Zimbabwe wraps up public consultation period for controversial proposed amendment

The historic 90-day public consultation period for the proposed Constitution Amendment No. 3 Bill officially lapses today, paving the way for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to start compiling a comprehensive report on views gathered from Zimbabweans countrywide. The Bill proposes a Parliamentary process for the election of the President and seeks to replace the current five-year term with a seven-year tenure. [ . . . ] Under Section 328 of the Constitution, Constitutional Amendment Bills are legally required to undergo a mandatory 90-day public consultation process before they can proceed through Parliament. During the consultation period, Parliament received more than 300 000 submissions from members of the public through written submissions, emails and oral presentations made during nationwide public hearings conducted between March 31 and April 2 across the country’s 64 districts.
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