Zimbabwe: Amendment Bill is Constitutional Fraud, Warns MP

Harare West legislator Joanna Mamombe on Thursday delivered a blistering rejection of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill Number 3 (CAB3).

She told Parliament that the proposed legislation weakens democracy, erodes sovereignty and must be thrown out in its entirety.

Speaking during debate, Mamombe said she carried the "overwhelming opposition" of Harare West residents who met in Marlborough on March 21 2026. Their message, she said, was clear: CAB3 concentrates power in the Executive and strips citizens of their right to choose their leaders.

"Our Constitution is not an ordinary statute. It is the supreme law and a social contract between citizens and the State," Mamombe told the House.

"The fundamental question is: does this Bill strengthen the sovereignty of the people, or does it take power from the people and concentrate it in the Executive?"

The MP attacked Clause 2 for moving voter registration and custody of the voters' roll from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to the Registrar-General.

"Whoever controls the voters' roll controls a critical part of our electoral process. This weakens electoral independence and places it under an office without the same constitutional safeguards," she said, arguing ZEC should be strengthened, not stripped.

She described Clause 3 as "one of the most dangerous," for proposing that Parliament elect the President.

"The people of Harare West are clear: the President must be elected directly by the people. One person, one vote. Why should an elected few decide for the majority?" Mamombe asked.

She warned the clause invites patronage, bribery and intimidation, and could allow a person rejected by voters to become President.

On Clauses 4, 9 and 10 extending terms from five to seven years, Mamombe said no candidate in 2023 sought a seven-year mandate.

"To extend the term after an election is to alter the people's mandate after it has been given. Section 328 (7) is a constitutional firewall against self-serving amendments," she said.

Mamombe also rejected Clause 8 for allowing the President to appoint extra senators, Clause 21 for removing the non-partisan requirement for traditional leaders, and provisions weakening ZEC's delimitation role. Read together, she argued, they "de-democratise the Senate" and risk executive control of boundary-making.

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"The recurring message from Harare West was demand for a referendum. The people made this Constitution. The people must decide if it must be fundamentally altered," Mamombe argued.

"I submit that CAB3 must be rejected in its entirety. This Constitution belongs to the people."

View original source — AllAfrica ↗

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