Meanwhile, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has announced that general elections would be held in July, even though he did not give specific dates.
He gave the date while addressing human rights organisations on the constitution.
Addressing journalists in Harare, Matinenga said the principals had informed him of the agreed date.
“The GPA (Global Political Agreement) principals met this week and agreed that referendum will be held on 16 March. I know people have been speculating about the referendum date but it is now clear because we have a date," he said.
Matinenga said his ministry was going to conduct two meetings in every province informing people about the draft constitution and encouraging them to vote for it.
“ We will have two meetings in all the provinces informing people about the draft constitution. My ministry has already started the campaign in Mashonaland province and we will have covered the whole country before March 10,” Matinenga said.
He said he was lobbying for the referendum to spread for over two days to give all the people a chance to vote.
“ We don’t have a position yet regarding the duration of the referendum but lam lobbying for at least two days to give all the people a chance to cast their vote,” he said.
Matinenga said he was also pushing for the suspension of the Public Order and Security Act to allow his ministry and parliamentarians to conduct meetings with the constituents before the referendum.
Last week, National Constitutional Assembly Chairperson Lovemore Madhuku threatened to sue the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission if it failed to give Zimbabweans ample time to study the draft constitution before the referendum.
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