Harare - A Harare activist has filed an urgent High Court application to force a national referendum on the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, just days before Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi is set to introduce the controversial Bill in Parliament.
Legal experts note Matete’s application, filed this week, comes just days after the 90-day window closed. Under section 328(3), Parliament can introduce the Bill after 90 days which elapsed on May 17.
Youngerson Matete filed an urgent High Court application seeking to halt key provisions of CAB3, warning they would “undermine constitutional supremacy” and the “sovereignty of the people” without public approval.
Matete’s application names Parliament, President Mnangagwa, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and the Attorney-General as respondents.
He wants a declaratory order forcing government to take clauses 4, 9 and 10 of CAB3 to a national referendum before implementation. Those clauses are at the heart of the storm.
“The Bill proposes fundamental changes to Zimbabwe’s democratic structure, most notably extending presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and replacing direct presidential elections with a parliamentary selection process,” Matete said in his founding affidavit.
Matete argues the provisions “fall within the ambit of provisions protected under section 328 of the Constitution and cannot lawfully be amended without approval by way of a national referendum.”
He is asking the court to declare that “any attempt to enact, promulgate, or give effect” to the clauses without a referendum would be “unconstitutional, unlawful, and of no force or effect.”
The application also seeks an interdict barring Parliament and the Justice Ministry from taking any further steps toward implementing the clauses until a referendum is held.
Gazetted in February, CAB3 proposes sweeping changes: extending terms for the President, Parliament and local authorities from five to seven years, scrapping direct presidential polls in favor of a parliamentary vote, shifting voter registration from ZEC to the Registrar-General, creating a separate delimitation commission, and expanding the Senate.
Matete said letting the bill pass without a public vote would gut citizen participation.
“I submit that should the respondents proceed with the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill without first submitting the proposed amendments to a national referendum, this will undermine constitutional supremacy, the sovereignty of the people, democratic participation, the rule of law and the procedural safeguards entrenched under section 328,” he said.
The application cites submissions by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Law Society of Zimbabwe. All three bodies reportedly raised concerns and flagged the need for a referendum.
Matete is represented by Wilbert Mandinde of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. The matter is yet to be heard.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi told The Sunday Mail and ZTV that Parliament is already moving to the next stage – compiling the reports on public debates – and is likely to be concluded this weekend, pending it’s first hearing, mostly likely early next week.