BILL WATCH           

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES SERIES 32/2019

[21st August 2019]

Public Hearings on the Marriages Bill
Monday 26th to Friday 30th August

Parliament has published the self-explanatory notice reproduced below giving details of the public hearings that will be held next week on the Marriages Bill in all provinces of the country by seven teams made up of members of three Parliamentary committees – the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community and SME Development, and the Thematic Committee on Gender and Development.

These public hearings provide an excellent opportunity for interested organisations and individual members of the public to make known to MPs, face to face, their views on this important Bill. 

Please note that if you are unable to attend a public hearing to express your views, written representations will be acceptable – but there is a deadline: written representations should be received no later than close of business on Friday 30th August.  Addresses for submission of written representations – including email addresses – are given in Parliament’s notice below.

Documents available from Veritas

The following relevant documents are available on the Veritas website:

• Marriages Bill [link]  [The Bill was gazetted on 19th July.  Cabinet at its meeting on 30th July directed that clause 40 of the Bill be dropped.  Clause 40, dealing with “Civil partnerships”, had already attracted widespread hostile reaction from the public.  Cabinet decided that the concept of a ‘civil union’ or ‘partnership’ is foreign and not consistent with Zimbabwe’s cultural norms as well as its Christian values.]
• Bill Watch 36/2019 on The Marriages Bill [link] – our detailed discussion of the Bill, concluding that, while it is a commendable attempt to consolidate the entire marriage law of Zimbabwe in one Act aligned with the Constitution, the Bill nevertheless in several respects – not merely in respect of clause 40 – either sweeps complex issues under the carpet or ignores them completely.

We suggested, therefore, that the Bill should be subjected to more public debate before it is presented in Parliament – and that in the meantime the Government should consider introducing a shorter Bill which will simply abolish child marriages and do nothing more.

[Notice from Parliament follows overleaf]

PUBLIC HEARINGS MARRIAGES BILL – H.B. 7, 2019

The Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in conjunction with the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Gender, Community & SMEs Development and the Thematic Committee on Gender & Development  will hold public hearings on the Marriages Bill (H.B. 7, 2019) from the 26th to the 30th August 2019.   The teams will cover all 10 Provinces of Zimbabwe as follows:

Team 1: Masvingo & Part of Midlands

Team 2: Mashonaland West & Part of Midlands

Team 3 – Mashonaland Central & Part of Harare

Team 4: Mashonaland East & part of Harare

Team 5: Manicaland

Team 6: Matabeleland North & Part of Bulawayo

Team 7: Matabeleland South & Part of Bulawayo

ALL THOSE WHO WILL BE PUTTING ON MILITARY UNIFORMS, SIGNS OF RANKS, FLAGS OR BADGES AND POLITICAL PARTY REGALIA WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE PUBLIC HEARINGS.

The public, interested groups and organizations are invited to attend these hearings. Written submissions and correspondences are welcome and should be addressed to:

The Clerk of Parliament

Attention: Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs

P.O. Box CY 298

Causeway

Harare

Submissions can also be made by email through email addresses:

clerk@parlzim.gov.zw  

nyawol@parlzim.gov.zw

manhivis@parlzim.gov.zw

Queries

Telephone: (04) 700181-8, 252936-50 ext. 2053/2171

Shepherd Manhivi (Principal Committee Clerk) 0772 247 864

Catherine Mpofu-Muvhami (Public Relations Officer) 0782 208 414

Officer)  Fax: (024) 2252935