CHENGETAI ZVAUYA
Parliament of Zimbabwe today signed 13 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with civil society organisations (CSOs) as it seeks support to fully carry out its constitutional mandate of lawmaking and oversight.
National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda and Senate president Mabel Chinomona signed the MoU on behalf of Parliament, while the CSOs were represented by their senior managers.
The 13 CSOs were Gender and Media Connect, Law Society of Zimbabwe, Southern Africa Parliamentary Trust, Women in Politics Support Unit, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, Advocacy Core Team, Women’s Action Group, Legal Resources Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Zimbabwe Evaluation Association and Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.
Mudenda said most of the CSOs were ready to work with Parliament in carrying out its work and were going capacitate the lawmakers.
“Given the well documented budgetary constraints that our country is currently saddled with, it is trite to mention that a strong Parliament, which is a palpable sign of a healthy democracy, will require all the financial and technical support that it can muster to effectively fulfill its legislative, representative and oversight roles,” Mudenda said.
“Almost half of the 13 civil society organisations that are signing the MOU with us today are new partners seeking to establish an authenticated and lasting relationship with our Parliament attests to their unflinching confidence in the central role Parliament plays in advancing democracy, the rule of law and constitutionalism, “Mudenda said.
The Ninth Parliament session has a tenure of five years running from 2018 to 2023.
