Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
There was no room for bribery of legislators in the voting process of the Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill, as systems and internal structures guide lawmakers in the conduct of parliamentary business, ZANU PF Secretary for Legal Affairs and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi, has said.
Cde Ziyambi said this while addressing the ZANU PF National Youth League Assembly in Harare yesterday. He said Members of Parliament had met to deliberate on the Bill and review progress made so far.
The Youth League expressed support for the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill during the meeting, which was headlined by President Mnangagwa, who is also ZANU PF First Secretary.
Cde Ziyambi said legislators met at the Museum of African Liberation, where they held final deliberations on the Bill and went through its clauses to ensure lawmakers were aligned on progress made so far.
“We met with Members of Parliament this morning (yesterday), where we were discussing the progress of the Bill and also going through all its clauses and making sure we are on the same page,” he said.
He said following the gazetting of the Bill, ZANU PF embarked on a massive mobilisation drive, which culminated in positive feedback during public consultations.
Cde Ziyambi expressed satisfaction over the level of public participation, saying there was an overwhelming response.
He added that he personally witnessed large volumes of submissions when he visited Parliament last week.
Parliament has since adjourned to allow the sorting and collation of submissions gathered during public hearings before they are handed over to Parliamentary Committees for compilation of reports.
“I am happy to announce that every villager is now aware of the Bill,” he said.
The Bill will now proceed to the Parliamentary Committee stage before its First Reading when Parliament resumes sitting in the first week of next month.
Cde Ziyambi also dismissed claims that parliamentarians could be bribed into not supporting the Bill, saying existing Parliamentary systems and structures guide legislators on how to conduct themselves.
“If you look into the Constitution, there are party Chief Whips. There is what we call a party democratic system, which says MPs do what the party says and they follow that,” he said.
He said these Parliamentary systems leave no room for bribery in the passage of the Bill.
