Hon Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC spokesperson and Copac co-Chairperson, today urged the Civil Society to engage in serious civic education on the constitution to give the people a clear understanding of the tenets of the new draft.

Speaking in Harare, Hon Mwonzora said the civil society should be seized with giving the people of Zimbabwe enough information about the draft so that they may be able to vote according to how they see the draft constitution.

'This is not about getting the YES vote. It is about giving the people what the constitution is now saying, given that we did the outreach and the Stakeholders' conferences. It is imperative therefore, that we educate the people on what the draft contains. We are saying this is a constitution for the people of Zimbabwe, it remains their prerogative to see to it that what they want to see is captured in the constitution,' he said.

He mentioned that the new draft contains an expanded bill of rights, which is the most comprehensive bill of rights in Africa.

In terms of citizenship, Hon Mwonzora explained that citizenship by birth is a guaranteed provision where a child born in Zimbabwe to parents resident in the country is a citizen, while a child, born to Zimbabwean parents resident in another country, is a citizen by birth, and this too is guaranteed in the new constitution.

He added that in the forthcoming election, all people who had previously been termed aliens are now eligible to vote.