President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has come under criticism after Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi proposed a law to limit the power of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC). Under Ziyambi’s proposed amendments, the ZHRC would become subordinate to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), despite the fact that under the constitution, the ZHRC is supposed to be independent and to exercise oversight over ZEC.
Some of Ziyambi’s amendments read,
Persons accredited as agents of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission under this section shall be entitled to do all things that accredited observers may do in terms of this Act.
…Before issuing any report on an election or electoral process it has monitored in terms of this section, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission shall provide the Commission with a draft of the report and shall pay due regard to any comments the Commission may make on the draft.
Zanu PF MP for Mazowe South Fortune Chasi who chairs the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Committee also said,
…the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission was created by the constitution and required to be independent. It is sacrosanct that it must be independent. So it cannot be subjugated to anyone let alone ZEC in the execution of its mandate as stipulated in the constitution.
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