President Emmerson Mnangagwa has assented to the Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3, bringing into effect a raft of governance reforms that the Government says will strengthen democratic institutions, modernise Zimbabwe’s constitutional framework and improve the efficiency of State institutions.
The new law follows more than a decade of implementing the 2013 Constitution, with the Government saying the experience exposed areas that required refinement to better support the country’s governance and development agenda.
In an interview with the media, yesterday, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said the reforms originated from a resolution adopted by the ruling party before undergoing extensive legal and constitutional review.
“When we started this whole process, it started as a resolution of the party. We had to do a lot of research to look at our Constitution and how we could ensure that the resolution was realised.
“After more than 10 years with our Constitution, there were areas that we felt needed reform and refinement to ensure that our governance architecture is enhanced and our developmental trajectory is maintained,” he said.
Minister Ziyambi said the amendments also seek to promote policy continuity by addressing challenges associated with Zimbabwe’s electoral cycle, arguing that longer governance periods reduce disruptions caused by frequent elections and allow Government programmes to be implemented more effectively.
Among the key provisions of the Act is the elevation of Parliament into an electoral college that will elect a President should the office become vacant before the expiry of a presidential term.
“The Act has indeed elevated Parliament, in that Members of Parliament would then elect the President. Parliament will now sit as an electoral college to elect the President,” said Minister Ziyambi.
He added that the legislation also expands the Senate through the appointment of 10 senators selected on the basis of expertise, a move Government believes will strengthen Parliament’s legislative and oversight responsibilities.
“Over and above that, the Senate will now have 10 senators appointed for their expertise, which will enhance the overall work of Parliament,” he said.
The Act further establishes an independent Zimbabwe Delimitation Commission, transferring delimitation functions from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to a specialised constitutional body.
According to Minister Ziyambi, the separation of responsibilities is intended to improve institutional efficiency by allowing each body to focus exclusively on its constitutional mandate.
“We then also had to create a Delimitation Commission that is separate from ZEC, to ensure that we have specialised individuals who deal specifically with delimitation and allow the Electoral Board to deal with elections alone. We believe that this allows the Electoral Board to be a specialised electoral organ that specialises in election issues only,” he said.
With the legislation now in force, Government’s next priority is to educate citizens on the provisions of the new constitutional framework before its full operationalisation.
“We are very thankful to His Excellency for assenting to the Bill. The Bill is now an Act, and what we now need is to conscientise the generality of our people on the provisions of the Act, so that once it is operationalised, people will be able to appreciate what is in the new constitutional provisions,” Minister Ziyambi said.
The Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3 follows nationwide public consultations and introduces reforms which Government says are designed to strengthen governance, enhance institutional effectiveness and support the country’s long-term development objectives.
