Perturbed by the implications of the Zimbabwe Amendment No.2 Bill (H.B. 23, 2019) to the democratic and political rights of Youth, Democratic Governance, Citizen Participation and Representative Democracy in Zimbabwe with power being centralized in the Executive signals a return to the Robert Mugabe era under which Zimbabwe was under a Dictatorship.

We equivocally say 'no to the proposed Constitutional Amendments' to the Constitution of Zimbabwe which are being pushed hurriedly by the Government of Zimbabwe while citizens are still under an indefinite National Lock down as part of efforts to control the COVID-19.  There are serious restrictions on the exercise of freedoms to association, movement and assembly of citizens making participation in Public Hearings very difficult. We say ‘NO’ to the proposed amendments for the said reasons:

Setting aside of one parliamentary constituency per province for the youth (the youth quota) – ‘It is a cosmetic move with no impact to youth inclusion solely focused on the legislature (we demand 30% Youth representation across tiers of Government, that is, national , provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities; proposed criteria for selecting youth seeks to disenfranchise Youth who do not subscribe to party politics and is by way of nomination under the party list system and allows Youth to sit in Parliament without representing an actual constituency and thus ineligible to receive Community Development Funds to develop community;

Extending the election of 60 female Members of Parliament under proportional representation by another 10 years – ‘It limits women representation to the legislature only disregarding other Government tiers such as the National Government, Provincial and Metropolitan councils; and Local Authorities; quota falls short of the dictates of section 56 of the Constitution which demands 50:50 Gender representation in governance.

Removing Parliament’s oversight over foreign agreements – ‘it bars Parliament from exercising oversight over foreign agreements negotiated by the President; goes against principles of transparency and oversight; negates participatory governance; closes space for ALL groups including youth for dialogue and engagement with Legislature and Executive on foreign agreements; consolidates power in the President and goes against the Doctrine of Separation of Powers;

Amendment of functions of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission – ‘It weakens independent Commissions mandate it will no longer extend to issues pertaining to abuse of power and maladministration where state institutions and public officers are perpetrators; increases the prospect of graft and corruption by elected officials and State institutions. This role will be given to the new office of the Public Protector, an appointed office with the President having excessive powers on selection and appointment with no mechanisms for public involvement.

Help us to entrench democracy and defend human rights in Zimbabwe by signing the Petition and saying 'NO TO AUTHORITARIANISM'