Parliament resumes with 2 crucial bills pending

By Tererai Karimakwenda
16 August 2005

Parliament resumed sitting Tuesday with 2 crucial bills waiting in the wings. There was a public hearing on the Constitutional Amendment Bill the first week of August. This is the bill that seeks to establish a new senate and attempts to block any challenges to the acquisition of land by the government, thereby legitimising the land reform programme.

The other important bill is the Educational Amendment Bill which had a public hearing on Thursday 11th August. The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Education Act and give powers to the Minister of Education to prescribe school fees and levies of non-government schools and increase penalties for schools that do not comply. The Minister would also have powers to prescribe and vet the qualifications of teachers employed by non-government schools, and make regulations governing the conduct of associations of teachers and school uniforms.

The Law Society of Zimbabwe has been lobbying against the Constitutional Amendment Bill. Society president Joseph James talked to Gugulethu Moyo on the programme In The Balance, where he described what different groups are doing, and said all Zimbabweans should be very concerned about it.