Manicaland senator and former co-chairperson of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) Douglas Mwonzora has castigated government for proposing to amend the constitution less than 10 years after its adoption in 2013.
Mwonzora, who played a significant role in drafting and enactment of the new charter that replaced the Lancaster House Constitution said the move by government is a step back which should be resisted.
Posting on Twitter, Mwonzora said the current constitution was an incremental gain in the democratisation agenda and ought not to be tempered with.
“The resolution by Zimbabwean Cabinet to initiate key amendments to the Constitution represents a long march backwards. The current constitution represents an incremental gain in Zimbabwe’s democratisation agenda. We have to resist these selfish amendments,” said Mwonzora.
Government has proposed a number of amendments chief among them, the inclusion of a youth quota which increases the national assembly seats to 220, the scrapping of the Presidential running mate clause and extension of the women quota by a further 10 years.
The women quota was due to end in 2023 coinciding with the start of the running mate clause and Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said they made a decision to effect the amendments to address loopholes and gaps that were making the implementation of the constitution ‘inherently’ problematic.
The new constitution a result of a negotiated process between the ruling Zanu PF and two MDC formations came into effect in 2013, replacing the Lancaster House charter that had been amended a record 19 times.
