Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika and Nyore Madzianike
AMENDMENTS to the Constitution as proposed in Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 have overwhelming support from ordinary people and legislators, as seen by the number of people who endorsed them during the 90-day public consultations process and National Assembly debate during Second Reading, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said yesterday.
He made the remarks while responding to issues raised by parliamentarians in their debates.
The minister also told the House that consultations on the Bill had been extensive and inclusive.
“The people of Zimbabwe asked for institutions that allow them to build. They asked in 540 037 written submissions, in 54 231 attendances at hearings in every province, and now through the contributions of 182 of their elected representatives,” he said.
The parliamentary process, Minister Ziyambi said, had incorporated views gathered during public consultations and committee scrutiny.
He also said after the consultations, they then followed what had been raised by the public.
Minister Ziyambi gave an example where people and MPs unanimously agreed on proposals to remove provisions relating to the participation of traditional chiefs in partisan politics and the disbandment of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission.
“We have listened. We have answered, and where people and their committees have asked us to reconsider, we have shown that we will.
“The House unanimously agreed that the provisions relating to chiefs’ participation in politics and those concerning the Gender Commission be done away with,” said Minister Ziyambi.
He said the Bill had undergone thorough scrutiny by Parliamentary Committees and enjoyed support both within Parliament and among citizens who participated in consultations.
“The support inside this Honourable House resonates with the support outside it.
“The debate has been long. The scrutiny has been real, and the Bill before us is stronger for both,” he said.
The Minister also said CAB3 processes were being done in terms of lawful procedures, adding that there was, therefore, no need for a referendum.
Minister Ziyambi said the Constitution clearly specifies only three categories of amendments that require a referendum.
“The Constitution reserves the national referendum for three categories of amendment, and three alone,” he said.
He said these were amendments to Chapter 4 on the Declaration of Rights, Chapter 16 on Agricultural Land, and Section 328, which governs term limit amendments.
“For every other provision, the Constitution prescribes a different and equally rigorous road — publication of the Bill, a minimum of 90 days for public consultation, and the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the membership of each House at the final reading,” said Minister Ziyambi.
“That is not a loophole. That is the design, the will of the people, expressed for amendments of this kind through the people’s Parliament.”
Minister Ziyambi said CAB3 does not amend any of the provisions requiring a referendum.
“So the question becomes a simple one. Does this Bill amend the Declaration of Rights, the land chapter, or the term-limit provision? It does not,” he said.
He argued that the Constitution only recognises amendments made in explicit terms.
“Section 328(2) provides that an Act of Parliament that amends this Constitution must do so in express terms. There is no such thing as an implied amendment to the Constitution,” he said.
Minister Ziyambi dismissed arguments that the Bill indirectly affected entrenched constitutional provisions.
“You cannot amend by implication what the Supreme Law says may be amended only by declaration, and you cannot demand a referendum for amendments this Bill does not make,” he said.
Addressing concerns over presidential term limits, Minister Ziyambi said CAB3 leaves all constitutional term-limit provisions intact.
“The first true and only presidential term limit in this country’s history arrived in 2013 in the two-term rule under Section 91(2). That rule stands today exactly as the people adopted it, untouched by this Bill, in letter or in spirit,” he said.
