Drafting of the new charter for Zimbabwe is ongoing, Copac announced yesterday, allaying fears the process may be stalled following recent reports of a standoff between drafters and Zanu PF.
In a statement on Tuesday, Copac said recent media reports that the drafting process had hit a snag were not true. Botswana High Court judge Justice Moses Chinhengo, University of Zimbabwe lecturer Brian Crozier and lawyer Priscilla Madzonga were tasked with drafting the new charter.
Last week, reports claimed Zanu PF was not happy with the three drafters, but Copac co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T) and Edward Mkhosi (MDC) dismissed the claims.
“All the challenges that were affecting the process have since been resolved and Copac would like to dissociate itself from statements published in the Press, particularly those by Jacob Mudenda and Goodwills Masimirembwa,” Copac said.
Mudenda and Masimirembwa (Zanu PF representatives in the technical teams) were recently quoted in the media criticising the work of the three drafters and said they were not following what was on the national report, but were using templates from constitutions of other countries.
Co-chairperson Edward Mkhosi (MDC) said the two had no powers to issue such statements to the Press as they were far lower in rank than members of the Copac Select Committee and if they had grievances they were supposed to follow the right channels.
