Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF) has condemned the government’s public consultations on the Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill (CAB3), which began yesterday, describing the four-day timeline and limited number of meeting venues as grossly inadequate for a matter of national importance.
The public meetings, organised by the Parliament of Zimbabwe, are scheduled to run until April 2.
In a statement, CDF national spokesperson Jacob Rukweza said the time frame and number of venues would not allow millions of citizens, including over six million registered voters, to adequately express their views on the proposed constitutional changes.
“It is impossible to imagine that the 65 venues made available for these public meetings will be sufficient to accommodate the millions of citizens who are eager to express themselves on the unpopular Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill within four days,” he said.
CDF called on Parliament to extend the consultation period from four days to 30 days and to decentralise meetings to all 1 950 wards across the country.
The forum also demanded that any constitutional amendment affecting presidential term limits be subjected to a referendum in terms of section 328 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The group outlined eight objections to the Bill, including rejecting proposals that could allow an unelected president appointed by Parliament, opposing the extension of Mnangagwa’s tenure beyond its 2028 expiry and resisting the proposed introduction of a seven-year presidential term.
It also objected to the proposed abolition of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, the appointment of 10 unelected senators by the President, suggested changes to the military’s constitutional role and plans to move control of the voters’ roll from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to the Registrar General’s Office.
“We are saying no to an unelected president. We are saying no to a president appointed by Parliament without directly involving the people through an election because executive authority derives from the people,” Rukweza said.
“We say no to partisan traditional leaders. Traditional leaders are not elected but appointed through inheritance. It is our considered view that traditional leaders cannot use their inherited and privileged positions to pursue divisive partisan politics in their areas of jurisdiction.”
Rukweza said the forum’s legal team would formally engage Parliament in the coming days to present a position paper.
Meanwhile, CDF urged its members and allies to attend the consultative meetings and publicly reject the Bill in its entirety.
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