HARARE – Constitutional Amendment No 2 Bill has divided Zimbabweans again, ENN reports. The Bill, if it becomes law, will give the president of Zimbabwe boundless powers, including the appointment of judges without subjecting them to public interviews, and powers to hire and fire vice presidents.
In his 37-year rule, former president Robert Mugabe amended the National Constitution 20 times, which is 7 times shy of the 27 constitutional amendments done within 3 years after his 2017 ouster.
Former Zimbabwe deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara has condemned the amendments by urging Zimbabweans to protest against the signing of the law. “Zanu PF is begging for more economic sanctions”, said Mutambara as he labelled the amendments pure idiocy.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, Zimbabwe Peace Project, We Lead and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum have converged in the fight against Zimbabwe’s constitutional amendments. A national campaign against the Bill has been launched under the banner #ResistDictatorship. A virtual rally has been organized for tomorrow to protest against the sullying of the national constitution. Zanu PF does not enjoy a two-thirds majority in the senate to warrant the passing of this Bill, but was gifted with votes from three senators from Douglas Mwonzora’s MDC-T, namely Jane Chifamba, Morgan Femai and Piniel Denga. Mwonzora is being accused of selling out the struggle for democracy to Zanu PF for political relevance, accusations that he denies. With these latest constitutional developments, even his senior party executive Norris Nyathi has ditched the party in protest.
