Mines Bill must be concluded, President Mnangagwa
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has encouraged legislators to ensure that the mines and minerals amendment bill is concluded during the first session of the 10th Parliament.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking during the official opening of the first session of the tenth Parliament at New Parliament House in Mt Hampden President Mnangagwa said Members of Parliament must speed up and conclude the mines and minerals amendment bill.
“The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, Public Finance Management Amendment Bill, Medical Services Amendment Bill, Insurance Bill and the Private Voluntary Organisation Bill, which were outstanding from the Ninth Parliament, must be concluded during the First Session of this Parliament,” Mnangagwa said.
The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, whose crafting is still in progress, was supposed to be passed into law before the end of the 9th Parliament, however, the parliamentary legal committee said some of the clauses in the Minerals Amendment Bill were going to violate the country’s Constitution which led to the halting of the whole process.
In 2018 the Bill made its way to the President who recommended that some issues be amended resulting in fresh consultations and further cleaning by Parliament and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
A parliament Session is a year long.
In February this year, the Bill was subjected to public scrutiny and paved the way for stakeholder consultations by the Edmond Mkaratigwa-led Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development countrywide. The committee travelled across the country for 2 weeks for public consultations which were mostly fully subscribed to with some venues fully packed to the point of having standing audiences.