MDC Alliance Youth Assembly Statement on Constitutional Amendment Number 2 Public Hearings

For Immediate Release

June 12, 2020

The MDC Alliance Youth Assembly would want to register its reservations on the Zanu PF goverment’s call for Public Hearings on Constitutional Amendment Number 2 slated for next week.

Given the widespread of COVID_19, we call upon the Parliament of Zimbabwe to make a resolution setting the right environment to save people from the spread of the virus.

Jumping the gun

It is clear to the MDC Alliance National Youth Assembly that currently, the most pressing issue is not Constitutional Amendment Number 2 but the alignment of Acts to the Constitution.

As the youths of this country, we questioned why the ZANUPF-led goverment is desirous to amend a Constitution before its tenets have even been implemented?

We question the regime’s interest to jump the gun by fast tracking the public hearings on the Constitution Amendment Number 2. This comes against the backdrop that the Constitution Amendment Number 2 seeks to reverse the gains brought upon Zimbabwe by the current Constitution of Zimbabwe.

Which gains in the current Constitution stand to be lost?

The Executive Branch of the State is showing impatience as it hurriedly intends to terminate a whooping 28 provisions of the Constitution.

We as the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly, we are further disturbed by the fact that out of the 28 provisions meant to be changed, 20 of them are elections related.

With elections in Zimbabwe penciled for 2023, it can only be concluded that the Zanu PF-led government’s intentions are not at all innocent but meant to entrench its stranglehold on power.

As the MDC Alliance National Youth Assembly, we make serious recommendations that there be no amendments made to any provisions of the current Constitution before its fullest implementation.

Mitigating factors

The MDC Alliance National Youth Assembly views as contradictory and nefarious intentions by the State to run Public Hearings on Constitutional Amendment Number 2 while impinging on COVID-19 guidelines imposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), of which Zimbabwe is a member.

As MDC Alliance youths, we see such a move (carrying out public hearings) as retrogressive and unwarranted especially when COVID-19 pandemic has accounted for millions of deaths worldwide, with the number of infections in Zimbabwe rising on a daily basis.

Precedence

In the past – between March 18 and May 5, to be precise – all parliamentary sessions were halted as measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus were taken, we note that nothing has changed.

Even one of the most important and lucrative sporting event around the globe, soccer, has also been temporarily suspended in order to save lives through effecting reasonable social distancing measures.

Where soccer has resumed in the Bundasliga in Germany, it has been in empty stadiums with measures also taken to ensure adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines.

Way forward

The MDC Alliance National Youth Assembly Portfolio has resolved that:

*Proper caution must be made to ensure that the Public Hearings are conducted in a conducive environment, with all necessary Personal Protective Equipment made available to the participants.

• There must also be measures taken to ensure the alignment of legislative pieces to the Constitution, including that any amendments to the current Constitution must be halted.

Public hearings must also be conducted in the presence of all stakeholders, including but not limited to civil society.

Ian Sean Hamandishe
Deputy National Secretary for Constitutional and Parliamentary MDC Alliance Youth Assembly