Ms Latiso Laticia Dhlamini, Provincial Administrator of Matebeleland North Province, Zimbabwe, on behalf of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs of Matebele North, officially opened the 16th Zimbabwe-Zambia Senior Parliamentary Staff Seminar at Elephant Hills Hotel in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday, 25th August, 2015. The theme of this year's Seminar is, "Re-inventing Administration of Parliaments' Institutional Processes In the New Information Era."

In her remarks, she stated that the annual ZIM-ZAM Seminar was an opportunity for the two Parliaments of Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as other participating Parliaments, to share best practices, network and share experiences in their everyday work in Parliament.

In her opening remarks, Deputy Clerk of the Zimbabwe Parliament, Ms Hellen Dingani stated that Parliaments are evolving and should embrace the use of new phenomena such as social media in their operations. However, she cautioned that Social media can be hazardous and measures need to be put in place to prevent abuse of Parliament social media.

The Mayor of Victoria Falls Town, welcomed participants to the town and encouraged them to take time off to visit the touristic attractions offered by the town.

Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia presented the Seminar Objectives. She said that individual participants had stated their expectations from the Seminar and urged them to make use of this Seminar to learn new practices from colleagues in other Parliaments.

Other Parliaments participating in the 16th ZIM-ZAM are Uganda, led by Mrs. Kibirige, Clerk of the Uganda Parliament, Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi.

The opening ceremony was graced by pupils from the Baobab Primary School in Victoria Falls town who beautifully sang the Zimbabwe National Anthem, having taken time from enjoying their school holidays. The Seminar is expected to close on Thursday, 27th August, 2015.