Times Of Swaziland: SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM ACT  AMENDMENT SHELVED YET AGAIN

SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM ACT  AMENDMENT SHELVED YET AGAIN
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BY NTOMBI MHLONGO on 28/02/2017 07:46:00


LOBAMBA – The question of whether the Suppression of Terrorism (Amendment)
Bill, 2016 will ever see the light of day arose after it was deferred yet again
in Senate yesterday.
It is not the first time that the Bill was deferred and this led to the senators
raising concerns with Deputy Senate President Ngomuyayona Gamedze, as they
wondered what the problem was with the Bill as it had been deferred countless
times.
They argued that it did not make sense to put the Bill in the House’s Orders
of the Day when it was not going to be debated.
When it was time for the day’s order papers, Gamedze first informed the
senators that he was not sure on what was happening as the Prime Minister (PM)
Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini was not in attendance and that he had not been
formally notified about his absence.
Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Paul Dlamini then stood up and submitted that he had
been sent to represent the PM but Gamedze requested that the Bill be shelved so
that he would first consult and find a way forward. Before the end of
yesterday’s session, Gamedze asked the members to adjourn for 15 minutes and
requested a caucus with the DPM, Attorney General and other relevant parties on
what to do.
For over 20 minutes, senators waited and wondered on what the caucus was about,
while others could not wait any longer as they left the House. In the end,
Gamedze and the others returned only to request that the Bill be deferred to the
next sitting, which is set for Thursday.
His request did not go down well with some senators who demanded to know what
the problem was. “I am disappointed because since last year, we have been
facing the same problem regarding this Bill.