The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) faction led by Welshman Ncube has disowned a statement circulating on social media that claims the party president backs the Constitution Amendment Bill No.3 (CAB3).
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 10 June, party spokesperson Willias Madzimure said the document “purporting to be a statement by President Welshman Ncube on Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 is FAKE. Is a malicious fabrication.”
Madzimure said the timing was “revealing”, coming as proponents of CAB3 struggle to win public support.
“It comes at a time when proponents of Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 are increasingly struggling to secure broad public support and meaningful consensus, even within sections of ZANU-PF itself,” he said.
“Having failed to generate sufficient public traction for Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3, there now appears to be a desperate attempt to create the false impression that President Welshman Ncube is a supporter of CAB3.”
The CCC faction restated its opposition to the bill, which seeks to extend presidential and parliamentary terms and change how the president is elected.
“The position of the CCC party led by Prof. Ncube on CAB3 is a matter of public record and is being articulated in Parliament by the MPs loyal to the Party,” Madzimure said.
He described the processes behind CAB3 as “opaque, secretive, exclusive, non-participatory, cabal-driven and therefore fundamentally flawed.”
“To be legitimate, a Constitutional reform process must ALWAYS be transparent, open, honest, sincere, in good faith and driven by a genuine desire to improve upon the Constitutional governance architecture of the country to secure effective and democratic good governance promotive of the fundamental economic, social and political freedoms of citizens. Sadly, CAB3 falls far short in relation to such standards.”
Madzimure added that the “fundamentally flawed processes in the paternity of CAB3 have prevented and inhibited proper, open, honest and effective national discourse on what would be proper and merited Constitutional reform measures at this juncture of our national history.”
The party said it “remains committed to the protection of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, democratic accountability, and the sovereign right of citizens to determine the future of their country through genuine democratic processes, including Constitutional reform.”
It urged Zimbabweans to “reject malicious misinformation and to remain vigilant against attempts to manipulate public opinion through fabricated documents and false narratives.”
CAB3, gazetted earlier this year, has divided opinion, with the government arguing a referendum is not required, while opposition figures, war veterans, churches and lawyers have demanded a public vote.
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