PARLIAMENT’S Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs and Defence will soon convene public hearings into a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Mutare Central Member of Parliament Hon. Innocent Gonese aimed at amending the harsh provisions of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

Committee chairperson and Glen View South Member of Parliament, Hon. Paul Madzore disclosed on Tuesday 8 February 2010 that his committee will hold nationwide consultations to solicit for people’s views regarding the proposed amendments sponsored by Hon. Gonese.

In presenting his arguments in support of the Private Member’s Bill during a committee hearing convened to solicit his response to concerns raised by officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Hon. Gonese, who is also the MDC Chief Whip, on Tuesday 8 February 2010 disputed claims that the Bill is ultra vires the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and noted that whilst the GPA is committed to the freedoms of association and assembly, POSA on the other hand limits these freedoms by placing inordinately wide and sweeping powers in the hands of officers of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

He said his Bill, which was introduced last year, seeks to vest the powers to prohibit a public gathering in the hands of Magistrates and will also seek to redefine a public gathering so as to be germane only to those gatherings which pose a threat to public safety. As such, the regulating authority, in terms of the Bill, will only be able to apply to a judicial officer to impose conditions on a public gathering, rather than arbitrarily restrict peaceful protests.

Hon. Gonese dismissed the assertion by the Home Affairs’ officials that the Bill is a negation of the doctrine of Separation of Powers and proved to the portfolio committee that the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for the introduction of Private Member Bills, as do the Standing Orders and Rules of Parliament.

The Chief Whip reminded the committee that Parliament does not simply consist of Honourable Members who are in the Cabinet, but also of the “back benchers” who, he insisted, have the same right at law to introduce such Bills as does any Member of Cabinet. He concluded by noting that making law is the fundamental role of the legislature in any democratic State and that this could not therefore represent a negation of the doctrine of Separation of Powers.

On allegations that the powers of the police are being transferred to the Judiciary, Hon. Gonese indicated that the fact that there has not been a single conviction in relation to a case brought on the strength of the harsh provisions of POSA is evidence of the failure by the police to correctly interpret and apply the law, thus justifying recourse to the Judiciary in the Bill.