… Says it was most widely consulted in Zimbabwe’s historyBy Brighton ChisevaMasvingo – Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Portfolio Committee Chairperson Edson Zvobgo Jnr has said The Constitutional Amendment Bill #3 consultation process was one of the most widely consulted bills in Zimbabwe’s history, dismissing criticisms that the process was flawed or rushed.Speaking at a press discussion organized by the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe in partnership with TellZim News at Chevron Hotel on April 11, Zvobgo acknowledged that there were a few incidents of concern but insisted they did not discredit the overall peaceful process.”Of course there were one or two incidences of concern. I saw some videos, but when we look at the overall process, dealing with a country of around 16 million, then point to two videos and say the whole process was faulty is not correct,” said Zvobgo.He argued that some people opposed to the political implications of the bill were now attacking the process, which he said went well in most areas.”There are people who were against the political implications of the passing of the bill. They should learn to differentiate the two. Those who are against the political outcome are now attacking the process, which went well in most areas,” he said.Zvobgo rejected claims that the consultation period was too short, explaining that critics were only looking at one part of the process.”Some say the process was too short, but they will be talking about a part of the process where the MPs had to come and meet people. The process is still ongoing, but the challenge is people don’t know that written submissions are equally important just like the submissions made during the meetings. The process is 90 days, and people have all the time to make written submissions,” said Zvobgo.He explained that the decision to compress the face to face meetings into four days was driven by the need to manage resources.”The committee had only 20 members, so we had to take other members from other committees and compress the period within a short time to avoid using taxpayers’ money for travel and other monetary requirements,” said Zvobgo.He said during the Constitutional Amendment Bills #1 and #2, there were only two meetings per province, with no complaints, but this time there was a dramatic increase to 64 meetings.”The idea of consultation is to get a sample; it’s not a referendum that requires going village by village. We had the first and second amendments which we had only two meetings per province but people did not complain,” he added.Zvobgo also addressed the issue of people bringing thousands of copies of submissions against certain clauses, stating that quantity does not matter.”Some people brought 10,000 copies with the same message and the same clause. That doesn’t change anything. It’s not about the number of copies because it’s not a vote where we count the number of people who have put in input,” he said.He also insisted that the meetings were fair, saying opposition MPs were involved, including the vice chairperson for the Masvingo team.”We had opposition members amongst ourselves. I was chairing the Masvingo meetings, and my vice was Honourable Shiriyedenga, who is a member of CCC. “She chaired in Zaka and other meetings. This is a result of people’s objections to the result and the political implication, which is fair enough. Everyone has a right to have their view of the political implication, but they should not confuse the two. The result and the process, during the process, the constitutional requirements were followed,” said Zvobgo.Zvobgo also defended the proposal that the President be elected by Members of Parliament rather than through direct popular vote, arguing that such a system was not foreign to Zimbabwe.He said similar systems were used to elect Presidents in countries such as South Africa, Botswana, and the United Kingdom. He challenged what he called double standards, saying it is acceptable when practiced by neighboring nations but criticized when Zimbabwe seeks to adopt the same approach.
