Friday, 20 July 2012 13:41
The Constitution Select Committee, COPAC, yesterday 19 July 2012 announced that the process of drafting the new constitution has now been completed. COPAC also announced that it is anticipating to convene the Second All Stakeholder’s Conference by the end of August 2012.
Meanwhile as part of the activities leading up to the Stakeholders’ Conference, the committee highlighted that public awareness campaigns on the Draft will be carried out and members of the public are urged to participate fully in this process. The Select Committee also announced that the final draft was being translated into various national languages and Braille. ZANU-PF co-chair Hon Paul Mangwana announced that the Select Committee expects all Zimbabweans to fully acquaint themselves with the contents of the draft constitution and make meaningful contributions where possible. “We tried to use very simple language. It is as simple as possible. Any person who has not been to a law school will understand.”
MDC-T co-chair Hon Douglas Mwonzora also said the draft would also be tabled during the Second All Stakeholders Conference and then Parliament. “This is a Parliament process and it’s a process being undertaken in terms of Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement.” Hon Mwonzora further highlighted that 2 400 people will attend the stakeholders conference with the civil society taking up 70% of the delegates. He also said that a committee would be set up to work out the selection criteria for potential participants to the conference.
On the issue of the National Report, Hon Mwonzora said it would only be produced once the whole constitution making process is over. The three co-chairpersons defended the time it took to complete the draft saying the process needed considerable gap filling which requires adequate research and time. They also highlighted that in comparison to other African countries like Zambia and Kenya, Zimbabwe’s constitution making process has taken a shorter period to be completed. They however noted that the final Draft will be a document that Zimbabweans will be proud to associate with.
Other important pre-2nd All Stakeholders’ Conference actions also include:
• Printing of the draft in large numbers for distribution to participants in advance
• Mini outreach initiatives to explain the draft and help people familiarize themselves with it.
Please find attached a copy of the second draft of the Zimbabwe Constitution.