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Acting President Mnangagwa

Felex Share : Senior Reporter

Government yesterday launched a website for the inter-ministerial taskforce on the alignment of legislation (IMT) which will enab involved in the process to access information easily. Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who oversees the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, launched the website in Harare.The inter-ministerial taskforce was established by Cabinet as an institutional platform to facilitate the legislative alignment process.

It consists of legal advisors, senior State counsels and representatives from all Government ministries.

Attorney-General Advocate Prince Machaya chairs the taskforce.

Acting President Mnangagwa said the move to launch a website was Government’s endeavour to promote public awareness and participation through e-governance.

“The launch of the IMT website is more than just a mere embracement of Information and Communication Technology as it embodies my ministry’s quest to ensure that the multi-faceted range of stakeholders in the alignment process has access to information on the process,” he said.

“It further seeks to uphold our deep- seated constitutional and democratic principles of consultation and validation by citizens before implementation of statutes that affect them. It will assist us to communicate better and serve the public more effectively. To achieve world-class justice, it is important to embrace ICT as a key enabler. The website will periodically update the public on progress made in the alignment process.”

Government has aligned 159 laws with the new Constitution following its adoption in 2013 and efforts are underway to complete the process. About 200 statutes have been identified for realign- ment.

Acting President Mnangagwa said the website was developed using modern technologies and would provide updates easily.

“The website is designed to meet the expectations of all stakeholders and the public on an on-going basis,” he said.

“Its connectivity to the parent Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is an added advantage as it provides several additional links, including social media pages and thus enabling the public to communicate and find immediate information from not only the IMT, but the parent ministry as well.”

The Constitution alignment process is co-funded by the European Union, Switzerland and Norway.

Head of EU delegation to Zimbabwe Mr Phillipe Van Damme called on Government to expedite the legislative alignment process.

“One of these strategies to improve the legislative alignment process consists of convening a high-level IMT meeting of all permanent secretaries to obtain increased ownership from the senior decision-makers and find solutions to the challenges affecting alignment of their respective laws,” he said.