FORMER Constitution parliamentary select committee (Copac) co-chairpersons Edward Mkhosi (MDC) and Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T) have said the writing of a new Constitution was proving to be a waste of resources owing to the lack of urgency by the government to align the country’s laws with the new charter.
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Mkhosi and Mwonzora said the failure by the executive to align the laws with the new charter was depressing. A new constitution was signed into law on May 22 2013 by President Robert Mugabe replacing the Lancaster House charter but Mkhosi said delays by the current Zanu PF-dominated Parliament to give effect to existing legislation by aligning it with the new charter were deliberate and worrying.
“The document is not 100% perfect, but it was a great milestone,” Mkhosi said.
“It is therefore worrying that all that amount of work is coming to naught as a result of these delays and failure to urgently synchronise the country’s laws with the new Constitution.”
Over 200 pieces of legislation need to be in tandem with the new Constitution to give them effect. Law experts have expressed fears that delays could cause havoc within the judiciary since some court rulings could be struck down as unconstitutional. Some of the laws that need to be aligned with the new Constitution include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, the Official Secrets Act.
Mkhosi said the delays showed a lack of political and will eventually deny Zimbabweans their rights and benefits as enshrined in the Constitution.
“At the end of the day, it will prove to be a waste of resources. What is becoming clear is that what Zanu PF lost during the negotiations, they will try by all means to regain it through implementation, either by taking time to have the laws aligned with the Constitution or panel beat the Constitution,” Mkhosi added.
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Mwonzora said the laws must be aligned with the new Constitution to ensure that it has meaning and people enjoy the rights they voted for.
“Unfortunately, the government is sitting on the Constitution. The government is refusing to align the laws so as to circumvent the Constitution and Zimbabweans must say no to that. Having a new Constitution was a big achievement, but the problem we have is that of bad rulers,” Mwonzora said.
However, the Zanu PF Copac co-chairperson Paul Mangwana differed with Mkhosi and Mwonzora saying the process of aligning laws could take even more than a decade. Mangwana said Mkhosi and Mwonzora were ill-informed as the alignment of laws was a process.
“It’s a process. Of course, some of the alignments have to be done now and urgently, but some of them are developmental,” he said.
“For example, South Africa adopted a new constitution in 1994, but is still harmonising the laws. It’s not a one-day event, it can take years.”
