Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has defended proposed constitutional changes affecting traditional leaders, telling Parliament that chiefs are already political actors under Zimbabwe’s constitutional framework and that the amendment merely resolves an existing contradiction in the Constitution.
Presenting the Second Reading of Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Ziyambi rejected criticism of Clause 21, arguing that opponents were overlooking the significant role traditional leaders already play in governance and law-making processes.
“Our chiefs are already, by the Constitution’s own design, actors within the State and within constitutional politics. Eighteen of them sit in this Parliament,” he said.
“Their votes are counted in the very two-thirds majority that amends the Constitution and they are part of the legislature, including the majority that will decide this Bill. So the chiefs will decide this Bill, Mr Speaker, which is a legislative process.”
The minister argued that the current constitutional framework contains an inconsistency because chiefs are actively involved in governance while other provisions require them to remain politically neutral.
“Section 281 pretends that the same chiefs are private persons who must stand wholly outside political life. Yet they are doing everything in society, in Parliament, courts, administering lands and settling disputes,” he said.
According to Ziyambi, Clause 21 seeks to harmonise these provisions by recognising the civic role of traditional leaders while retaining constitutional safeguards governing their conduct.
“He told lawmakers that a Constitution that seats traditional leaders in its amending Chamber while stripping them of their civic standing as ordinary citizens is internally contradictory.”
“A Constitution that seats traditional leaders in its amending Chamber while stripping them of their civic standing as ordinary citizens is internally contradictory and Clause 21 removes the contradiction,” he said.
The minister also sought to allay concerns that the amendment would weaken protections against abuse of power by traditional leaders.
He said constitutional obligations requiring chiefs to respect the rights and freedoms of citizens would remain intact through the broader Declaration of Rights, which applies equally to all Zimbabweans.
“The protection is not lost. It is restored to where it belongs and where it binds every person equally,” Ziyambi said.
He added that accountability mechanisms for traditional leaders would continue to be enforced through the Constitution’s general provisions rather than through what he described as isolated clauses.
The proposed amendment has sparked debate among lawmakers, legal experts and civil society groups, with critics arguing that it could undermine the political neutrality of traditional leaders, while supporters maintain that it aligns the Constitution with the realities of the role chiefs already play in governance.
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