Acting President, Emmerson Mnangagwa has praised the oversight role being played by parliamentary portfolio committees, saying this has helped in ensuring transparency in government processes.
He said this while giving a personal account on parliament’s transition from the colonial era at the official opening of the Parliament Open Day symposium in Harare.
“Parliamentary portfolio committees are now able to check on the effective implementation of government policies through periodic visits of projects. This has increased transparency and accountability in the use and effectiveness of government resources,” he said.
“An interesting feature, however, with the post-independence parliamentary system is the enhanced citizenry involvement through public hearings which we have introduced, a feature which was non-existent prior to independent. Currently, public hearings are conducted in the formulation of legislation, a feature which has come to be known as legislative engineering.”
Parliamentary portfolio committees are mandated to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of government departments and other institutions falling under their jurisdictions.
He says the pre-colonial parliamentary process is in sharp contrast to post-independence parliament system, which is more inclusive and catering for a wider spectrum of society. zifmnews.com
