Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda was engaged in a closed door meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special rapporteur on the Rights of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly over Zimbabwe reforms.
The speaker told journalists after the meeting that the parliament updated on electoral and economic reforms.
“The meeting went very well by acknowledging that the UN rapporteur came into Zimbabwe at the invitation of the Zimbabwe Government, to that extent the new dispensation is demonstrating that it’s transparent, it does not want to hide anything,” Mudenda said after the meeting.
Zimbabwe is on a reform agenda where laws are being re-aligned with the new constitution in the hope being accepted back into the international community for the removal of sanctions against the country.
The Speaker told journalists that the Zimbabwean group gave an update of what the parliament is doing in terms of the legislative process to ensure that the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency Bill (ZIDA) is concluded.
Mudenda said ZIDA is “now at committee stage which will have an impact on the establishment of our Special Economic Zones (SEZ), joint ventures as well as ensuring that we have a one stop investment center”
“… we are happy that midway the second session on the ninth parliament we should go through that bill and present it to His Excellency to ascent his signature.”
The bill is expected to improve reforms on ease of doing business and also attract foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe.
The speaker, however said the UN rapporteur did not raise issues to do with abductions as doctors conduct an industrial action demanding to know the whereabouts of a trade unionist Peter Magombeyi.
“They (UN rapporteur) raised the issues of how parliament is going about implementing the international observer missions, observations about our elections in 2018 and how we are trying to implement the Motlanthe recommendations which are part and parcel of our economic and economic reforms.”
