Mnangagwa’s empty promises

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro

The Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Legislative Alignment (IMT) has failed to spearhead legislative alignment hence questioning government’s commitment to usher-in genuine reform to the state administration and human rights legal framework in the country.

The IMT was created as a product of 2013 constitution and was housed within the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to spearhead the legislative alignment process.

In a report compiled by Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum on the State of Human Rights in Zimbabwe, the IMT has since 2013 been a talkshop as legislative alignment remained stagnant.

“The legislative alignment process has been ongoing since 2013. For the most part, the government has engaged in technical and piecemeal as opposed to substantive alignment.

“This has brought into question government’s to usher-in genuine reform to the governance and human rights legal framework in the country.

“Although the government denies it, there have been significant delays in aligning legislation to the Constitution,” read the report.

In 2018 President Emmerson Mnangagwa rhetorically prioritised seven bills and promised to align them within 12 months.

“During President Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address to Parliament in September 2018, he outlined the Government’s legislative agenda for the next year – the Bills that Government would present to Parliament and expected to be passed during the 12-months-long First Session of the new Parliament. Among those falling under constitutional alignment and devolution were the Constitutional Court Bill, Customary Law and Local Courts Bill, High Court Amendment Bill, Traditional Leaders Amendment Bill, Rural District Councils Bill, Provincial and Metropolitan Councils Bill and the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill. As at the end of 2018, none of these Bills had been completed and passed,” read the report.

Due to the reluctance by government in aligning bills such as Districts Councils Bills, Mnangagwa fails to bring to order people like Grace Mugabe whom he claimed owned 23 farms.

“My Government will work towards ensuring that the pillars of the State ensuring democracy in our land are strengthened and respected. At the end of the day, whatever we do or choose not to do must be intended to benefit all our people, “President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in his inauguration speech at the National Sports Stadium on 24 November 2017 yet the report comes end of 2018 with nothing but empty promises.