The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front used its two-thirds parliamentary majority to change the constitution to allow it to legally acquire all land, create a senate and revoke passports of its opponents.
It passed with Constitution Amendment (17) with 103 votes with 29 against. The party needed only 100 votes to pass the amendment.
All 28 Movement for Democratic Change Members of Parliament who were present in the House and independent member for Tsholotsho Jonathan Moyo voted against the amendment.
The MDC had 41 seats in Parliament.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 05HARARE1238, CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS SAIL THROUGH PARLIAMENT
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001238
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2015
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS SAIL THROUGH PARLIAMENT
REF: HARARE 001156
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d
——-
Summary
——-
¶1. (C) Parliament passed the Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment (17) Bill on August 30 by a vote of 103 to 29. The
immediate impact of the 17th revision to the 1979 Lancaster
House constitution will be: to cement the GOZ,s acquisition
of commercial farmland; to grant the government authority to
revoke the passports of opponents; and to recreate a
66-member Senate. According to critics, the amendments
strengthen ZANU-PF,s hand against the opposition and provide
an opportunity for the GOZ to expand its patronage network.
End Summary
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Amendments Breeze Through
————————–
¶2. (U) Parliament on August 30 approved the much-anticipated
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (17) Bill, after three
readings (reftel). The GOZ assembled 103 votes in favor of
the amendments, surpassing the constitutional requirement
that two-thirds of the 150-member body vote affirmatively.
Meanwhile, the 28 MDC legislators who were present in
parliament for the vote, plus Independent MP Jonathan Moyo
voted against. After the bill,s passage, ZANU-PF MPs broke
into song and dance, chanting &ZANU-PF has won.8 The bill
now awaits Mugabe,s signature.
——————————————— —–
Immediate Impact: Undercutting Economy, Opponents(
——————————————— —–
¶3. (C) The most controversial amendment grants title to the
government of all farmland acquired in the past under the
land reform program and any land that may be acquired in the
future as of the date that the land is gazetted. It also
removes the right of landowners whose land has been acquired
to challenge the acquisition in court. Landowners, only
remaining judicial recourse is to the administrative court to
challenge compensation to be paid for their improvements to
the land, not for the land itself. To implement the new
arrangement, the GOZ has announced its intention to issue
99-year leases that can be inherited but not otherwise
transferred without government permission, but these
long-term leases are not provided for in the constitution.
¶4. (C) The constitutional amendment also grants the GOZ the
ability to confiscate the passport of any Zimbabwean if the
government suspects they have the intent to engage in
activities detrimental to &the national interest.8 In a
thinly veiled reference to MDC leaders, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa told
reporters after the bill,s passage it was unpatriotic for
Zimbabweans to travel the world on a Zimbabwean passport
asking for a military invasion or the imposition of
sanctions. MDC legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
who represents the Glen Norah district in Harare, told poloff
on August 31 that she expected she and other MDC legislators
would have their passports revoked should they attempt to
travel abroad. Misihairabwi-Mushonga said that the amendment
was deliberately vague, granting the GOZ wide powers to
intimidate opponents. (N.B. We understand the potential
restraint on travel of its citizens may bring the GOZ into
conflict with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.)
——————————————— —
(Widening Patronage System With &Useless8 Senate
——————————————— —
¶5. (C) The constitutional amendment also reintroduces a
66-member Senate, a body which staffers of SUNY,s
parliamentary program in Zimbabwe told the Ambassador on
August 31 has no apparent function but to enlarge the GOZ,s
opportunities for favoritism. The staffers reported that the
Senate had no power of veto. Although Senators have the
authority to propose legislation, the staffers speculated
that, as with the existing Parliament, virtually all bills
would originate from the executive branch. ZANU-PF
legislator and member of parliament,s budget committee
Charles Majange, who represents Chivi South in Masvingo, told
poloff on August 31 that planning for Senate elections had
already begun but that the government had yet to allocate
adequate funding to set up the new body. A visit to the
parliament building revealed that even basic considerations,
such as office space in the already cramped building, had yet
to be contemplated.
——-
Comment
——-
¶6. (C) Designed to remove the final obstacle to GOZ land
reform, the nationalization of farmland and squelching of
judicial appeal in land cases will clear a huge backlog of
pending litigation over past land acquisitions. The GOZ,
however, may find a tougher row to hoe ahead. First, it will
be under considerable pressure now to finalize allocations
under land reform, which will likely intensify intraparty
fights already growing over land claims. With national land
ownership, ZANU-PF cadres may soon see land being taken and
allocated only to be reallocated again and again as
individuals fall out of favor with the party hierarchy.
Moreover, the party has sold these measures as empowering the
new farmer. Without transferable title, though, the new
farmers will find capital still inaccessible, leaving them
dependent as ever on the bankrupt GOZ and its mismanaged
command and control measures for inputs. Indeed, GOZ
propaganda characterizing these measures as the last chapter
on land reform will not stem wide disenchantment with the
ruling party’s management of land reform. Ironically, having
consciously pursued the land-related amendments to bolster
party patronage, these provisions may soon magnify the
patronage system’s growing weakness and drive new wedges into
the party.
DELL
(62 VIEWS)
