutinise its clauses.
The MPs argued that although the House had granted leave for the two stages to be dealt on the same day, the Committee Stage must not have been fast-tracked.
Dzivaresekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (CCC) said: “It is actually there where the leader of the House, including the chairperson of the committee was denying me and other MPs a chance to speak. The PVOs Amendment Bill had number of amendments and there was a heated debate during the Second Reading Stage. For the honourable chairperson of the committee to deny me the right to contribute and then quickly sail through that Bill without any debate, I think it is a clear violation of my right as an MP, and also the democratic process of this country.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
During the rushed Committee Stage, Mushoriwa also complained that MPs who wanted to debate using virtual platforms were deliberately not given the chance to do so under the instruction of Ziyambi.
Another CCC legislator, Innocent Gonese (Mutare Central) said the PVOs Amendment Bill was contentious and required more time for MPs to deliberate, adding that Parliament Standing Rules and Orders stipulates that no two stages of a Bill may be dealt with on the same day.
But Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda said the opposition MPs were raising the issues late, adding: “You want to close the stable door when horses have bolted”.
Legal think-tank Veritas said during Mavima’s Second Reading speech, there was no explanation, either, of the extensive amendments that he had proposed on the Order Paper since June 8 in anticipation of the Committee Stage — some of which were clearly unconstitutional.
“With the leave of the depleted House, the minister then turned to the Committee Stage and went through the Bill clause by clause, pausing at appropriate intervals to put the amendments in his name that were listed on the Order Paper. Every amendment and all clauses, including the new amended clauses, were approved entirely without explanation, debate, discussion or questions,” Veritas said in a statement.
- Follow Miriam on Twitter @FloMangwaya
