Mnangagwa on Friday swiftly signed Constitutional Amendment
No 2 Bill into law, a few days after
Zanu PF joined hands with the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T in the Senate to pass
the over 20 changes.
Critics say the amendments have created an imperial
presidency as the president was given powers to appoint the country’s top
judges. Other far reaching changes include raising the retirement age for
judges from 70 to 75.
The clause is set to benefit Chief Justice Luke Malaba, who
was due to retire this week when he turns 70.
A clause on running mates in presidential elections has
also been scrapped before it could be tested for the first time in the
forthcoming 2023 elections.
The scrapping of the running mate clause is said to be an attempt to
contain Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is said to have ambitions to
take over the top office. Mnangagwa is accused of using the amendments to
entrench his rule at the expense of democracy.
Two of the country’s top lawyers Tendai Biti and Thabani
Mpofu say this week they will challenge the amendments at the Constitutional
Court. “The fight for protection and defence of our constitution has become the
defining fight of the present,” Biti said.
“There will be a floodgate of litigation, which ought to be
complemented by peaceful civic action.”
On Friday members of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
convened an emergency meeting in Harare where they resolved to fight back.
Musa Kika, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director, told
The Standard that civil society organisations (CSOs) were ready to confront the
government over the amendments.
“Lobby and advocacy must continue,” Kika said. “The Bill
was passed unprocedurally and unconstitutionally, and CSOs are challenging that
in the courts. “Substantively, the Bill is heavily flawed, and citizens’ voices
must continue to voice their concerns.
“The government must have no doubt that they have taken an
anti-people stance.”
ZimRights director Dzikamai Bere said CSOs had launched a
petition against the amendments and encouraged Malaba to reject moves to extend
his term of office.
“It’s a poisoned chalice. Like all good judges, the chief
justice is encouraged to turn this gift down. Meanwhile, people must sign the
petition,” Bere said.
As of yesterday, at least 7 000 people had signed the
online petition that was launched on Thursday evening with a target of 75 000
signatures.
The mainstream opposition MDC Alliance said it was
mobilising its supporters to challenge the amendments.
“As highlighted by president Nelson Chamisa, the citizens
must converge to fight this and all other hallmarks of autocracy,” the party’s
secretary for constitutional and parliamentary affairs, Kucaca Phulu, said. United
Kingdom-based constitutional law expert Alex Magaisa said Zimbabwe was now
slowly sliding back to a “constitutionalised authoritarian regime”.
Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba, however, defended
the amendments and accused those who are opposed to them as pawns of Western
countries.
“It met all the requirements of change-by-law, all the
requirements of democratic conduct, all the requirements of independent play by
the three pillars of the State,” Charamba said on Twitter.
“What we are sure to see them [the West] do is to organise
against Amendment Number 2.
“But because they can’t do it openly, they will do it
covertly initially, through their well-known pawns here.”
He added: “These cat’s paws will agitate; even goad the
authorities to provoke firm state response, which is inevitable and deserved.
“That way, this proximate, responsive development then is
made to look, read like it’s causally linked to western response and
opposition.
“In reality, they merely will have precipitated an excuse
and development behind, which is to pursue their original grievance against the
second republic, a grievance they feel so outsmarted to present directly.
“We are headed that way and all actors must keep this in
mind going forward.” Standard
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