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Cde Mudenda

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Parliament has shortlisted candidates to be interviewed for appointment to various independent commissions soon to be set up as required under Zimbabwe’s new constitution.
The Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders is expected to meet next week to deliberate on a list compiled by a sub-committee tasked to screen and assess the credentials of the applicants.

Parliament recently invited nominations for people who wanted to be considered to sit as commissioners on various independent bodies.

The nominations, which are in line with the new Constitution, closed on May 23 this year.

The successful candidates will sit on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.

Terms of office of some of the incumbents have either lapsed or are about to expire, while some of the commissions are the product of the new Constitution.

Speaker of the National Assembly Cde Jacob Mudenda said in an interview yesterday that the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders would meet next week to deliberate on the short-listed candidates.

“The process is still ongoing,” he said. “We are still seized with it. We will meet on Monday to get a full report.”

Cde Mudenda said interviews would be conducted to compile a final list at a date to be determined. He could not be drawn into divulging names of those shortlisted.

Cde Mudenda said they had asked Government to come up with an enabling Act for the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to spell out its terms of reference.

The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs superintends the Commission.

“We have approached the Ministry under which the Commission falls to speed up promulgation of the enabling Act so that it helps us when we conduct our interviews,” said Cde Mudenda.

He said the enabling Act would inform Parliament in drafting questions for purposes of conducting interviews.

According to the new Constitution, members of most commissions are appointed by the President in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.

Appointments to the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission do not require the President to consult the JSC.

New bodies created by the new Constitution are the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.

The President will appoint chairpersons and eight other members to each commission from a list of not fewer than 12 nominees forwarded by Parliament.