Govt plans to hoodwink Mbeki

a new President in the event of a head of State’s death or resignation.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa, said the hearings – which have received scant media coverage here – are meant to encourage the people’s participation in the enactment of the Constitutional Amendment. It will bring changes that have already faced fierce opposition from the opposition in parliament.
The hearings will take place in the Jameson Hotel in Harare at 9am today (Thursday), at 2pm at the Rainbow Hotel in Bulawayo, tomorrow and at 11 am at the Fairmile Hotel in Gweru on Saturday.
Discussion is likely to centre on the change in the composition of the Senate and the House of Assembly. By creating vacancies for dozens of new legislators, critics say this is meant to extend President Mugabe’s sphere of influence by peddling patronage.
Amendment No. 18 also seeks to establish a Human Rights Commission, mandated to receive and investigate rights violations. There is speculation that the Commission would be modelled on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that heard moving testimonies of apartheid atrocities.
Critics have dismissed the Commission as a farce that is likely to lack the institutional capacity to thoroughly investigate Mugabe’s crimes against humanity.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist Dr John Makumbe said the set up of the HRC was a ploy to hoodwink President Mbeki.
Rindai Chipfunde-Vava, the national director of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said there should be informed debate on a vague clause that seeks to extend President Mugabe’s term to 2010 without facing voters. The Bill’s memoranda does not give the full picture.
Mugabe is expected to dissolve Parliament in December and single-handedly run Zimbabwe until theMarch 2008 “harmonized polls.” – Chief Reporter