This was said by Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate
Jacob Mudenda during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding
between Parliament and Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit last
week.
Adv Mudenda said this would be achieved through
collaboration with development partners that would provide research and identify
training needs and ensure that Parliament played its legislative, oversight and
representative roles effectively.
“In keeping with its vision of being a strong, independent,
people-driven, world class Parliament and consequent to its previous Committee
on Standing Rules and Orders meeting, Parliament approved the establishment of
the Zimbabwe Parliament Training Academy.
“That Academy seeks to address the capacity building and
training needs of Parliament. This is a virgin area of compelling cooperation
between ZEPARU and our Parliament wherein ZEPARU would be expected to provide
research materials for the academy’s modules that would be relevant for the
capacity building of Members of Parliament and their staff,” said Adv Mudenda.
“Depending on the ZEPARU’s quality of research over time,
Parliament may engage ZEPARU to extend its research excellence to Parliament so
that the curriculum of the academy may be upscaled to diploma and degree
programmes in Parliamentary studies akin to other similar institutions
elsewhere in the world such as in Pakistan.”
He said the signing of another MoU with Zeparu testified
the two institutions’ mutual commitment to achieve greater heights in
fulfilling a shared vision and goals.
“As ZEPARU is an economic policy analysis and research
institution that seeks to promote evidence based and informed policy decision
making by the public, private sector and civil society in Zimbabwe, it is hoped
that ZEPARU will proffer a critical mass of knowledge to the Parliament of
Zimbabwe as it endeavours to actualise its constitutional roles of oversight,
legislation and representation,” he said.
Parliament, said Adv Mudenda, had unwavering confidence in
ZEPARU’s intellectual research capacity as proven by its production of an
incisive baseline survey on economic literacy for parliamentarians.
The institution had also crafted the economic literacy
handbooks that were distributed for study by Parliamentarians.
The handbooks have been utilised by legislators to
effectively improve their economic literacy as they embark on tailoring the
annual National Budgets in the context of implementing the National Development
Strategy 1.
In 2017, Zeparu, was also commissioned by the Zimbabwe
Women and Resource Center to produce the Gender Budget Monitoring and
Expenditure Tracking Tool Kit for Parliament.
“Such a commendable track record must be extolled,
especially as we renew the MoU in order to leverage on past symbiotic
relationship between Parliament and ZEPARU,” he said.
He implored both Parliament and Zeparu to conduct research
into those areas that will bring quick wins to the economy such as curtailing
illicit financial outflows from the country.
Zeparu executive director, Dr Gibson Chigumira pledged to
enhance cooperation between his organisation and Parliament. Herald
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