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(TALKZIMBABWE) Chamisa's ICT Bill threatens unity: reports

Chamisa's ICT Bill threatens unity: reports
Pius Muringisi
Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:59:00 +0000
ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa

A PROPOSED Information Communication Technology (ICT) Bill threatens to usurp the powers of the president and reduce various ministers to figureheads, according to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda.

Last week, ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa submitted a draft ICT Bill to Dr Sibanda that — if passed into law — will see the Media, Information and Publicity and Transport ministers stripped of core functions.

Dr Sibanda declined to transmit the draft to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation after discovering that it was an attempt to re-assign the functions of the portfolios; something that only the Head of State and Government President Robert Mugabe has the prerogative to do.

The Bill which was seen by the Zimbabwe Guardian on Wednesday seeks to achieve the following:

“Provide for the establishment of the National Information and Communications Technology Authority of Zimbabwe and to provide for its functions and management;

“Provide for the licensing and regulation of telecommunication, broadcasting and postal services;

“Provide for the facilitation and regulation of electronic communications and transactions;

“To repeal the Postal and Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Services Act, to amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and to provide for matters incidental thereto.”

Currently, Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche administers the Postal and Telecommunications Act, while Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu does the same for BSA and AIPPA.

The ICT Bill is an outcome of the ongoing battle between Chamisa and Shamu on the administration of certain aspects of telecommunications sector.

Chamisa wants control of the fixed line telecommunications sector, where government has held a sway through TelOne since independence in 1980.

He also seeks to control telecommunications and the broadcast media.

Chamisa's efforts at controlling these functions prompted President Mugabe to transfer the communication portfolio from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development led by Nicholas Goche.

Sources in the Zanu PF party have dismissed the bill as a political bill and criticised the minister for "playing politics with a crucial ministry".

President Mugabe’s spokesperson and Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity, George Charamba said Chamisa had “grievously misdirected himself” in trying to change the functions of certain ministries and seeking to repeal laws that he did not administer.

"I can tell you that it is transcendental in intention. It goes beyond the portfolio of the ICT Minister in that it purports to take legislative decisions on at least three Acts which are outside his mandate," said Charamba.

“Presently, Minister Chamisa is minding what can be described as virgin territory legislatively in that he has not been assigned to administer any Act and in my experience of Government a minister can only influence the life of an Act that has been officially assigned to him.”

He added: “No minister can seek to override, let alone rescind and annul an Act outside his or her portfolio. This, therefore, is without precedent.

Charamba said the only person in government with such "transcedental authority" was the President, according to the Constitution and the Global Political Agreement signed by Zanu PF and the two MDC formations in February this year in forming the inclusive Government.

“The only person with such transcendental authority, according to the Constitution and the GPA, is President Mugabe.”

BITI BUDGET STATEMENT, ICT BILL WELL TIMED

Meanwhile Finance Minister Tendai Biti's move to lift duty on cellphones, computer equipment and scrapping of duty on foreign newspapers without consulting
the relevant ministries has been criticised as "a systematic assassination of the authority of the President and key Cabinet ministers."

Biti and Chamisa are seen to be colluding to undermine the authority of the President, the Prime Minister and various ministers in Cabinet.

A few weeks ago, Biti has dismissed statements made by PM Tsvangirai as untrue; which have later been proved to have been correct. He dismissed PM Tsvangirai's statement that Zimbabwe had received over US$900 million in credit lines from China and the existence of a US$5 billion loan from that country. These loans were later proved to be existent.

*The Herald newspaper and other sources were used in compiling this report.
A source in the President's office said: “Biti wants newsprint to come in for free and at the same time Chamisa is trying to strip the Ministry of Information of its role. These are things that should not be read in isolation."

Labels: ICT, MISHECK SIBANDA, NELSON CHAMISA

posted by MrK @ 3:57 PM