By Byron Mutingwende Geographical indications are important for socio-economic development and wealth creation, experts in intellectual property issues have said. Mr Fernando dos Santos, the Director-General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) made the remarks at the two-day Sub-regional Intellectual Property (IP) Conference on Geographical Indications in Africa, organised by the…
The East African Regional Caucus meeting has concluded in Nairobi following days of consultations between members of Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and civil society organizations from the region. The overarching recommendation from the three-day meeting called upon the PAP to collaborate with civil society organizations to build regional consensus in the promotion of African Union (AU)…
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) East African Regional Caucus has been urged to heed the call and ratify the Malabo Protocol during the opening ceremony of the consultation meeting currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting is being held under the theme: “Building regional consensus on AU legal instruments and promoting the ratification of the protocol to…
By Joyce Mukucha The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) public hearings process on the National Inquiry on Access to Documentation in Zimbabwe for Harare Metropolitan Province roared into life aimed at resolving a human rights problem that is widespread and recurring thereby affecting a significant number of people in Zimbabwe pertaining the issuance of national documents….
A consultative meeting of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) East African Regional Caucus will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme: Building regional consensus on AU legal instruments and promoting the ratification of the protocol to the constitutive act of the Pan-African parliament: engaging civil society organizations in the promotion of AU legal instruments, from 18 to…
By Byron Mutingwende The conference in Zimbabwe on intellectual property (IP), innovation and value addition for business competitiveness and sustainable development is set to put Africa on course to compete globally in terms of innovation. Officially opening the conference in Harare running from 6 to 8 November 2019 yesterday, Hon Ziyambi Ziyambi, Zimbabwe’s…
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has engaged stakeholders to map strategies in the process of an inquiry on the access to documentation in Zimbabwe. This emerged at a workshop that was aimed at strategising on a public inquiry that the ZHRC seeks to undertake from the 11th to the 16th of November in Harare….
By Kumbirai Mufunda Zimbabwean authorities have summoned pro-democracy campaigner Lynette Mudehwe to stand trial on Monday 4 November 2019 on charges of criminal nuisance for allegedly participating in an anti-government demonstration held four years ago to protest against former Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko’s lengthy stay in a hotel. Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers recently served Mudehwe,…
By Kumbirai Mafunda Mbare Magistrate Stanford Mambanje on Tuesday 22 October 2019 granted bail to three pro-democracy campaigners who were arrested early in the week and charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly staging a protest outside Harare Magistrates Court. Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers on Monday 21 October 2019 arrested Denford Ngadziore , a Councillor…
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has honoured and paid tribute to the late former Zimbabwean President, His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe who passed on last month due to “advanced cancer” describing him as a “Giant of Africa”. The PAP paid tribute to Mugabe after a draft motion was moved by Honourable Jaynet Kabila of Democratic…
By Veritas Introduction Several Acts of Parliament contain provisions permitting the President or a Minister to make statutory instruments ‒ regulations, orders and so on ‒ which amend the Acts themselves. For example: The Schedule to the Land Acquisition Act sets out principles which must be followed in assessing compensation to be paid for farms compulsorily…
By Veritas The 10th October is the day on which the United Nations every year urges countries of the world to abolish the death penalty. Zimbabwe has not yet heeded the call, even though no one has been executed here since 2005. Our courts continue to sentence prisoners to death for murder, and these prisoners…
By Kumbirai Mafunda High Court Judge Justice Owen Tagu on Thursday 3 October 2019 reserved judgment on an urgent chamber application filed by Community Water Alliance Trust (CWAT) seeking an order to compel President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his government to urgently act and ensure the provision of water to Harare residents and avert a crisis…
By Joice Mukucha The Election Resource Centre (ERC) has launched an Analysis of the Legal Framework of Elections in Zimbabwe which is meant to govern the country’s elections, advocate for electoral reforms and improve the conduct of future elections. The framework will be periodically used to test what is presented as reforms against the status…
By Kumbirai Mafunda High Court Judge Justice Happias Zhou on Tuesday 24 September 2019 interdicted Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) from preventing Dr Peter Magombeyi, the leader of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) from leaving Zimbabwe to access medical services in South Africa. ZRP had on Monday 23 September 2019 prevented Dr Magombeyi from travelling to…
By Byron Mutingwende The law and policy framework is very important in improving the lives of people with disabilities (PWDs). Speaking during a breakfast meeting on disability awareness raising, Mr. Abraham Mateta, a disability advocate, said the main challenge that PWDs organisations have been facing was to encourage conversations that excluded policymakers. The…
By Kumbirai Mafunda The High Court will today Monday 16 September 2019 hear an urgent chamber application filed by the family of a missing medical doctor seeking an order compelling Zimbabwean authorities to account for the whereabouts of Dr Peter Magombeyi, after he was abducted by some unknown assailants on Saturday 14 September 2019. Elizabeth…
By Gideon Madzikatidze A High Court judge has dismissed with costs a dispute over land in Harare’s high density suburb of Budiriro 4, which had degenerated into a nasty battle between apostolic sect members and their leader, Madzibaba Enock (Herbert Senda). Herbert Senda, 37, the court said, is the rightful owner of the land. He…
By Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) In a preparatory meeting that was held yesterday at Fairmile Hotel in Gweru, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) urged citizens to have national documents so that they cannot be denied their basic human rights. ZHRC will be conducting a National Inquiry next week throughout the Midlands Province trying to identify…
By Joyce Mukucha As the year winds down, the Member of the House of Assembly for Norton Constituency Honourable Temba Mliswa expressed his excitement as his constituency substantial developmental initiatives. One of the notable developments in Norton is the resuscitation of Lucas Battery Company which resumed the production after so many years of not operating….
By Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) MDC National Organising Secretary, Honourable Amos Chibaya yesterday donated 50 bags of cement each to Mkoba 3 High School and Takunda Primary School in a bid to build infrastructure needed at the mentioned schools. In an interview with Spiked Online Media, Honourable Chibaya said the cement was purchased under the…
Roger Nkondo Dang, the President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has learnt with sadness and great dismay, the reports of acts of violence targeted at foreign African nationals in some parts of our sister country, South Africa. The violence and tension are seemingly spreading into other parts of the Continent, leading into displacement of helpless…
By Kumbirai Mafunda The City of Harare (CoH) has been ordered to pay more than US$3 000 to a motorist as compensation for damage to his vehicle which was battered after it fell into an unmarked ditch, which was left uncovered by the local authority’s employees. With the assistance of Fiona Iliff of Zimbabwe Lawyers…
By Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) Fuming Gweru residents pleaded for the removal of Section 40 of the Marriage Bill at a meeting that was held on the 30th of August at Gweru Civic Centre. A number of Gweru residents urged legislators to remove Section 40 of the Marriage Bill arguing when passed the Bill was…
During the commemoration of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance held on 30 August 2019, five leading human rights organisations called on African states to end the use of enforced disappearances and ensure justice and reparations for thousands of victims in Africa. They argued that for decades, thousands of people including government…
By Farai Chirimumimba It’s fair to say that the government is now trolling sections 56 and 59 of the Constitution that talk of equal treatment before the law and give citizens right to peaceful demonstrations respectively. I hope the courts haven’t decided to be concocted in this shame. In a recent press conference, the minister…
By Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) Two juveniles from Gokwe North who sold a flash disc that they had stolen were recently arraigned before Magistrate Shotgame Masaiwona after it was found with a man from their neighborhood. It is alleged that Principal Tatenda Makumbirofa was found with the flash disc that matched the one that was…
The MDC National Organiser Amos Chibaya was yesterday arrested and charged with failing to take steps to stop the demonstrations called for by his party starting 16 August 2019. Chibaya was the convener of the MDC’s proposed peaceful demonstrations in four cities that were later foiled by the police after they issued four prohibition orders…
The Heads of Mission of the Delegation of the European Union, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom and the Heads of Mission of Australia, Canada and the United States of America have urged the government of Zimbabwe to uphold human rights and respect freedom of assembly. In a joint statement,…
By Tendai Guvamombe The Harare City Council and the Environmental Management Agency are under fire for allowing invasion of wetlands in the old suburbs of Mabvuku and Tafara amid reports that residents are grappling with water shortages as springs drying are up. This was revealed on Thursday last week during a meeting on Wetlands Preservation…
By Joyce Mukucha Sunny Yi Feng Tiles Zimbabwe, a Chinese factory company in Norton has been accused of violations and non-compliance issues by neglecting to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment thereby posing serious damages to the surrounding environment. In his letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Member of the House of Assembly for Norton Constituency…
By Owami Sithole Adolescents continue to experience challenges in accessing reproductive health services be it in schools and communities because of a limit imposed by the age of consent law in Zimbabwe, COMPASS-ACT has said. This has led to challenges such as unwanted pregnancies, HIV and AIDS, abortions and STIs among adolescents. Munyaradzi Chimwara, the…
By Staff Reporter The Pan-African Parliamentary (PAP) Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources recently came up with this draft model law on food security and nutrition in Africa whose main objective is to strengthen and consolidate positions on food security and nutrition, as well as the right to adequate food. The model…
The African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) is in Zimbabwe on a sensitisation mission with a view of promoting the Pan African Judicial Organ. “These visits will help raise awareness of the Court’s existence and encourage African States to ratify the Protocol establishing the Court and make the Declaration to allow individuals and…
By Staff Reporter The Inter-Parliament Union (IPU) President Gabriela Cuevas Barrons pledged to work closely with Africa as a token of appreciation for the support they gave her in the run-up to IPU presidential elections in 2017. Addressing the just ended 10th Conference of Speakers of African Assemblies and Senate during the ongoing Pan-African Parliament’s…
By Staff Reporter The Association of Secretaries-General of African Parliaments (ASGAP) recently elected the new leadership during the Ordinary Session of the Permanent Committee Sittings of the Pan African Parliament Fifth Parliament in Midrand, South Africa. According to their constitution ASGAP is an institution-based and a consultative forum, established by voluntarily association under the auspices…
Politician and eminent businessman, Mr. Joseph Makamba (JM) Busha has said investigations into corruption at the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) should date back to the 1990s and not start and end with arrested former Minister Priscah Mupfumira. “The corruption at NSSA is not new at all. The entity might have been prejudiced of billions…
Delegates at the just ended 10th Conference of Speakers of African Assemblies and Senates have proposed an extension to the dedication period regarding this year’s African Union theme on forced migration. The African Union theme for this year is “Finding durable solutions to forced migration to accelerate integration and development in Africa: the role of…
The MDC alliance has described as “brazen act of political thuggery” the move by government to withhold the MDC grant entitled to the party under the Political Parties Finance Act while Zanu PF has already been paid their dues. The party reported that the past one week has seen top MDC officials being sent from…
As part of its comprehensive efforts to observe the Lupane East Constituency National Assembly, Nkayi Rural District Council (RDC) Ward 23 and Bubi RDC Ward 22 by-elections, for the Lupane East constituency by-election, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) deployed 14 long-term observers who also observed at the ward collation centre on Election Day and…
Peace and Security status on the continent will take centre stage in Egypt when the Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolutions meets in Cairo as part of the August Sittings of the Permanent Committees of the 5th Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), from 02 to 10 August 2019. Hosted by the Egyptian…
The August Sittings of the Permanent Committees of the fifth Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) are scheduled to be held from 02 to 10 August 2019 at the seat of the continental Parliament in Midrand, South Africa. The August Sittings will be guided by the African Union theme of 2019; ‘Year of Refugees, Returnees and…
By Veritas On Friday 5th July the Freedom of Information Bill was published in the Gazette; it is available on the Veritas website [Link]. It is the first of three Bills the Government intends to present in Parliament to replace the much-criticised Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act [AIPPA]. In fact the Bill has little…
By Tatenda Mujeyi Cabinet ratified the Beijing Treaty on Audio and Visual performances in a development that will ensure that artists will benefit from their work. “Cabinet considered and approved the Ratification of the Beijing Treaty on Audio Visual Performances which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,” the Chairperson of…
Adverse Report by Parliamentary Legal Committee By Veritas On the 24th July the Deputy Speaker of Parliament announced that the Parliamentary Legal Committee had issued an adverse report on the Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill, meaning that the Committee had found some provisions of the Bill to be unconstitutional. The report can be seen on…
