The new Constitutional Amendment Bill seeks to give President Emmerson Mnangagwa powers to appoint seven people to the Cabinet who are not Members of Parliament.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Bill will allow the president to appoint more ministers with critical skills:
This provision allows the president to appoint people who have critical skills as ministers and it’s a good move. It’s not related to the number of the whole ministers but it only deals with the number of ministers who are not MPs or senators. The president can choose not to appoint anyone who is not a legislator, he is only limited to appoint up to seven.
Under current Constitutional provisions, the President has the power to appoint “only” five people to the cabinet who are not legislators.
Mnangagwa’s current cabinet has Local Government minister July Moyo, Higher and Tertiary Education minister Amon Murwira, Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and Health minister Obadiah Moyo who are not Members of Parliament.