An opposition Member of Parliament has expressed concern over the Cabinet’s proposal to make the payment of radio licences for motorists mandatory.
Emakhandeni-Luveve MP, Discent Bajila (CCC), described the move as “parasitic and symptomatic of a government that is continuously on the lookout for opportunities to fleece its citizens of hard-earned cash.”
On Tuesday this week, Information Minister Jena Muswere announced that Cabinet had approved principles of a bill to amend laws that will compel motorists to buy radio licences before renewing their vehicle licences in a bid to raise over US$73 million annually for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
Speaking to CITE, Bajila said the move must be resisted with “maximum effort from all and sundry.”
He explained that the announcement is not law and therefore should not be used to bind citizens. Bajila said:
Anyone enforcing a Cabinet Press Statement, whose contents are neither a Statutory Instrument nor an Act of Parliament is acting unlawfully. Law-abiding citizens must not be complicit in such.
Specifically, these cabinet principles are not law until they have been taken for public hearings as a Bill wherein the views of every citizen must be taken on board.
Thereafter, Parliament has to debate the principles as a Bill and pass or reject them.
Every law-abiding citizen is encouraged to report to the nearest police station anyone coaxing them to be complicit to an unlawful process.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana said the government’s position on the issue of mandatory radio licence has been misunderstood.
Posting on X (Twitter), Mangwana said that while the approval of amendments to Acts of Parliament is significant, it does not automatically mean that the proposed changes take immediate effect.
He explained that when the Cabinet passes principles to a Bill, it represents a legislative intent, but it is not yet the Act itself, nor is it the finalized Bill. The following steps in the legislative process determine whether the proposed changes become law. These are:
1- A draft Bill will be done by the AG.
2-The Draft Bill will go to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation(CCL) where it will be scrutinized.
3-Then it will go to full Cabinet where Cabinet will make comments.
4-The AG will tidy up the draft taking into account Cabinet input.
5-The Bill will be gazetted.
6-The Bill will be scrutinized by the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC), checking on compliance and alignment with the Constitution.
7-Public consultations will be held.
8-The Bill will be debated in Parly.
9-Senate Input.
10-Presidential Assent.
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