Source: It’s a fantastic job: President – herald
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has hailed the now-concluded 90-day public consultation window on the proposed Constitution Amendment Bill Number 3 as a historic democratic exercise in which everyone had a meaningful opportunity to share their views.
Speaking to The Herald and ZBC at State House in Harare yesterday, the President said it was worth noting that no part of the country was left out during the nationwide consultations.
“I think the public was given an opportunity to express their views. I do not think there is a part of the country which was left out, from what I have been briefed by my people,” he said.
The President also commended the country’s media fraternity for covering the consultations on the proposed amendment extensively.
“I also think the Press has done a fantastic job in making sure it was publicised so that everybody had an opportunity to express themselves. This is what it ought to be in a democracy,” said the President.
The Bill outlines a parliamentary-based process for electing the President and proposes replacing the current five-year presidential term with a seven-year tenure.
It further introduces a range of legal reforms intended to strengthen constitutional governance, define institutional roles more poignantly, promote political stability and improve the efficiency of State systems.
As stated in the Government Gazette, the Bill is part of Zimbabwe’s ongoing legal perfections.
The conclusion of consultations held under Section 328 of the Constitution marks one of the country’s biggest public participation exercises in recent constitutional reform efforts, with Parliament having received more than 300 000 submissions from citizens and organisations.
Gazetted on February 16, the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill seeks to amend multiple provisions of the Constitution and may substantially reshape key areas of Zimbabwe’s governance, electoral administration, and institutional structures.
The immediate impetus for the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill traces back to Resolution Number 1 adopted at the ZANU PF 21st Annual National People’s Conference in Bulawayo in October 2024.
That resolution urged President Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030.
Meanwhile, when asked whether he had returned from a rumoured foreign trip, he quipped “hamusi kundiona? Nhai veduwe” (You can see me, I am here).
“When I go out (of the country) I do not go to villages saying ‘ndaakubuda’, they get told that President vafamba.
“Ndingatanga ndatenderera nenyika ndichiti ndakumbofamba . . . mambo anongofamba kana nguva yake yakwana,” he said.
The President also told journalists about the new structures that are being erected at State House in Harare to replace colonial buildings and define a new Zimbabwean path shaped by local architecture.
Asked about the development, President Mnangagwa said: “We are going to design our own as the people of Munhumutapa”.
“First and foremost, this is a Zimbabwe, those (colonialists) were foreigners, that is why they are not here and I don’t think they will ever come back again.
“They had come here and conquered our forefathers, but we kicked them out and it’s permanently ours. This is the new headquarters we are building for ourselves . . . we are going to design our own as the people of Munhumutapa,” he said.
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