Copac co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T) has disclosed that $2 million would be required to conduct the Second All-Stakeholders’ Constitutional Conference scheduled for next month.
Mwonzora told journalists in Harare yesterday that the date of the conference would be announced after August 3 when all stakeholders would have received a copy of the draft constitution.
Mwonzora yesterday submitted the draft to all the MPs.
Earlier, the same draft had been submitted to Senate President Edna Madzongwe and House of Assembly Speaker Lovemore Moyo.
“We will announce the date of the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference after August 3, when we are going to hold a project board meeting between the leadership of government represented by the chief negotiators, the leadership of Copac, and donors,” said Mwonzora.
“We are looking at funding in the region of $2 million and all participants to the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference will receive the draft document before the conference date so that they are able to comment on it.”
Mwonzora said the 2 200 delegates expected at the conference would be drawn from MPs, representatives of political parties in Zimbabwe and civic society groups.
“Theoretically, the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference can change one or two things, but we do not expect the draft to be rejected by the people during the referendum because the reasons people reject constitutions is writing what people did not say or omitting what they said,” he said.
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“We are confident people will vote ‘Yes’ because our Bill of Rights in the new charter is the most comprehensive on the African continent and contains first generation social and economic rights to health, education, labour, media and others like the land issue.”
Parliament is expected to debate on the draft constitution 30 days after the conference and thereafter a referendum is expected in October to be conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
“We want Zimbabweans to appreciate the referendum as an election and that is why the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will take over organisation of the referendum,” Mwonzora said.
