Parly calls for amendment of Zimdef Act
By Blessings Mashaya
A Parliament committee wants to amend a law governing the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) to whittle down the Higher Education minister’s powers.
The parliamentary portfolio committee on Higher Education chairperson Peter Mataruse said they would introduce an amendment to the law so that the minister’s wide discretionary powers could be clipped.
“We feel that the Zimdef Act needs to be amended, we feel it gives too much power to the minister. The permanent secretary has no power on the issue. However, he is the accounting officer of the ministry; the minister is not the accounting officer.
“We are going to recommend the amendment of this law,” Mataruse said during yesterday’s tour of Harare Polytechnic.
Zimdef is a fund established in terms of the Manpower Planning and Development Act (Chapter 28:02) and is administered by the ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.
According to the Act, the minister is the trustee of the fund.
This came after Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption officials said Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo and officials in his ministry used money meant for the manpower development to fund personal interests.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) investigations committee, Goodson Nguni has alleged that Moyo, in concert with officials from his ministry, diverted $430 000 from the fund to finance personal activities.
Moyo has said the money was used to fund the “Million Man March”, a massive parade of thousands of party youths in support of President Robert Mugabe and festivities to celebrate the nonagenarian’s birthday.
Moyo has approached the Constitutional Court challenging the Zacc’s arresting powers.
Moyo filed the application against Zacc after he was briefly detained by the anti-graft body.
He argued Zacc does not have the power to arrest and detain suspects in terms of the new Constitution.
Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba deferred the case after ruling that Moyo’s application was not properly filed in terms of the Rules of the Court. Daily News
