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Sunday, April 18, 2021
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Parliament should have greater role in budget formulation

ZIMCODD Reporter
By ZIMCODD Reporter
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The exclusion of Parliament in budget formulation by Treasury is weakening the legislature’s oversight and representative roles and thereby hindering the participation of citizens in the key process.

This was noted at a recent breakfast meeting to discuss the 2020 Pre-Budget Strategy Paper (BSP) between the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, civil society and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, where parliamentarians were urged to assert their roles in the process.

The Public Finance Management Act compels the Minister of Finance to “seek the views of Parliament in the preparation and formulation of the national annual budget” ahead of the commencement of public consultations.

Program Specialist on Parliamentary Processes and Procedures at Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) Mr Henry Ndlovu told the meeting that in terms of the law, the BSP should be tabled before the legislature before being unveiled.

“In terms of section 11 of the PFM regulations, the Minister of Finance is required to table the BSP in in Parliament so that members of Parliament contribute to the BSP,” said Mr Ndlovu.

“But it looks like, for a long time BSP has not been tabled in Parliament.

“It is only last week that we saw the Minister of Finance launching the BSP but still it has not been tabled in Parliament, if my information is correct.

“It looks like we are putting the cart before the horse because the BSP is supposed to guide budget formulation process so that when the budget committee goes out to consult the people it is guided by the priorities that are in the BSP.

“In this case we saw the BSP being launched when the committee on budget was concluding budget consultation.’

“This is something that Parliament needs to take into consideration that the BSP should precede the consultative process.” 

Kambuzuma National Assembly representative Honourable Willias Madzimure questioned why the Minister of Finance did not table the BSP before the August House.

“Whatever we do must have a shared vision and this is where our problem starts,” said Mr Madzimure.

“The BSP should have been shared amongst Members of Parliament for us to debate first.

“When we were in Mutare one people were asking was for the BSP, meaning that people now understand that for them to contribute the paper must be there.

“But it was not there and it was not presented to Parliament; and Members of Parliament are not even aware said Honourable Madzimure

“What do you think is the reason why the Minister avoids presenting this paper to Parliament?”

ZIMCODD Executive Director Janet Zhou said by failing to present the BSP in Parliament, the Executive was usurping the powers of the legislature.

“You raise an important issue around the procedure, and it was in one of my slides (during my presentation) particularly on the weakening of the oversight, legislative and representative role of Parliament,” she said.

“I think that this is a key issue that parliament should raise when they meet with the Minister.

“They are saying that this has been happening year-in-year-out and from the consultations they are saying that citizens are actually asking about the BSP.”

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ZIMCODD Reporter
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Who We Are The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) is a socio-economic justice coalition established in February 2000 to facilitate citizens` involvement in making public policy more pro-people and pro-poor. ZIMCODD views indebtedness, the unfair global trade regime and lack of democratic people-centred economic governance as root causes of the socio-economic crises in Zimbabwe and the world at large. Drawing from community-based livelihood experiences of its membership, ZIMCODD implements programmes aimed at delivering the following objectives:

• To raise the level of economic literacy among ZIMCODD members to ensure the participation of grassroots and marginalised communities in national governance processes. • To facilitate research, lobbying and advocacy in order to influence and promote policy change. • To formulate credible and sustainable economic and social policy alternatives. • To develop a national coalition and facilitate the building of a vibrant movement for social and economic justice.

ZIMCODD is a member of regional and international networks working on social and economic justice. In the SADC region, it is the Host of the Permanent Secretariat of the Southern African People`s Solidarity Network (SAPSN) from January 2019, whose focus is to support the development of alternatives to the current corporate led globalization with a negative impact on national and regional policies. ZIMCODD is also host to the Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF) aiming to develop a vibrant space for reflective thinking, democratic debate, formulation and exchange of alternative ideas in Zimbabwe and beyond.

Contact us: zimcodd@zimcodd.co.zw

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