HARARE - The country is edging further towards a constitution draft document with the three parties currently working on the 17 thematic areas that have been identified to guide the constitution.
COPAC spokesperson Jessie Majome told The Zimbabwean that the process was going on harmoniously and the sitting of the thematic committees is expected to eventually lead to a draft document that will be taken to Parliament. The constitution-making process that has been characterised by political tussling between the two main political parties. Majome said the perpetual bickering was not significant in the thematic meetings and that COPAC expects to come up with a draft in the next few
weeks.
We are proceeding smoothly in the constitution process and when we started the thematic committees meetings on Monday last week we gave ourselves 17 days to get through and we are edging closer to that, said Majome. Though Majome could not give a definitive date for drafting to begin, she said it was likely to be in June.
The drafting process will be followed by a second All Stakeholders Conference that will see people debating the constitution before it goes to Parliament for debate. Haggling and violence between the two main political parties and financial constraints have caused delays in the process that was expected to have been already close to completion.
There were also allegations of political intimidation and coaching of people during the outreach process. At one time a laptop containing crucial data collected from citizens was reportedly stolen from Copacs office under suspicious circumstances.
Post published in: News