Parliament’s Information and Media Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chair, Prince Dubeko Sibanda has said that President Emmerson Mnangagwa lied about repealing the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and Public Order and Security Act (POSA).
Sibanda told New Zimbabwe that contrary to what Mnangagwa said, the amendment to the POSA has only gone through the Parliament stages. He added that POSA was still effective and the police used it a few weeks ago to bar MDC demonstrations.
He added that the first of the three Bills to replace AIPPA had not yet been read in parliament.
Sibanda’s remarks come after the president told the 74th United Nations General Assembly that Zimbabwe had repealed the legislations. Mnangagwa had said:
Progress has also been achieved in the area of political reforms and legislative reforms. To date, the alignment of most of our laws to the constitution is almost complete.
We commend the support we continue to receive from the UNDP and other stakeholders.
The outdated media laws, Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and old POSA have been repealed, new laws in relation to these areas have been enacted.
The laws in question have been criticised for infringing upon human rights and freedoms including the right of association and freedom of speech.
More: New Zimbabwe