Hosia Mviringi
Following its a successful passage in the House of Assembly on May 4 2021, the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 2 Bill has been gazetted.
The President has put his seal on the bill, effectively making it part of the national statutes.
The officialisation of the amendments is a memorable moment for the country as Zimbabwe has reclaimed its sovereignity.
A constitution is a living document which should continuously evolve in response to changing national aspirations of a people.
Amending the Constitution had become necessary to the government and people of Zimbabwe bearing in mind that the 2013 Constitution which replaced the Lancaster House Supreme Law was a product of a protracted process that put together varied interests of special groups under the Global Political Agreement which included agents of foreign interests.
It was a product of political expediency which was formulated, conceived and conceded for political survival.
It is not a secret that special alien clauses were smuggled into the document that sought to undermine sovereignty and self-governance.
Hitherto, the biggest threat to Zimbabwean nationhood has been it’s constitution which was mainly imported.
Those with sound memory will remember how the MDC principals tried to smuggle gay rights into the Supreme law of the land.
It was not necessarily because the MDC believed in these rights, but it was externally driven, with extensive pressure for it’s adoption coming from its main funders, the United States of America.
Zimbabwe is finally setting itself free from foreign interests imbedded within the constitution.
This day deserves to be celebrated as the true coming of freedom from Constitutional imperialism.
The late MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai (may his soul rest in peace), as a negotiating partner in the then GPA, is on record consulting the US Embassy in Harare on critical issues to do with Constitutional provisions and key negotiating areas with ZANU PF principals.
The amendments empower the President to appoint senior judges to the Judicial bench, it dispenses the running mate clause and give the President the discretion to appoint or disappoint Vice Presidents.
Among other things the amendments actualises Devolution through the establishment of Provincial Councils.
These were the missing cog in the operationalisation of Devolution programs.
Government commitment to the empowerment of women has been reaffirmed through an extension of the women’s quota for another two Parliamentary terms.
A Youth quota of ten Parliamentary seats has been established.
The Act re-establishes the office of the Public Protector (formally Office of Ombudsman) to effectively adjudicate between the public and the Stat and its agencies where the former is aggrieved.
The amending of these Constitutional clauses is the biggest blow to date of the imperial project in Zimbabwe.
The United States and its Western allies had sought to perpetuate Constitutional Imperialism through a constitution that literally held the country leadership hostage.
The President, under the original 2013 Constitution was supposed to lead with his hands tied to the back.
Thus, the enactment of this Constitutional Amendment is a major victory for Zimbabwean independence and national autonomy.
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