The Sunday News
Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development has said it will push for the finalisation of the revised Mines and Minerals Bill this year as the piece of legislation is critical to the overall growth of the mining sector and protection of community interests.
The Mines and Minerals Bill is one of the bills that could not be completed by the 9th Parliament and constitute the more than 50 bills that Parliament has lined up for debate in its legislative agenda during the 10th sitting.
Speaking at the 7th Institutional Strategic Plan (2024-2028), Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda said 48 pieces of legislation would be reviewed while some have been overtaken by time and no longer serve the interests of people and would be repealed.
The Bill seeks to align the Mines and Minerals Act with the national and international developments while tackling challenges affecting the sector and issues of linkages throughout the value chain.
It had made its way to the President who recommended that some issues be amended resulting in fresh consultations and further cleaning by Parliament and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
In February last year, the Bill was subjected to public scrutiny that paved way for stakeholder consultations by the committee on mines countrywide.
The contents of the Bill include corporate social responsibility and managing the environment and last year it got an adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
The Bill has potential to be a game-changer in the mining sector as it sets out commendable terms for investors seeking to exploit strategic minerals while protecting interests of affected communities.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 9th Ordinary Meeting of the Committee of Ministers of African Diamonds Producers Association (ADPA) which ended on Thursday in Victoria Falls, Mines and Mining Development Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chair Remigious Matangira (Zanu-PF) said the committee was ready to take the revised Bill to the people.
“We are here at ADPA from Parliament to discuss about the diamonds mined in Africa for African producing nations to benefit by way of value addition. In his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona) President Mnangagwa reiterated that we must add value to our minerals and again as a mining committee he said we must prioritise the mining Bill which did not sail through in the 9th Parliament.
“We are so eager that the moment it comes to Parliament we are going to make it pass. We are still hopeful that we are going to be done with it this year,” said Cde Matangira.
He said the Bill was still carrying the same contents that were supposed to be presented last year where among other things it seeks a harmonious relationship between the farmer and the miner.
“The Bill seeks cohesion and understanding between the miner and farmer because what people went to war for was to liberate the land which has been redistributed. The farmer is a holder of the permit on the land and the miner must be in understanding with the farmer on the land, so harmony is what we are looking for,” he said.
Zimbabwe has over 60 minerals across the country and the mining sector contributes more than 13 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) making it a significant contributor to national development and the attainment of an upper middle-income society as espoused in Vision 2030.
