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The 21st Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana (ZIM-ZAM-BOTS) Senior Parliamentary Staff Seminar put a spotlight on the sterling work undertaken by the various Parliaments during the COVID-19 lockdown period across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and worldwide.
In his keynote address to the participants, Advocate Jacob Francis N. Mudenda, the Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe during that unprecedented challenging time, Parliaments proved their innovative resilient mettle in mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The seminar is running from the 9th to the 12th of August 2023 in the resort city of Victoria Falls undert the theme “Post Covid-19, resilient, robust and inclusive Parliaments”.
“As representative institutions and cognisant of the mandatory constitutional obligations, Parliaments across the globe devised mechanisms to continue discharging their sacrosanct roles, notwithstanding the pandemic adverse effects threatening the functionality of Parliaments. Consequently, all Parliaments amended their Standing Orders to allow for virtual parliamentary processes to proceed unimpeded.
“You the staff of Parliaments must be highly commended for providing the necessary expertise in crafting the befitting Standing Orders that allowed the continued effective and efficient functioning of our Parliaments. You proved beyond any reasonable doubt that there is nothing impossible in the face of adversity. This is the hallmark of resilient, robust, and inclusive Parliaments which is the bedrock of your theme as assembled here today,” Advocate Mudenda said.
Conceived in the late 1990s, the regional Parliamentary Staff Seminar seeks to enhance the administrative performance of parliamentary staff so that greater heights of service delivery are achieved. Accordingly, this year’s seminar marks the 21st edition and it builds upon the successes and failures lessons learned from the foregoing 20 seminars.
Over these years, Parliaments have attained administrative efficiency and effectiveness. However, there is always room for improvement. Hon Mudenda said such seminars must be more futuristic in administrative benchmarking so as to share best practices.
During the seminar, the Zimbabwe Parliament is obliged to share with sister Parliaments from the region how it has successfully retained the International Standard Organisation Certification (ISO) since 2012!
In that context, Hon Mudenda said the seminars must espouse the founding principles of cross-pollination of ideas for mutual Parliamentary institutional growth and development.
If the focus is on the futuristic administrative challenges that are likely to face the operations of Parliaments in the near future, they will not escape the digitalisation phenomenon which will be driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“Our Parliamentary staff ought to be keenly capacitated to be in the comfort zone of the digital world sparked by Artificial Intelligence. Parliaments will have to take centre stage in coming up with legislation that will enable Members of Parliaments to fulfill their constitutional mandate of oversight, legislation, and representation in the context of e-governance.
“You as the critical staff of Parliament in your given Departments, are the bedrock of the envisaged digitalised transformational Parliaments. Accordingly, you must think digitally with a new mindset! Speak digitally! Walk digitally! Act digitally! However, be extremely cautious that Artificial Intelligence should not overtake and replace you in your Parliamentary operations. The Artificial Intelligence phenomenon, therefore, should be kept under check because it may be destructive should someone press some wrong button on the Artificial Intelligence and may unwittingly lose institutional memory. It is, therefore, pivotal that all Parliamentary staff of the future digital Parliaments riding on the state of art information communication technology should be quintessential in their administrative stature. On that score, it is essential that your seminars should urgently review your Parliamentary Institutional Strategic Plan and its strategic objectives in order to ascertain whether or not they take into account the beckoning digitalised Parliamentary processes. Thus, your future seminars must focus on the strategic thematic intent of how to structure the architecture of the imminent digitalised Parliaments of the future,” Hon Mudenda added.
The world is currently under threat of insecurity arising from war conflicts and ousted civil governance. Parliamentary staff were, therefore, urged through their professional expertise, to assist Parliamentarians to stand up for world peace through intensified Parliamentary diplomacy.
“Without peace and security, Hon Mudenda said no meaningful development can be achieved. Weak world economies cannot guarantee sustainable future digitalised Parliaments. We need strong economies which will make it possible to put in place high penetration internet connectivity and dependable Internet Of Things. That calls for a serious review of our current institutional strategic plans by yourselves from a regional perspective during such seminars. For that, you need a sound mind in a sound body whose Roman mantra was “MENS IN SANA CORPORE”. In that regard, I applaud you for incorporating mental wellness into your seminar programme.
“I conclude by encouraging all seminar delegates to take time to visit the mighty Victoria Falls. Let the ambiance of this natural wonder intellectually inspire you for now and in your future seminar endeavours as our Parliamentary foot soldiers. I declare your seminar officially open as I wish you constructive deliberations.”