Judgment No. CCZ 10/2018
Const. Application No. CCZ 80/2016
The applicants contend that Act No. 8 of 2016 was passed and assented to
contrary to the procedure sanctioned under the Constitution for the enactment of Bills.
Furthermore, they contend that Act No. 8 of 2016 does not provide for the establishment
of independent tribunals as enjoined by s 278(2) of the Constitution. The bodies created
under the Act are subject to the whims of the third respondent (the Minister). This again
constitutes a serious failure on the part of Parliament and the President to fulfil a
constitutional obligation.
The applicants have approached this Court under s 85(1) of the
Constitution in their own interests as citizens of Zimbabwe and as members of Parliament
and of the Parliamentary Legal Committee (the PLC). They aver on this basis that their
locus standi is beyond dispute.
As regards the merits of the application, the applicants assert that the
Local Government Amendment Bill was passed in contravention of the Constitution in
three material respects. Firstly, it was not published in the Gazette fourteen days before it
was introduced in Parliament contrary to Standing Order 134. Secondly, it was not
presented to the PLC in accordance with s 152(3)(a) as read with s 139(3) and (4) of the
Constitution and Standing Orders 29-33. And thirdly, the requirement of s 141 of the
Constitution to provide public access to and public hearings in the process of the passage
of the Bill was not complied with in respect of Harare Province. It is contended that
Parliament colluded with the Minister to render the requisite parliamentary process a
farce so as to enable him to dismiss the Mayor of Harare. The second applicant also avers
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