BILL WATCH 38/2017

[15th October 2017]

New Ministerial Line-up

Following the Presidents Cabinet reshuffle of 9th October 2017

Notes

·        Although Vice-President Mnangagwa is no longer Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, he remains a member of Cabinet because Vice-Presidents are automatically Cabinet members [Constitution, section 105(1)].

·        The new Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is Major General [retired] Happyton Bonyongwe   Until this appointment he was the Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation, a department of the Office of the President and Cabinet.  He is  a qualified lawyer.  He is not a member of Parliament but the Constitution allows the President to appoint up to 5 Ministers from outside Parliament [see note below].  As Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs he will probably become Leader of Government Business in Parliament, taking over from Vice-President Mnangagwa.  He will have ministerial responsibility for the Judicial Service Commission and for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

·        Three other new Ministers were appointed –

o   Cain Mathema [previously Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Matabeleland North] as Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees;

o   Chiratidzo Mabuwa [previously Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce] as Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment;

o   Edgar Mbwembwe [previously Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs] as Minister of Tourism, Environment and Hospitality Industry

·        Ten Ministers were reassigned as shown in the table above.

·        There are two new Ministries:

o   the completely new Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation under former Minister of Finance and Economic Development Patrick Chinamasa;

o   the Department of National Scholarships under Minister of State for National Scholarships Christopher Mushohwe, formerly Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services.  Dr Mushohwe has been Director of Presidential Scholarships for many years, but will now be responsible for Presidential and all other national scholarships previously administered by other Ministries

·        One Ministry has been dropped:  Rural Development and Preservation of Culture and Heritage

·        Three Ministers were dropped:

o   Prisca Mupfumira, formerly Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare

o   Tshinga Dube, formerly Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees

o   Abednico Ncube, formerly Minister of Rural Development and Preservation of Culture and Heritage and acting Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Matabeleland South.

·        One Minister of State for Provincial Affairs was dropped [Faber Chidarikire in Mashonaland West]

·        Four new Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs were appointed:

o   Webster Shamu in Mashonaland West, replacing Faber Chidarikire

o   Paul Chimedza in Masvingo, filling the vacancy left by the death of Shuvai Mahofa in August

o   Thokozile Mathuthu in Matabeleland North, replacing Cain Mathema [now Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees]

o   Maboyi Ncube in Matabeleland South, replacing Abednico Ncube who continued to act in this post after his appointment as Minister of Rural Development and Preservation of Culture and Heritage.  Like new Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Happyton Bonyongwe, Mr Ncube is not an MP [see note on non-MP Ministers below]

Appointment of Ministers from Outside Parliament

The President may appoint up to five Ministers from outside Parliament “chosen for their professional skills and competence” [Constitution, section 104(3)].

Happyton Bonyongwe and Aaron Mabhoyi Ncube are not members of Parliament.  But They fill the fourth and fifth slots in this category of Minister, formerly filled by Martin Dinha [until his election as MP for Mazowe] and Faber Chidarikire, respectively.  The other three non-MP Ministers are Joseph Made, Lazarus Dokora and Patrick Zhuwao, at Agriculture, Primary and Secondary Education and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, respectively.

Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs

Reminder  Under the present Constitution, there is no special provision for Ministers for Provincial Affairs – whereas the former Constitution contained express provision for the President to appoint Provincial Governors.

Instead, the Constitution contains new provisions for the devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities to provincial and metropolitan councils, constituted by a province’s MPs, the mayors and chairpersons of the province’s local authorities and, in the case of the eight provincial councils, ten persons elected to the council by a system of proportional representation as part of every general election.  

The ten elected provincial councillors for each province were formally elected as part of the July 2013 general election, but apart from that nothing has been done to implement the new constitutional provisions.  As a result, the provincial and metropolitan councils have existed only on paper, the previous legislation and other arrangements for provincial affairs have remained in place unchanged, and it is fair to say that the Ministers of Provincial Affairs are the provincial governors of old in all but name.