Parliament House, Harare
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Parliament House in
Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
was an active legislative building for 124 years, acting as the base of the Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia, the
Parliament of Rhodesia The Parliament of Rhodesia was the bicameral legislature in Rhodesia from 1970 to 1979. Three general elections were held (namely in 1970 Rhodesian general election, 1970, 1974 Rhodesian general election, 1974 and 1977 Rhodesian general electio ...
and finally the
Parliament of Zimbabwe The Parliament of Zimbabwe is the bicameral legislature of Zimbabwe composed of the Senate and the National Assembly. The Senate is the upper house, and consists of 80 members, 60 of whom are elected by proportional representation from ten six-m ...
. In November 2023, the Parliament of Zimbabwe relocated to the New Zimbabwe Parliament Building in Mount Hampden.


History

Construction of the building began in 1895 when Robert Snodgrass and David Mitchell, owners of the Hatfield Hotel on Pioneer Street, now Kaguvi Street, recognised the need for a hotel on the 'Causeway' side of Salisbury, where most of the civil servants lived. Construction was interrupted by the
Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...
and the site was bought by the
British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...
in its unfinished state in 1898. The dining room of the hotel was converted into the chamber of the Legislative Assembly, which had its inaugural sitting on 31 May 1899, only eight days after the arrival of the first train into Salisbury. In 1938, the balconies were enclosed, and the current facade was added in 1953 when the building was extended at the back to Union Avenue to house the Parliament of the newly-formed
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...
. The Federal Parliament was opened on 3 February 1954, and was closed on 9 December 1963 when the Federation was dissolved. During this period, the Reading Room on the northern side of the building served as the Federal Chamber of Parliament. In 1969, the extension at the back was heightened to six storeys to accommodate the newly-established
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. The first
Parliament of Zimbabwe The Parliament of Zimbabwe is the bicameral legislature of Zimbabwe composed of the Senate and the National Assembly. The Senate is the upper house, and consists of 80 members, 60 of whom are elected by proportional representation from ten six-m ...
was opened on 14 May 1980 and consisted of 100 MPs and 30 senators. By the time of the 2023 election, the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
had altered the make-up of Parliament to accommodate 280 MPs and 80 senators. The National Assembly was only able to seat 100 MPs, and so a new parliament building was constructed in Mount Hampden. The final meeting of Parliament in the building was on 19 October 2023.


References

{{Harare Former seats of national legislatures Legislative buildings Government buildings in Zimbabwe Buildings and structures in Harare 19th-century architecture Government buildings completed in 1899 1899 establishments in Southern Rhodesia Parliament of Zimbabwe