Zim GBC News | Legal Matters
HARARE – National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) leader Lovemore Madhuku has launched a blistering attack on Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda, accusing him of being unfit to preside over public consultations for Constitutional Amendment No. 3 due to his dual role as Zanu-PF Secretary General .
Speaking to journalists days after surviving a violent attack at his party’s Harare offices, Madhuku questioned the Speaker’s impartiality and alleged procedural irregularities in how the Amendment Bill was introduced .
“Jacob Mudenda, the Speaker of Parliament, who is also the Zanu-PF Secretary General, does not know what his job is,” Madhuku said.
“He respects more his duties as Secretary General of Zanu-PF. He has lost all focus on his job as Speaker of Parliament” .
The constitutional law expert pointed to what he described as a flawed process, claiming the Bill bypassed proper Parliamentary procedure before being gazetted for public comment.
“He went to collect the Bill from Ziyambi Ziyambi. Now, where did that Bill come from? It was never presented in Parliament,” Madhuku charged, referring to Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi .
“We heard that it would be gazetted. Where did the Speaker get it from?”
Consultations ‘Meaningless’
Madhuku dismissed the ongoing public consultation process as a sham, arguing that the methods prescribed—email submissions and physical visits to Parliament—exclude the vast majority of Zimbabweans .
“The consultations are meaningless. There are no consultations taking place from Parliament. They have put out an advert there. This country has 16 million people and most of them have no access to an email, they have no access to Parliament,” Madhuku said .
He questioned why alternative platforms such as radio call-in programmes had not been utilised to broaden participation, noting that even Harare residents struggle to reach the New Parliament Building .
“To expect the Secretary General of Zanu-PF to preside over a parliamentary process is to expect too much,” he added .
Controversial Amendment
Constitutional Amendment No. 3, approved by Cabinet last month and gazetted by Mudenda on February 16, proposes sweeping changes to Zimbabwe’s governance framework .
Key provisions include extending presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, replacing direct presidential elections with a parliamentary vote, and transferring voter registration functions from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to the Registrar-General .
Critics, including the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, warn that the amendments threaten to “erode and fundamentally undermine the core principles of constitutionalism” and risk “entrenching excessive executive power” .
Attack Condemned
Madhuku’s remarks follow an assault in which balaclava-clad men stormed an NCA meeting at his party offices. He alleged that uniformed police officers present at the scene failed to intervene .
The Adventist Lawyers Association strongly condemned the attack, describing it as “barbaric” and warning that it reflects growing threats to constitutionalism .
“Such acts have no place in a constitutional democracy. They strike at the very foundation of the rule of law and must be intercepted, and perpetrators thereof brought to justice,” the association said .
Police have denied deploying officers to monitor the meeting and said they are investigating the incident .
Court Challenge
Madhuku, representing six war veterans, has since filed an application at the Constitutional Court seeking to halt the amendment process .
The application challenges President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s participation in Cabinet deliberations on the amendments, arguing that he stands to benefit personally from the proposed term extension .
The proposed changes could effectively extend President Mnangagwa’s tenure beyond 2028 without a fresh popular mandate, triggering widespread opposition from civil society and rights groups .
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