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COPAC concludes compilation of district and provincial reports
The
Constitutional Select Committee (COPAC)
August 18, 2011
The Constitutional
Select Committee, COPAC, is forging ahead with the work of spearheading
the drafting
of a new constitution in Zimbabwe, and the focus now is on the
preparation for drafting by ensuring the production of the necessary
reports. Several milestones have been recorded on the constitution-making
process so far; notably the successful public consultation exercise,
collation of all the data collected from the people's submissions
as well as the compilation of the ward, district and provincial
reports.
Recently, COPAC
Thematic Committee teams completed the compiling district and provincial
reports from the 4821 meetings held throughout the country as well
as the written and website submissions. The exercise was done over
a period of 16 days from the 1st to the 16th of August, and was
a follow-up to the exercise carried out from the 2nd of May to the
9th of June which focused on the production of ward reports.
A total of 368
people, who compromised Members of Parliament, representatives of
political parties and civil society organizations took part in the
production of the reports. There was team each for the 17 thematic
areas and these teams were made up of team leaders and rapporteurs,
while data analysts were on hand to assist the teams. Reports were
produced on the following thematic areas:
- The founding
principles of the constitution
- Separation
of powers of the State
- Systems of
Government
- Executive
Organs of the State
- Elections,
Independent Commissions and Transitional Mechanisms
- Citizenship
and Bill of Rights
- Land and
Natural Resources
- Public Finance
and Management
- Media
- Traditional
Institutions and customs
- Labour
- Youth
- The Disabled
- War Veterans/Freedom
Fighters
- Local languages
- Women and
gender
- Religion
The process
of compiling the national report will commence soon, and we will
advise as soon as the plans are finalized. The process of organizing
a team that will produce the national report is already underway.
The national report that they will produce will be forwarded to
the drafters of the new constitution.
As COPAC, we are pleased with the achievements so far though we
wish the process could move faster. We are grateful to the Government
and donors for supporting the process, and I am pleased to both
have committed themselves to continue funding the process. The Project
Board, which compromises The COPAC Management Committee and representatives
of the donors, met on the 4th of August and approved the budget
for drafting.
Drafting will
commence soon and the principal drafters will be Justice Moses Chinhengo,
Mrs Priscilla Madzonga, and Mr Brian Crozier. They will be supported
by a drafting team whose names shall be publicized. The drafting
process will take 35 days.
COPAC would
like to assure all Zimbabweans that once the draft is in place,
it will be made available in English, in vernacular languages and
in Braille. The Second All Stakeholders Conference will be held
to discuss the draft after which it will be presented to Parliament
for debate. After this a referendum will be held on the draft constitution,
and this will give Zimbabwean an opportunity to say whether they
like it or not.
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