The Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 is now set to be transmitted to President Emmerson Mnangagwa for assent and signature after the National Assembly, on Tuesday, adopted amendments proposed by the Senate last week.
The lower House, which was recalled from recess by President Mnangagwa on Friday specifically to consider the Senate’s amendments, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the revised Bill, with 226 legislators supporting the changes while 41 voted against.
Once signed by the President, the Bill will be gazetted and become part of Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
Addressing journalists after the sitting, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said the legislative process had now reached its final stage.
“What will happen now is that Parliament will transmit the Bill to His Excellency for his assent and signature. Thereafter, it will be gazetted and will become part of our Constitution,” he said.
Minister Ziyambi said the timing of the assent would depend on when the President receives the Bill.
“His Excellency normally assents to Bills as and when he gets them,” he said.
He explained that one of the key refinements made by the Senate relates to Clause 3, which amends Section 92(5) governing the election of the President.
Under the revised provision, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will conduct the election in accordance with both the Electoral Act and Parliament’s Standing Orders, rather than merely presiding over the process under parliamentary procedures.
“The Senate has refined Section 92, Subsection 5, which governs the conduct of that election in the form that the National Assembly passed.
“The amendment provides, instead, that the election shall be conducted by ZEC in accordance with the electoral law and the standing orders. The refinement is one of precision,” Minister Ziyambi said.
He said the amendment provides a stronger legal foundation by ensuring that presidential elections conducted by Parliament are anchored in both electoral legislation and parliamentary rules.
Earlier during debate, Minister Ziyambi described the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 as legislation designed to shape Zimbabwe’s long-term constitutional development.
“The law that has been made will enable the progressive building and development of this country. What was decided here was decided not for today but for those who will come after us and the beautiful Zimbabweans not yet born who will one day live under it. History will vindicate them, for what is done for posterity is not judged by the present but by the verdict of the years to come,” he explained.
The minister also commended Members of Parliament for steering the Bill through every stage of the legislative process, from its First Reading to the consideration of the Senate’s amendments.
He praised legislators for returning from recess at short notice to complete work on the Bill.
“They came and came to work. That is the final proof of a commitment to national duty. What the House has done is its constitutional duty; it has made law, and in discharging it, the House has done the highest thing a Parliament can do,” he said.
Among the major proposals contained in Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 are extending Zimbabwe’s electoral cycle from five to seven years, establishing a Zimbabwe Delimitation Commission to determine electoral boundaries, providing for the election of the President by Parliament, and transferring responsibility for managing the voters’ roll from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to the Registrar-General’s Office.
With Parliament having completed its consideration of the Bill, the legislation now awaits Presidential assent before it is gazetted and formally incorporated into Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
