Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika and Nyore Madzianike
The National Assembly has passed Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 this afternoon after 216 out of 258 legislators voted for the adoption of the Bill.
The Bill was passed with amendments that were made during the Committee Stage yesterday.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda presided over the voting process this afternoon.
After pronouncing the constitutional provisions on how amendments to the Constitution are carried out, bells were rung for seven minutes to alert legislators who were outside the chamber that voting was about to start.
Doors to the chamber were then closed as required by Parliament’s standing rules and orders.
As voting commenced, MPs voting in favour of the Bill sat on the Speaker’s right side while those opposing sat on his left side.
The counting of votes then followed, with Parliament staff and MPs from Zanu PF and CCC conducting this.
After the Speaker announced the results, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi thanked the MPs for their contributions to the process.
The National Assembly debated the Bill over the past two weeks, with over 200 MPs making contributions.
Some of the amendments made to the Bill include the withdrawal of proposals to disband the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and merge its functions with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
The proposal to allow chiefs to participate in politics was also withdrawn.
Any amendment to the Constitution must be passed by at least a two-thirds majority of the membership of the House.
