via ‘Sue Mnangagwa over Electoral Amendment Bill’ June 6, 2014 by Blessed Mhlanga in NewsDay
PROMINENT Gweru lawyer Brian Dube has urged the public to file a class action lawsuit against Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and Parliament for passing the Electoral Amendment Bill without in cooperating public views recently gathered by the Jessie Majome-led parliamentary committee.
Addressing journalists attending a workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) in Gweru yesterday, Dube said Mnangagwa and Parliament breached the founding values and principles of the national Constitution.
He cited Section 3 of the Constitution subsection 2 which reads: “The principles of good governance, which bind the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level, include — (subsection G) transparency, justice, accountability and responsiveness.”
Dube alleges that in this instance Mnangagwa and the House of Assembly failed to be responsive to the issues raised by the people to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs during its public hearings.
“Parliament complied with section 149 of the Constitution by conducting public hearings but they failed to comply with section 3(2)g when the Bill was passed without as much any debate on the issues raised during the hearings,” he said.
He said Parliament and the minister should be compelled to show that they at least considered the issues raised and found that they did not warrant inclusion into the Bill.
“Both the minister and Parliament should be taken to the Constitutional Court for breaching the Constitution,” he said.
ZESN also also raised similar concerns.
In a statement, Zesn said:“None of the written and oral submissions that ZESN and other civil society organisations made were considered. ZESN is dissatisfied the passing of the Electoral Amendment Bill in Parliament without including the submissions from various stakeholders, as this goes against the spirit of democratic policy making processes as provided for in Section 141 (a) and (b) of the constitution of Zimbabwe. Parliament in its legislative mandate needs to respect and promote the letter and spirit of the new Constitution.”
COMMENTS
Take Mnangagwa to Constitutional Court? Good luck with that. These people are so corrupt & they have their cronies in all aspects of government, including the judicial system. They are above the law & that’s why they have survived so long. They don’t give a damn about the economy or what happens to the ordinary citizen as long as they keep filling up their pockets with OUR money. They could care less about the constitution!
though you are right Shamu, I still believe we should keep constant pressure on the devil. We must continuously expose their evilness. They must not take us for granted.
Mnangagwa must b made to disappear b4 end of year together with other corrupt zanu pf officials
If Mnagwagwa could sponsor some idiot to push the country into some joke of an election last through the court…we owe it to ourselves to use the same courts to stop him in his boots. It won’t be easy but we have to try. Mnagwagwa’s arrogance has to stopped. He does not care about what people want. He just wants to see himself running the country at whatever cost.
Sort the arrogant bufoon out who just wants to call the shots like his boss
Mnangagwa is not doing anything that will change the status. This ex security guard has no brains only thought of mass killing haunts his mind. Beware my fellow Zimbabweans of this nyoka.
I think its worth trying we must excersise our rights munangagwa has got no right to decide who votes and who does nt and why must voting slips be used instead he must be pushing for people to get proper ids
gut feeling Emerson is sending the message that Zimbabwe belongs to him
Cde Crocodile fought the war of liberation and it’s a certificate against democracy! This man is worse than Uncle Bob, wait and see!