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House starts business today with National Anthem
2008-01-29 09:40:43
By Angel Navuri, Dodoma
The 10th meeting of the National Assembly starts here today during which six bills will be tabled and 210 questions will be presented.
For the first time in the Parliament`s history, the National Anthem will be sung at the start to open the morning session and at the end of the evening session to signify closure of house business.
During the meeting, the much awaited report on Richmond Development Corporation`s power generation scandal will be discussed.
Briefing the press in Dodoma yesterday, ahead of the first session, the Parliament Principal Information Officer, Ernest Zulu, said one of the activities in the morning session would the swearing in of the new Special Seats Member of Parliament, Dr Gertrude Lwakatare.
The Bills to be tabled include the one for HIV/Aids Prevention Act 2007, whose objective is to have a comprehensive law for preventing and controlling the spread of the pandemic.
The second Supplement Bill is on the Electricity Act 2007, which intends to make proposals for enactment of Electricity Act.
The bill intends to make a better provision for regulation of the power generation sector and respond to recently encountered challenges in the industry.
The third Supplement Bill is the National Prosecution Service Act 2007 which is intended to streamline operations of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions with a view to upholding the rule of law through the effective administration of criminal justice.
In order to enhance the role of dispensing criminal justice it has been necessary and important to structure the directorate with the view to grant operational independence of the director and provide for security of tenure of his office.
The fourth Supplement Bill is based on the Tourism Act of 2007, which is intended to repeal the Hotels Act, and the Tourist Agents Licensing Act in order to, among others, promote tourism and activities in Mainland Tanzania.
The firth Supplement Bill is on the Petroleum Supply Act of 2007, which is intended to make proposals and better provisions for regulation of the petroleum supply sub sector.
The move has been necessitated by policy changes and challenges encountered in the regulation of the sub sector.
The sixth Bill is the Financial Leasing Act of 2007, which seeks to provide for a minimum legal framework to govern financial leasing and to provide legal certainty and clarity for leasing investment consistent with the international best practices with a view to stimulate capital investment and economic growth in the country.
The Bill will also provide for a minimum mandatory obligation with a view to enabling efficient allocation of risk, promote and protect investment leasing operations as well as the parties` interest, according to Zulu.
Additionally, Zulu said that all parliamentary standing committees are expected to present in the House their annual reports.
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