Commissions Watch 2 August 2018 [ZHRC report on Tokwe-Mukosi Floods 23 March 2017]
and adequate compensation is the cornerstone of the right to compensation. According to the
report, $9 million was needed to provide full compensation, yet at the time that the report was
published only $2 million was in the pipeline to be released, and the $2 million was already six
“Ideally, the government should have compensated and properly relocated
affected families prior to commencement of the construction” the Commission said in its
report. The report recommends that “the State should expedite the process of providing just
and fair compensation” and also ensure that the “information on the assessment of homes and
the criteria used to evaluate lost property should also be shared with the affected IDPs.”
months late.
The Right to Water and Sanitation Safe, clean water and basic sanitation are essential.
Sustainable access thereto is equally important.
The absence of clean, potable water at
Chingwizi Relocation Site was raised as a concern by the Commission. The Commission’s
report reveals that water sources were inadequate and inaccessible, with residents having to
walk as far as 5km to access water. According to the report, the majority of households at the
relocation site did not have proper ablution facilities, forcing the residents to relieve themselves
in the open.
Note on the Kampala Convention
Why “Kampala” Convention?
The Convention is commonly referred to as the Kampala
Convention because it was adopted at an AU Summit in Kampala, Uganda, on 23rd October
2009. The Summit was a special summit held for the purpose of adopting the African Union
Convention for the Protection and Assistance for the Internally Displaced Persons in Africa [full
text of Convention available on Veritas website here].
Signature and ratification by Zimbabwe
President Mugabe signed the Convention on behalf of
Zimbabwe at the Kampala Summit on 23rd October 2009. Parliament approved it in May 2013
and Zimbabwe’s instrument of ratification was deposited with the AU on 7th November 2013,
making Zimbabwe a State party to the Convention with effect from that date. For the first
fifteen States who had previously ratified it, the Convention had already come into force on 6th
December 2012.
Status of the Convention in Zimbabwe The Convention as such does not form part of the law of
Zimbabwe because it has not yet been “domesticated” [incorporated into the law of Zimbabwe
through an Act of Parliament]. Nevertheless—
- Parliament’s approval of the Convention means that Zimbabwe is bound by the terms of the
Convention under international law, and has been has so bound since the deposit of its
Instrument of Ratification in November 2013 [Constitution, section 327(2)].
- Even without domestication, whenever Zimbabwean legislation is applied, any reasonable
interpretation that is consistent with the Convention must be adopted in preference to an
interpretation that is inconsistent with it [Constitution, section 327(6)].
Is domestication of the Convention necessary? Yes. Zimbabwe is obliged to pass an Act of
Parliament domesticating the Convention. That is one of the obligations accepted by every
State Party to the Convention [Article 3.2.a]. It is also an obligation imposed by section 34 of
our own Constitution—
“34 Domestication of international instruments
The State must ensure that all international conventions, treaties and agreements to which
Zimbabwe is a party are incorporated into domestic law.”