Budget in Parliament This Week & Government Gazettes – Bill Watch 40 / 2018

2019 National Budget on Thursday 22nd November

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development will present the 2019 Annual Budget Statement to the National Assembly on Thursday 22nd November. In addition to the Budget Statement he will table the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2019 [usually called the “Blue Book” from the distinctive colour of its cover].

Details of the various stages and the dates of the post-Budget programme for Parliament are expected to be officially announced this week. The programme usually includes a post-Budget Seminar and several days of post-Budget consultations at portfolio committee meetings preceding the resumption of debate on the Budget statement in the National Assembly.

Factors to be taken into account when deciding on the post-Budget programme include the fact that no Parliamentary sittings will be possible from Monday 10th to Sunday 16th December [the period during which Ministers and MPs of the ruling party will be involved in the ZANU PF Annual Peoples’ Conference and its preliminaries].

Note: Last year former President Mugabe’s resignation and President Mnangagwa’s succession to the Presidency delayed the presentation of the 2018 Budget from 28th November to 7th December, resulting in the post-Budget programme having to be scheduled for January. This year’s early Budget presentation may allow Parliament to conclude Budget business before the Christmas recess.

Other Business in Parliament This Week

Both Houses are due to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday for continuation of adjourned debates on motions presented previously. There are 117 questions with notice listed for the National Assembly’s Wednesday Question Time. The Senate’s Thursday Question Time is either unlikely to happen or will be very short as the Senators usually listen to the Budget presentation whilst sitting in the Senate Chamber as there is no room to accommodate both houses in the National Assembly.

Government Gazettes 9th and 16th November 2018

Three separate Government Gazettes were published on Friday 9th November: the regular weekly Gazette and, in the late afternoon, two Gazettes Extraordinary.

There was one regular Gazette published on 16th November.

Regular Gazette of 9th November

Statutory Instruments [SIs]

Collective bargaining agreements: Agricultural industry Two collective bargaining agreements on remuneration were gazetted for sub-sectors of the agricultural industry: SI 242/2018 for the Kapenta sub-sector, and SI 243/2018 for the Horticulture sub-sector.

Local authority by-laws: Marondera Rural District Council SI 241/2018 is the Marondera Rural District Council (Hairdresser’s and Barber’s Shops) By-laws. There are typical provisions for licensing of hairdressers and barbers, standards for business premises and personnel employed.

General Notices

Unlicensed motor vehicles to be de-registered GN 953/2018 [link] gives notice that [unless exempted from licensing] vehicles not licensed for two or more years as at 31st July 2018 will have their registration cancelled unless owners have paid their arrears, or entered into a payment plan, by 9th December 2018. Lists of the affected vehicles may be inspected at specified offices and on the ZINARA website

Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport: Restrictions on Use of Land and Water in its vicinity GN 954/2018 notifies the intention of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to issue an order prohibiting the erection of buildings or structures, by anyone except the Civil Aviation Authority, within 9 km of the airport’s runway. The statutory authority cited is section 63 of the Civil Aviation Act. Written representations about the proposed order may be made to the Minister within 14 days of the notice [An identical notice was gazetted on 16th November.]

First Gazette Extraordinary 9th November 2018

General Notices [GNs]

Orders deleting legal practitioners from register

GNs 969 to 971/2018 publish orders dated 28th September 2018 by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal deleting three named individuals from the Register of Legal Practitioners, Notaries Public and Conveyancers.

Revolving Credit Facility Agreement and State Guarantee

GN 972/2018 is a notification by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development that on the 16th September, representing the Republic of Zimbabwe, he concluded a guarantee in favour of Gemcorp and associated companies guaranteeing the performance by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe [RBZ] of its obligations under a US$ 250 million revolving credit facility agreement between Gemcorp and RBZ maturing after five years. Section 300(3) of the Constitution, which is cited in the GN, provides that the Minister must cause the terms of a State guarantee to be published in the Government Gazette with 60 days after its conclusion.

Second Government Gazette Extraordinary 9th November 2018

Statutory Instruments

Customs duty suspension: urea and ammonium nitrate fertilisers

SI 244/2018 grants a suspension of duty on ring-fenced allocations of both types of fertiliser for the summer crop 2018/2019 season.

NOTE: there were two other important SIs in this Gazette Extraordinary which will be dealt with in a separate Bill Watch:

  • SI 246/2018 Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act and Exchange Control Act) Regulations, 2018
  • SI 245/2018 Exchange Control (Amendment) Regulations (No. 6)

Regular Gazette 16th November 2018

Statutory Instruments

Animal health – foot and mouth areas

SI 250/2018 gazettes 15 areas as foot and mouth areas, replacing a statutory instrument of 1993.

Civil Aviation – Aeronautical Search and Rescue Regulations

SI 252/2018 is a further addition to the already long list of new regulations made under the Civil |Aviation Act by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

Labour Act – arbitrators

SI 249/2018 is the Labour (Arbitrators) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 (No. 1) but does not tell us the SI number of the regulations being amended [it must be SI 173/2012]. That is bad enough, but there are many other errors rendering it unnecessarily difficult to make sense of the SI. It should be republished after corrections have been made.

Collective bargaining agreements

SI 248/2018 deals with remuneration for employees in the Insurance Industry for 2018.

SI 251/2018 deals with remuneration and allowances for employees of School Development Associations and Committees.

Source: Veritas

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