What Zimbabwe MPs said about the Constitution Amendment Bill

I am not a lawyer but we are seeing the impression we are getting from the lawyers going against the Constitution. The other day I said, there is a provision in the Constitution, which is very clear – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –  To me Mr. Chairman, I wonder which law school they went to.  I do not think they went to a law school because the law school clearly tells you that you must respect the rules of others.  To me, it is sad that three top lawyers from the opposition stand up to go against the Constitution.  Let us adhere to the Constitution.  Let us move with what needs to be done.  They do not have to point to any clause.  There is no clause in the amendment that they have to point to that they believe is not proper.  It is all a blanket statement from them.  As such, it is important that the will of the people prevails in this House.  The will of the people shall prevail through the people’s representatives.

Understandably so, those who are representing the people must equally understand that there is the other side which has more people.  In having more people, we do not want to be wasting time when you do not have the numbers at the end of the day.  We need to move with business of the day.  There are more important things to talk about in this country rather than us taking so much time on an amendment of the Bill which we know is in line with the Constitution.  All we are doing is making unnecessary noise, instead of pushing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to open the Voter Registration so that you can be empowered and ensure that you are also able to dictate the pace of the politics.  Thank you.

HON. NDUNA: Thank you Hon. Chairperson.  I will follow what my predecessor has said.  I will also try and address my debate to the Short Title.  However, as the precedent has been set here, there seems to be holistic approach in terms of debate to the whole Bill.  I will also align myself to that.  Contextually, how this Bill has been brought to Parliament is quite constitutional, as has been alluded to by the former Speaker on Section 328…

THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: Order Hon. Member.  Those who are to debate, it should only be on Short Title.  If you want to go beyond that, we may not finish.  Let us restrict our debate only to the Short Title.

HON. NDUNA: Hon. Chairperson, the Short Title that you alluded to does arise and is well in place and I support it.  I want to say, for the avoidance of doubt, the Short Title shall remain and stay because of the numbers.  Politics is a game of numbers and it is what brings us to Parliament.  As I said before, with the 50 000 Constituency members whom I represent, they speak with one voice to and about and are in support of that Short Title.

Hon. Chairperson, just in case the Leader of the House and Hon. Vice President goes out of this House thinking that he has been let down by being the only person who is a creature of the Constitution;  I stand here and say he should walk with his head high, chest out and shoulders very high, aware and cognisant of the fact that he speaks to and about the majority.  In 2000, we saw what Judiciary Reforms can do after the appointment of the late Justice Chidyausiku when he went in and single-handedly handed us the Agrarian Reform Act of 2000.  We see what this position can do in terms of economic Benefit to the country.

Continued next page

(405 VIEWS)