NCA leads exiles in protest over 18th ammendment!!!

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September 06, 2007 11:33 AM

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabweans in South Africa are dissatisfied over the government’s proposed 18th amendment which they say infringes on the citizens’ democratic right to participate in the country's electoral processes.

Critics say the move is meant to preserve Zanu PF hegemony once President Robert Mugabe is out of power.

At a meeting organized by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in Johannesburg recently, coordinator Tapera Kapuya, while addressing over 50 delegates from civic societies in South Africa, said the proposed Bill was "a dubious piece of legislation which infringed on Zimbabwe’s democracy project".

If the Bill goes on to be debated and passed in Parliament, that will become a big blow to Zimbabwean democracy since the onus of choosing a President once the incumbent chooses to resign or dies will rest on less than 400 people hence the need to oppose such a law viciously,” said Kapuya.

Emmanuel Hlabangane, a leading Zimbabwean activist said if the Bill sailed through Parliament without problems that would give Mugabe authority even to postpone elections from 2008 to 2010 so as to harmonies them with parliamentary elections in the original form he wanted before.

The proposed Bill, although looking seemingly innocent, also seeks to expand the House of Assembly and the Senate through the delimitation exercise, a move the exiles here have dismissed as senseless, especially as most Zimbabweans have left the country in search of better lives.

The delimitation exercise would also see electorate being disenfranchised, argued the vivic leaders, adding this move was meant to create more constituencies in the rural areas, which used to be Mugabe's strongholds.

A constituency is made up of 54 000 people but looking at the exodus of due to political and economic meltdown such figures had drastically fallen and in some places making the proposed delimitation exercise senseless as far as numeric numbers are concerned but meaningful in the sense of preserving Zanu PF’s stronghold,” said Kapuya.

The proposed Bill also seeks to expand the senate from 56 to 84 of which over a third would be appointed by the incumbent President. The House of Parliament is also expected to be expanded from the current 150 to 210 members.


Critics said such a luxury cannot be afforded by a struggling Zimbabwe, adding money which would be used to pay the Senators and extra parliamentarians could be used to beef up the ailing health budget.

Meanwhile civic groups which attended the seminar, among them the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Cross Border Association of Journalists, Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project, Zimbabwe Political Victims Association, Zimbabwe Civic Society Organization Forum, Revolutionary Youth Movement, Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum, Zimbabwe Action Support Group, Zimbabwe Exiles Forum and the Movement for Democratic Change, mandated the NCA to lead protests to try and stop the 18th Amendment from going through.

They said the amendment was a direct threat to democracy.