Published by the government of Zimbabwe
26 September 2007
Harare — The Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 18 sailed through Senate yesterday accompanied by thunderous applause as both Zanu-PF and MDC Senators unanimously threw their weight behind it.
The Bill was voted for by all the 56 Senators in the chamber. The Bill now awaits President Mugabe's assent before it becomes law. Last week we erroneously reported that a Constitutional Bill does not need Presidential assent, but the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Austin Zvoma, yesterday said, like any other Bill, it requires his acquiescence.
The President assented to Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 17 - which reintroduced Senate, among other issues - when Parliament passed it in 2005. The chamber burst into song and dance yesterday after Senate President Cde Edna Madzongwe announced that all the 56 Senators present had voted in favour of the Third Reading of the Bill. The Constitutional Amendment Bill seeks to harmonise presidential, parliamentary and local government elections by reducing the presidential term of office from six to five years so that it runs concurrently with parliamentary polls.
A two-thirds majority -- 44 out of 66 Senate votes -- was required for the Bill to pass through the Upper House.
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa, who was steering the Bill, said the Bill was a culmination of mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki after being tasked by Sadc heads of state at an extraordinary summit held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March.
The minister said the mediation resulted in several meetings being held between Zanu-PF and the MDC. Zanu-PF is being represented at the talks by Cde Chinamasa and the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Nicholas Goche, while the MDC is being represented by Mr Tendai Biti from the Morgan Tsvangirai faction and Professor Welshman Ncube from the Arthur Mutambara camp.
Contributing during the second reading stage, Pelandaba-Mpopoma Senator Mr Greenfield Nyoni (MDC) said he supported the passage of the Bill without any reservations.
He commended the talks team for a job well done. "It is historic in a country where major political parties show commitment to resolve their differences for the good of ordinary people. I want to commend Sadc and Mr Mbeki for facilitating," said Mr Nyoni. President of the Chiefs' Council Chief Fortune Charumbira said chiefs unequivocally supported the Bill, which he said was well received in the House of Assembly.
"There were some showers on the day that it passed in the Lower House, indicating a good omen for the country. This showed that we now have an identity as black people," said Chief Charumbira. He urged the negotiating teams to continue the talks with an open mind when they meet to discuss outstanding issues.
In response, Cde Chinamasa said Zanu-PF was committed to dialogue with the MDC, saying there was nothing major that divided them as Zimbabweans. He said it was external factors and influence that needed to be guarded against as evidenced by the hostility that erupted following the passage of the Bill in the Lower House. Cde Chinamasa said some external forces felt that their interests were being threatened and were now making noise, hence the need to be wary of such elements that might jeopardise the ongoing dialogue between the two political parties.
"Zanu-PF is like a jealous suitor. When it goes to its suitor and sees other rival suitors milling around the house of its suitor, it gets disturbed, more importantly when the rival suitors are not genuine; they want to win using money. They are like sugar daddies," said Cde Chinamasa to a round of applause from the floor. Minister of Finance and Leader of the Upper House Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi hailed Mr Mbeki for his mediation efforts and bringing together the two political parties. The Bill sailed through the House of Assembly last week with 111 legislators out of 150, including chiefs, Governors, Vice Presidents Joseph Msika and Joice Mujuru present voting in favour of the Bill. It seeks to increase the members of the House of Assembly from 150 to 210, all elected. It also seeks to change the tittle of Police Commissioner to Commissioner General of Police.
The Bill introduces the post of Deputy Chief Justice, seeks establishment of a Human Rights Commission, gives the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission the function of delimiting parliamentary constituencies and council wards and change the name of the Ombudsman to Public Protector.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
