Low turnout mars Bill hearing

A HEARING on the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development in Mutare on Tuesday was marred by a low turnout.

The proposed legislation is meant to ensure the effective and viable management of State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Speaking on the sidelines of the hearing, committee chairperson Mr Eddie Cross said the low turnout by the public can be attributed to the poor newspaper reading culture among the people.

“It’s always been a problem,” he said. “People only listen to the radio and they don’t read newspapers. I think we have to resort to social media for our advertising.”

Quizzed during the hearing by Mr Claudius Makwindi on why the Bill took long before it was tabled before Parliament, Mr Cross conceded that his committee was entirely to blame since it had to first make public consultations before taking it to the House.

“It was supposed to be on the second reading, but we delayed the process,” he said.

“We will take it to ministry (of Finance and Economic Development) after these hearings and once agreed, the Bill will be taken to Parliament.”

Executive director of African SelfHelp Assistance Programme (ASAP) Mr Regai Tsunga said the Bill should be aligned with other pieces of legislation.

He said the Bill needed to limit the interference by ministers and board members in the affairs of public enterprises.

“We would also want to know how the Bill will deal with the excessive powers of ministers and the respective boards,” said Mr Tsunga.

“Remember, we had a case of ZIMDEF (Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund) where funds ended up being siphoned.

“The same happened at Zesa. We want their wings clipped so that they will not force parastatals to make donations.”

Mr Kennedy Mugarisanwa, a director in the office of the Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, said there was need to ensure that boards were dissolved in the event that they failed to meet targets.