STATUTES REQUIRING CONSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENT __________________________________________________________________________________ cedures that are necessary to regulate the airwaves and other forms of signal distribution and are independent of control by the government or political or commercial interests. The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ), which is a regulatory body established by this Act, does not conform with section 61(3) in that: • Its members are appointed by the President after consultation with the Minister. No further consultation is required (section 6). • POTRAZ must abide by Ministerial policy directives given to it under section 25 of the Act. • The Minister, after consultation with the President, can reverse, suspend or rescind decisions of POTRAZ (section 26). 52. Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act [Chapter 10:20] This Act should be repealed since it gives the President plenary legislative powers and amounts to a delegation of Parliament’s primary law-making power in contravention of section 134 of the Constitution. 53. Prisons Act [Chapter 7:11]* This Act should be amended along the same lines as the Defence Act and the Police Act, and in particular: • to repeat what is provided in section 207(3) of the Constitution, that the powers to appoint, promote and dismiss prison officers under the Act must be exercised impartially and so as to ensure that all the diverse peoples of Zimbabwe are properly represented in the Prisons and Correctional Service; • to enact a code of conduct to be observed by prison officers in the course of their duties; • to include provisions to implement the rehabilitative aspects of incarceration and the need to reintegrate prisoners into society, as outlined in section 227 of the Constitution; • to make it a serious disciplinary offence for a prison officer to contravene section 208, by acting in a partisan manner or by violating fundamental rights; • to provide for members of the Prisons and Correctional Service Commission to serve five-year terms as provided in section 320(1) of the Constitution; under section 12 of the Act the President may fix a shorter term. • to increase the powers of the Prisons and Correctional Service Commission to investigate the conduct of prison officers in order to ensure compliance with section 208; • to confer on the Prisons and Correctional Service Commission, rather than the Minister, power to make regulations for the conditions of service of prison officers, as required by section 231(2) of the Constitution; • to establish an independent complaints mechanism for dealing with complaints from prisoners and the public about misconduct on the part of prison officers. This is mandated by section 210 of the Constitution; • in section 30 of the Act, to make it clear that prison officers cannot in any circumstances use weapons to kill prisoners: no law can permit this (section 86(3)(a) of the Constitution). 17