UPDATE: Zimbabwe Constitution - Vote on New Constitution Expected by June 2011

October 12, 2010

Alexander Chisango with
Minister of Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga and
Jordan Sekulow in Harare, Zimbabwe.

This report is from Alexander Chisango, Chairperson of the African Centre for Law & Justice in Harare, Zimbabwe

As the African Centre for Law & Justice (“ACLJ”) office in Harare, Zimbabwe, prepares for a major engagement in Zimbabwe’s constitution-drafting process, we want to keep you informed. The ACLJ is actively educating the people of Zimbabwe and key church leaders on issues that the church needs to take a stand on.  The ACLJ is working to ensure that the new constitution addresses areas of concern, including freedom of religion, that life begins at conception, and that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.

As we previously reported, under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of September 2008, which formed the present transitional national unity government, Zimbabwe was supposed to have a draft constitution ready for a referendum by November 2009 and a new constitution by July 2010. The process is now about a year behind schedule. Delays in the process are attributed to funding problems and arguments among the political parties and between political parties and civil society groups over the composition of committees. 

Under the transitional national unity government between President Robert Mugabe’s party (ZANU-PF), Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party (MDC-T), and the party led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara (MDC-M), a new constitution should be approved in a referendum before Zimbabwe holds its next general election. 

Yesterday, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana (ZANU-PF), the co-chairperson of the multi-party parliamentary committee leading a constitutional review process, released an updated schedule for the drafting process.  Zimbabwe’s major political parties now expect a national referendum on the new constitution to be held in late June 2011. This national referendum will pave the way for a general election if the draft constitution wins a yes vote from the public. Mangwana said that a referendum on the new charter would take place on June 30, 2011, after a month-long drafting programme set to begin in January 2011. 

The full schedule released yesterday is as follows:

• End of October 2010 – Close of public hearing outreaches. About 40 public hearings postponed due to recent constitution related violence will be held in Harare this weekend.
• End of October 2010 – Start of collation of data from the public outreaches.
• November 1 to December 22, 2010 – Thematic group discussions.
• January 2011 – Drafting.
• By March 31, 2011 – All stakeholders conference.
• By April 30, 2011 – Report back to Parliament.
• By June 30, 2011 – Referendum.

Mangwana also noted that this proposed schedule assumes that everything goes according to plan and is dependent on the availability of funds and how they are released.

You can watch a video report from CBN News about the work of the African Centre for Law and Justice on this issue here.

We will continue to update you about Zimbabwe’s constitution making process.