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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
President Mnangagwa has signed into law the Shop Licences Amendment Bill, which seeks to improve the ease of doing business through removing bottlenecks and bureaucracy when one wants to start a business.

The Bill sailed through Parliament last month and was sent to the President for his consideration on July 26 in terms of Section 131 (5)(b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The assent of the Bill by the President was announced by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda in a Government Gazette published last week.

“The following law, which was assented to by His Excellency the President, was published in terms of Section 131 (6) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” the gazette reads.

Clause 3 of the Bill seeks to amend the principal Act by providing that a licensing authority should issue a single vending licence where any person operates more than one vending machine.

Clause 6 relaxes the duration of a licence by deleting a statement: “up to 31 December of the year for which it is renewed” and substitute it with: “for a period of not less than 12 months but not exceeding five years as determined by the licensing authority concerned from time to time”.

Clause 9 requires that applications for licences be transacted electronically for expeditious and transparent purposes.

“Every licensing authority shall establish or cause to be established or approve an electronic medium within five years from the date of commencement of this Act, through which persons may lodge electronic applications for a licence,” reads the Bill.

“Where a licensing authority has established or approved an electronic medium for the purpose of submission of applications for a licence in terms of Subsection (1) any person may submit an electronic application referred to in Subsection (1) through such electronic medium to such licensing authority and the licensing authority concerned shall attend to such application electronically in accordance with this section.”

Clause 10 imposes an obligation within which an application should be responded to.

The licensing authority should: “determine an application for a new licence within 21 days of the day for which an application in terms of Section 16 has been made unless, at the request of the applicant, the hearing or determination of the application has been postponed for any longer period.”