In pursuit of its Constitutional mandate as provided for in Section 152 of the Constitution, the
th
Parliamentary Legal Committee (hereinafter referred to as ―the Committee‖) on the 24 of February
2016 at 1045hrs met to consider the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill [H.B. 13, 2015]. After
deliberations, it unanimously resolved that an adverse report be issued in respect of the Bill, gazetted
in the month of January 2015, due to the following considerations:—
1. Clause 3 National Peace and Reconciliation Commission:
Clause 3 (1)
The clause states that ―a member shall hold office for such period, being not more than five years‖.
The interpretation of that clause suggests that the President is able to remove a member from office
before the 5 year tenure which contravenes section 320 (1) of the Constitution which reads that,
except otherwise provided in this Constitution, every member of a Commission is appointed for a term
of five years which is renewable for one additional term only‖. Accordingly, there is no discretion on
the part of the appointing authority to remove a member from office before
the prescribed office
tenure of 5 years, unless the member resigns or removed from office on the grounds provided for in
section 237(2) as read with subsection (3) of that section.
Further the reappointment procedure set out in clause 3 (1) suggests that there is automatic
reappointment without having to go through the procedure set in section 237 of the Constitution. This
contravenes section 237 of the Constitution as read with section 340 of the Constitution which sets
out the appointment procedure of members of Independent Commissions. The re-appointing powers
of the appointing authority in section 340 does not suggest that the procedure laid out in section 237
will be abrogated.
Clause 3 (6),(7) and (8)
The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders and the Judicial Service Commission are being given
powers to review performance of the members of the Commission and the Chairperson respectively,
who wish to be re-appointed on the expiry of five years. The clauses are unconstitutional in that the
two institutions are being conferred with more powers than what the Constitution provides for them in
section 251. The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders cannot as a matter of principle exercise
powers of performance appraisal of Commissioners, when in fact it has the mandate of interviewing
and recommending suitable candidates to the President in terms of section 237. It is through this
process that a Commissioner wishing to be re-appointed could be re-appointed. The constitutional
mandate of the CSRO in this Commission and all other Commissions is clearly laid out in section 237
and 251(1) (a) (in relation to this Commission).
The Judicial Service Commission is in terms of section 251(1)(a) consulted by the President on the
appointment of the Chairperson of the Commission, and advises the President on the removal of a
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