Julius Zava in Harare
Zimbabweans are concerned that the ruling Zanu-PF party is amending the constitution willy-nilly, and is trampling on human rights and eroding judicial independence in the process.
Since independence in 1980, Zanu-PF, which has 147 MPs out of a total 150, has amended the constitution 13 times. The 14th amendment has just been submitted to parliament.
Justice Minister Emmerson Munangagwa responded to opposition over the latest proposed amendment by saying, “We [Zanu-PF] make constitutional changes that are necessary to us.”
In the last five years, the Constitution has been amended four times to reverse decisions made by the supreme court, notably in cases where the government had previously lost in court.
Tendal Biti, a human rights lawyer, says: “in a democracy, the erosion of the rule of law is demoralising and unacceptable.”
In addition to eroding the rule of law, the government is accused of having eroded human rights protected under the constitution.
A University of Zimbabwe Constitutional law lecturer, Welshman Noube, says: “I think it’s the height of madness to amend the Bill of Rights.”
The latest proposal is an amendment to section II of the constitution the “pillar of Zimbabwe’s human and individual rights”, Noube says.
The amendment imposes strict regulations on foreign spouses who will no longer get automatic citizenship.
“There are a lot of intermarriages in Southern Africa and a lot of people will be affected, not just whites marrying blacks as politicians think,” said Everjoice Win of an organisation called Women in Law and Development in Africa.