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THIRTY-SEVENTH MEETING DECISIONS MATRIX:

21st OCTOBER, 2019

|ITEM |CABINET DECISION |

|1. Principles of the Proposed Judicial Laws Amendment |Cabinet considered and approved the Principles of the Proposed Judicial Laws |

|Bill, 2019 |Amendment Bill which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and |

| |Parliamentary Affairs. |

| | |

| |The Bill amends the Magistrates Court, Labour and High Court Acts to provide for the|

| |following: |

| | |

| |increasing the jurisdiction of Magistrates in civil cases to those involving |

| |monetary values of ZW$300 000.00 in the first instance; |

| | |

| |amendment of the Labour Act to afford Judges of the Labour Court powers to execute |

| |their own judgements; |

| | |

| |amendment of Section 93(5)(a) of the Labour Act to include a proviso requiring the |

| |joinder of an employee to an application for the confirmation of a Labour Officer’s |

| |ruling; and |

| | |

| |amendment of sections 57 and 58 of the Magistrates Court Act to increase the power |

| |of review of Regional Magistrates to level ten sentences and the power of scrutiny |

| |to sentences between level four and ten of offences. |

| | |

| |The proposed amendments are meant to ensure that the backlog of cases in the |

| |country’s Courts is reduced. |

|2. Update on the Strike by Medical Doctors in Public|Cabinet received an update on the ongoing strike by medical doctors in public |

|Hospitals |hospitals from the Minister of Health and Child Care. The Minister indicated that |

| |the strike which has since been declared illegal by the Labour Court, has now |

| |entered its 50th day, with the doctors still refusing to accept the generous offers |

| |of salary increments by Government, among other improvements in their conditions of |

| |service. As a result of the intransigence of the doctors, health service provision |

| |at most of the central hospitals remains severely constrained thus putting the lives|

| |of innocent patients at risk. |

| | |

| |Up until this stage, Government has indeed gone out of its way to try and find an |

| |amicable solution by addressing the concerns by the medical doctors through |

| |constructive dialogue. However, given the uncompromising stance adopted by the |

| |medical doctors which seems to be driven by other hidden interests, Government |

| |through the Health Service Board remains committed to following the dictates of the |

| |country’s laws and has come to the point where it has to commence disciplinary |

| |proceedings for the striking doctors as from 21st October, 2019. |

| | |

| |This action arises from the unlawful withdrawal of services by doctors at central |

| |hospitals for a period exceeding five working days. Government is still amenable to|

| |dialogue with those doctors who may wish to pursue the dialogue path. |

| | |

| |On a more general note, Government is giving due attention to those areas that |

| |require concerted action in the medium to long term within the health service |

| |system. In this regard, the Minister briefed Cabinet on the following measures |

| |which are already being taken: |

| | |

| |improving on material support to urban municipalities in order to enhance their |

| |capacity to provide services; |

| | |

| |expeditious finalisation of public-private partnership agreements at Central |

| |Hospitals so as to alleviate shortages of medicines and equipment and thereby ensure|

| |continuity of services; |

| | |

| |finalisation of arrangements to secure medicines and equipment from bilateral and |

| |multilateral partners are delivered; |

| | |

| |implementation of modalities for the establishment of institutional accommodation in|

| |order to ease accommodation and transport costs for health personnel; and |

| | |

| |strengthening local manufacture of drugs so as to render them more affordable to the|

| |generality of the Zimbabwean people. |

|3. Update on the 25th of October 2019 SADC |Cabinet received an update on the Friday 25th October 2019 SADC Anti-Sanctions Day |

|Anti-Sanctions Day Programme |from Honourable Vice President K.C.D. Mohadi. The marchers are expected to assemble|

| |at Robert Mugabe Square by 0600 hours, from where they will proceed to the National |

| |Sports Stadium at 0800 hours. Highlights of events scheduled to take place at the |

| |National Sports Stadium will include entertainment; solidarity messages by various |

| |national and international presenters; presentation of research findings on the |

| |background and impact of the illegal sanctions; a soccer match between Dynamos and |

| |Highlanders football clubs; and the anti-sanctions Gala to run from 1800 hours on |

| |the same day till the following morning. Similar activities are expected to take |

| |place at various provincial and district centres throughout the country. To further|

| |amplify the importance of this day to the economic emancipation and well-being of |

| |Zimbabwe, Friday 25 October 2019 shall be declared an official public holiday. The |

| |general public will be advised of more details of logistical arrangements in the |

| |build-up to the occasion. |

| | |

| |We therefore, wish to appeal to all Zimbabweans across the board to come in their |

| |numbers and to actively participate towards the success of this grand and noble |

| |initiative. |

|4. The 2020 Budget Strategy Paper |Cabinet received the 2020 Proposed Budget Strategy Paper as presented by the |

| |Minister of Finance and Economic Development. The Minister’s presentation took note|

| |of the ongoing reforms which are premised on the 2019 national budget theme – |

| |Austerity for Prosperity as outlined in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme |

| |(TSP). Notable milestones in this regard include fiscal consolidation, monetary |

| |policy restoration, liberalization of the foreign exchange market, re-engagement and|

| |a number of governance and structural reforms aimed at improving the business |

| |environment and to support the productive sectors. |

| | |

| |These reforms present a firm pedestal for the rebound of the country’s economy in |

| |2020 and beyond. The Strategy Paper is premised on the understanding that the |

| |austerity phase of the reforms will be over by the end of the year, thereby ushering|

| |in the era of economic growth and productivity. The paper took note of the fact |

| |that in 2019, Zimbabwe’s economy faced severe exogenous shocks arising from the El |

| |Nino-induced drought and Cyclone Idai which constrained agricultural activities and |

| |electricity generation, bring about general underperformance of the economy. |

| | |

| |The economy is projected to grow by 4.6 percent in 2020. Furthermore, price |

| |increases which currently present a major challenge are expected to stabilize on the|

| |back of continued implementation of fiscal and monetary reforms, supported by |

| |structural and supply side measures. |

| | |

| |The 2020 National Budget will seek to consolidate the macro-fiscal stabilisation |

| |gains secured in 2019. However, the strategic focus of the Budget thrust will now |

| |be anchored on the following objectives: |

| | |

| |growth and productivity; |

| | |

| |job creation; |

| | |

| |competitiveness; and |

| | |

| |promotion of more sustained and shared development. |

| | |

| |Also of importance is the need for a more comprehensive and well-coordinated |

| |approach to the implementation of the country’s debt arrears clearance programme. |

| |Going forward, Government’s borrowing programme shall be coordinated in order to |

| |align the country’s re-engagement to the international financial institutions’ |

| |lending policies. In this regard, completion of the Staff Monitored Programme will |

| |be accorded top priority. |

|5. Principles for the Proposed Amendment of the |Cabinet considered and approved Principles for the Amendment of the Constitution of |

|Constitution of Zimbabwe |Zimbabwe (No. 20 Act, 2013) which was presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal |

| |and Parliamentary Affairs. The Principles have been prompted by the need to amend |

| |provisions that a perceived to be contradictory or conflicting, thereby rendering |

| |implementation of the Constitution inherently problematic. The Principles will also|

| |add entirely new provisions as well as amend the Constitution as follows: |

| | |

| |to amend the constitutional provision for Provincial Councils in order to exclude |

| |Members of Parliament in light of the oversight role of Parliament; |

| | |

| |to amend the heading of Section 271 of the Constitution by the inclusion of “and |

| |Metropolitan Councils” |

| | |

| |to extend by another 10 years the provision for the election of the 60 women |

| |members in Parliament under proportional representation following which a further |

| |review shall be conducted; |

| | |

| |to remove provisions of Section 92 of the Constitution relating to the issue of |

| |running mates in accordance with the practice prevailing in the SADC region; |

| | |

| |to amend Section 161 of the Constitution so as to de-link the delimitation of |

| |electoral boundaries from population censuses; |

| | |

| |to provide for the inclusion of the office of the Chief Secretary to the President |

| |and Cabinet in the Constitution, which was inadvertently omitted; |

| | |

| |in line with international best practices, to provide for the appointment of the |

| |Prosecutor-General by the President, and for the establishment of the Office of the |

| |Public Protector; and |

| | |

| |to provide for the setting aside of one constituency per province, to be contested |

| |for by the Youth on the basis of proportional representation. |

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