Some of the proposed changes under Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 represent major restructuring of Zimbabwe’s electoral architecture, as they entrench executive influence over key electoral processes by giving the President greater control over elections, a lawyer has said.
Doug Coltart said part of the proposed amendments would see members of a newly created body responsible for electoral delimitation, the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission, directly appointed by the President.
While explaining his objections to the proposed law, Coltart warned that granting the president powers to appoint members of the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission could allow the Executive to influence how electoral boundaries are drawn, potentially affecting election outcomes before ballots are even cast.
“The liberation struggle ideal, one man, one vote, is under threat from Constitutional Amendment Number Three,” Coltart said
“It’s not simply because the constitutional amendment would abolish the presidential elections and give that power to Parliament, or even because Parliament is taking for itself a right it doesn’t have to extend its own mandate instead of getting one from the people. It’s much, much deeper than that,” he said.
According to Coltart, the constitutional amendments increase the president’s influence and control over elections.
He said the Bill takes voter registration away from ZEC and gives it to the Registrar General while the drawing of constituency boundaries will be removed from ZEC and assigned to a new commission called the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission.
Both institutions, the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission and Registrar General, would effectively fall under direct presidential control because their leadership would be appointed by the Head of State, said Coltart.
Under Zimbabwe’s current constitutional framework, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is mandated to carry out delimitation exercises.
Although ZEC has faced criticism from opposition parties and civil society over its handling of elections, the Constitution provides procedural safeguards intended to protect its independence.
Coltart said Section 237 of the Constitution outlines a public and multi-layered appointment process for ZEC commissioners.
“The position is advertised. We, the public, get to make nominations. The President can also make nominations. Those candidates then go through public interviews,” he said.
The process is conducted through Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, which compiles a final shortlist submitted to the President for appointment.
“All of that is simply to say that the President’s power when it comes to appointment of ZEC is somewhat constrained. He is not the only person who determines who becomes an electoral commissioner,” Coltart said.
The lawyer further noted that ZEC commissioners enjoy constitutional protections, including strict procedures governing their removal from office.
“What that means is that once someone is appointed as a commissioner at ZEC, the Constitution provides them with some safeguards to make sure that they are able to exercise the independence that the Constitution demands of them,” he said.
Sections 233 and 235 of the Constitution also establish principles of transparency, accountability and independence for constitutional commissions, including ZEC.
However, Coltart stated these safeguards will disappear under the new arrangements proposed in Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3.
“All of those things are taken away by Constitutional Amendment No.3 when it comes to voter registration and delimitation, because those institutional safeguards are not there when it comes to the Registrar General or this new delimitation commission, which are purely presidential appointees,” he said.
He also warned the proposed delimitation commission would not have the same constitutional protections or transparent appointment procedures that currently apply to ZEC.
“To understand the independence of the delimitation commission compared to that of ZEC, we need to go now to Clause 11 of the Amendment Bill,” he said.
Coltart explained that Clause 11 introduces a new constitutional provision, Section 159A, establishing the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission.
“What you will see there is that it simply says, ‘the President shall appoint the Zimbabwe Electoral Delimitation Commission,’” he said.
“The key words there are ‘the President shall appoint.’ The clause vests absolute power in the President by himself, without your involvement that we have in ZEC, without Parliament’s involvement, without public consultations, without public interviews, without transparency.”
He said this effectively gives one individual unchecked authority over the appointment of officials responsible for drawing constituency boundaries.
“Then these are the people who are going to be drawing the electoral boundaries,” he said.
Coltart warned that without an independent delimitation body, electoral manipulation could occur long before voting day.
“Now that we understand that and how much power the President has over this delimitation commission, we need to understand why delimitation is so important and how if you don’t have an independent delimitation commission, an election can be rigged before even a single vote is cast,” he said.
The concerns have also revived memories of Zimbabwe’s pre-2013 electoral system, particularly the controversial role of the Registrar General’s office in managing voter registration.
“I think many of us are familiar with the absolute debacle that the voters’ roll was in the pre-2013 era when the voters’ roll was handled by the Registrar General,” Coltart said.
“Of course, I’m thinking of the universally condemned 2008 election, where the voters’ roll was controlled by the Registrar General.”
Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution in 2013 following years of political instability and disputed elections, with many reforms aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and insulating electoral processes from executive interference.
Coltart noted the issue goes beyond technical constitutional amendments but affects the democratic values that shaped Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
“That’s why each and every one of us need to find within ourselves the courage of the gallant sons and daughters of the soil who stood up at that time to demand ‘one man, one vote.’ We need to do the same today, peacefully demanding our rights in terms of the Constitution,” he said.
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