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VP Mnangagwa

Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Government has made major strides in aligning laws to the new Constitution and the process is expected to be completed before the end of the fifth session of the Eighth Parliament.

Out of 396 Acts in the country’s statute books, 206 required alignment at the inception of the new Constitution.

At least 43 remain outstanding so far.

This was revealed by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he delivered a lecture on the Constitution of Zimbabwe to officers attending Joint Command and Staff Course Number 30 in Harare yesterday.

VP Mnangagwa, who also oversees the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, said Government was committed to ensuring that all Acts were aligned to the new Constitution.

“I am happy to highlight that to date significant progress has been made in the alignment of legislation to the Constitution, and it is hoped that by the end of the 5th session of the Eighth Parliament all the laws will have been aligned.

“Of the 396 Acts in our statute books, 206 required alignment at the inception of the new Constitution. 67 of these are confined to making appropriate provisions for the representation of women in statutory bodies. Of the 206 statutes which required alignment, 51 have been aligned by the coming into force of the National Prosecuting Authority Act (Chapter 7:20)

“Moreover, two statues were aligned by the Public Debt Management Act (Chapter22:21),” he said.

VP Mnangagwa said the General Laws Amendment Act amended 125 Acts leaving 49 Acts requiring substantive amendments.

“Of the 49 Acts outstanding, six more Acts have been signed by the President in the last quarter of the third session of Parliament as follows; Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Act, Gender Commission Act, Joint Ventures Act, Local Government Amendment Act and Special Economic Zones Act,” he said.

In relation to the Defence Forces, VP Mnangagwa said, several progressive provisions to the execution of ZDF’s constitutional mandate were also extensively covered in the Constitution.

In this regard, VP Mnangagwa said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Bill would be aligned to reflect these provisions with a view to make the force more efficient and modern.

“Moreover, the Act must comply with the provisions of Section 210 that there should be a provision for an effective and independent complaints handling mechanism from members of the public. This will make the force more efficient, transparent and accountable to the people it serves,” he said.

VP Mnangagwa also took time to explain in detail several provisions of the new Constitution as they relate to various aspects.