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Implied and expressed constitutional provisions: The elusive concept

Opinion & Analysis
by Arthur Mutambara Does Section 96 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe apply to our current unelected Vice-Presidents? Did Vice-President Kembo Mohadi quote the wrong section of the Constitution in his resignation letter? Implied and expressed provisions — is the concept all folks (who advanced a view on this matter) had miserably missed! Section 96(2) […]

by Arthur Mutambara

Does Section 96 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe apply to our current unelected Vice-Presidents?

Did Vice-President Kembo Mohadi quote the wrong section of the Constitution in his resignation letter?

Implied and expressed provisions — is the concept all folks (who advanced a view on this matter) had miserably missed!

Section 96(2) does not apply to current Vice-Presidents. Thank you Lovemore Madhuku for the erudite clarification.

The matter is settled. However, Prof Madhuku should have said more than he articulated. Who else missed the concept? He did not address this matter.

Well, the entire government (President, Vice-President, Attorney-General and Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, etc) missed this concept too!

Sad.

Vice-President Mohadi’s resignation letter quoted the wrong Section of the Constitution.

The President accepted the illegal letter. The Attorney-General went along with the fraudulent processes. Charamba was in blissful ignorance of the illegalities around him.

Even the swearing-in of the unelected VPs in 2018 by the Chief Justice was illegal. They were supposed to be sworn-in by the President as the late former President Mugabe used to.

Only elected Vice-Presidents are to be sworn-in by the Chief Justice.

What a mess.

We urgently need a cure for the constitutional illiteracy that characterise and bedevil our lawyers, pundits, intellectuals and more importantly our entire government.

We have a challenge.

  •  Arthur Mutambara is former Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity.