As the Citizens’ Manifesto we express our deepest concern over the recent announcement made by the Parliament of Zimbabwe that the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs will hold public hearings on the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No.2 Bill from the 15th to the 19th of June 2020. Our concern lies primarily on the timing and inclusivity of this process amidst the lockdown.
We are undoubtedly against the timing of these hearings. The nation is on level two of the lockdown and there is massive restriction to movement. Also, cases of COVID-19 have increased in the last few weeks and this questions our readiness as a country to host public gatherings. Thus we see the current status as unfit to resume hearings that will have an impact on the most sacrosanct document of our country.
The prevailing conditions are designed to exclude the majority who will not be able to attend the meetings due to the lockdown restrictions. With the given maximum of 50 people per gathering, we doubt that the views collected will represent the interests of the public or the majority.
We urge those in authority to stop using the lockdown period for political expediency. This is a time that calls for collective efforts and unity of purpose to address the crisis bedevilling our country. It is a moment to focus on the million families that are starving due to the COVID-19 related restrictions, the hundreds that are homeless and those losing their jobs every day.
We thus call on the government to set its priorities in improving the welfare of the general citizens. We implore Parliament to suspend all public hearings until a conducive environment has been achieved that will attain an inclusive process, a process that will represent the opinion of the majority.
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