Online Reporter
Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs meets today (Friday) to finalise the nationwide summary of public submissions on Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 — concluding consultations hailed as a watershed moment for citizen participation in Zimbabwe’s law-making process.
Committee chairperson, Honourable Eddison Zvobgo Jr confirmed in an interview with The Manica Post yesterday (Thursday) that the panel has been consolidating submissions since the deadline closed last week.
He noted that contributions came through hand-delivered documents, emails, and public hearings held from March 30 to April 2, 2026, across all 10 provinces — making it one of the most extensive citizen feedback exercises on a single Bill in recent memory.
In Manicaland alone, hearings in Nyanga, Mutasa, Makoni, Mutare, Chipinge, Chimanimani, and Buhera drew capacity crowds.
War veterans, traditional and religious leaders, farmers, business executives, professionals, and ordinary citizens turned out to register support for or opposition to the proposed amendments.
Parliament, which adjourned to allow time for processing submissions, is expected to resume sittings on June 2.
Honourable Zvobgo said the consolidated report could be tabled before Parliament as early as next week, or the week after.
Once presented, the report will provide legislators with a province-by-province and demographic-by-demographic breakdown of public opinion on the Bill’s core provisions — forming the empirical foundation for debate in both the National Assembly and the Senate.
“The submissions reveal clear divergences between urban and rural voters, and between male and female respondents. What we are handing to Parliament is not just a summary, but a detailed gauge of national sentiment that lawmakers cannot ignore. The people will have slightly different opinions – those expressed by urbanites differed from those of rural voters and female voters might have slightly different opinions to their male counterparts. So we will give a guideline as to what the Zimbabwean people are thinking and that is what the Members of Parliament will use in their debate,” he said, stressing that the scale of engagement set this process apart.
“The only difference with other bills is that we have done extensive consultations,” said Honourable Zvobgo, adding that the committee will not pronounce on constitutional questions surrounding a referendum.
“On other issues of whether the referendum is required or not, as well as other legal issues, we are leaving that to the courts. That is their proper role, isn’t it,” he said.
The report will be instrumental when the Bill proceeds to its First Reading, followed by Second Reading debates, Senate consideration, and ultimately a Third Reading in the House of Assembly, should both houses concur.
Members of the public have described the consultation as a milestone in participatory democracy, underscoring that the breadth of engagement — from remote villages to urban centres — has anchored the legislative process in the will of the people.
Clerk of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Chokuda, has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the process and the public response during consultations.
He said the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Honourable Ziyambi Ziyambi will formally present the Bill in Parliament through the First Reading process.
“The next stage will be when the minister will formally present the Bill in Parliament after the elapse of the 90 days, where he does the First Reading and like the usual process, the First Reading is simply the minister reading the long title of the Bill. There is no discussion or debate that happens at that stage,” he said.
Mr Chokuda said substantive debate on the Bill will only begin during the Second Reading stage.
“The substantive debate happens at the second reading stage, where the ministers will come in and then go into details in terms of motivating the Bill, explaining the Bill to members of Parliament. Then the chairperson of the relevant committee will present the report of the committee, including the findings from the public and the recommendations of the committee. Thereafter, all the other members of Parliament will then participate in the debate. So, that is the next stage,” he said.
Mr Chokuda said, unlike ordinary bills, Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill will not be referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee after the First Reading because it seeks to amend the Constitution.
He said after the Second Reading stage, Parliament will move to the Committee Stage, where legislators will scrutinise the Bill clause by clause.
