President Emmerson Mnangagwa will on Tuesday (3 October, 2023) deliver a State of the Nation Address (SONA) in line with Section 140 (4) of the Constitution.
Section 140 (4) says ‘’At least once a year the President must address a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on the state of the nation, and the Speaker and the President of the Senate must make the necessary arrangements for Parliament to receive such an address’’
The Houses of Parliament mentioned in Section 140(4) of the Constitution are the Senate (Upper House) and the National Assembly (Lower House).
Although SONA was provided for when the country adopted the new constitution in 2013, it only started around 2015 when then Harare West legislator Jessie Majome quizzed then President Robert Mugabe was violating the constitution.
Since then, President Mugabe and now President Emmerson Mnangagwa have been delivering their SONAs on the same day they will be officially opening Parliament.
Previous SONAs have been boycotted by legislators aligned to Nelson Chamisa, and it remains to be seen if they will attend the address this year.
Chamisa is at loggerhead with Emmerson Mnangagwa over the recently held elections. He is of the view that he was rigged and that his victory was stolen.
The 10th Parliament of Zimbabwe is only composed of Zanu PF and Citizens Coalition for Change.
