Online Reporter
The Herald, 24 December 1999
CDE Joseph Msika took the oath of office as the country’s co-Vice President before President Mugabe at State House in Harare yesterday.
The ceremony was witnessed by 11 Cabinet ministers, Zanu (PF)’s secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa and senior Government officials.
Cde Msika’s wife, Maria, and several family members witnessed the occasion. Cde Msika fills the post left vacant after the death of Cde Joshua Nkomo in July this year.
The veteran nationalist, who was unanimously elected as Zanu (PF) co-Vice President at the party’s third National People’s Congress last week, was appointed co-Vice President of the country on Tuesday.
President Mugabe told reporters that by appointing Cde Msika as Vice President, he was merely fulfilling the requirements of the current constitution, which provides for two Vice-Presidents.
The current constitution has provisions for two Vice-Presidents but the draft constitution produced by the Constitutional Commission has provision for one Vice- President. The draft only provides for the post of a Prime Minister, who can be acting President in the absence of the President.
“What is in the draft are the enlisted views of the people and, in some cases, not all the people. The draft constitution is only a draft and we do not go by the results of a draft.
“There are realities we must turn to. So when the late Vice President (Cde Nkomo) passed away, there was a vacancy created, which we have filled according to the prevailing situation. “I could not merely waive the legal need for us to have a second Vice- President and say we have a draft constitution. Suppose the people reject the draft, what happens?” Cde Mugabe asked.
The way forward could only be discussed after the draft had been adopted by the people and Parliament, he said. The Minister Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the draft had to go through a referendum and “once that is accepted, the future Government will be structured on the basis of a new constitution”. The Referendum Bill, which went through its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday, was expected to be passed into law next week.
