and produced an agreed document on Gap filling, which became part of the Drafting
Instructions.
5.2.
Drafters
As the Select Committee was busy preparing for drafting, the Management Committee, with
the approval of the Principals settled on three Drafters namely, Mr. Moses Chinhengo, a
former High Court judge in Zimbabwe but then based in Botswana as a judge, Mrs. Priscilla
Madzonga, a legal practitioner and Mr. Brian Crozier, a law Lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe. The Select Committee later endorsed the names of the three. There was an outcry
from women who were clamouring for another woman as a Drafter. The Management
Committee had considered another female Drafter based in South Africa but subsequently
dropped the idea.
5.3.
Commencement of Drafting
Drafting commenced on the 5th of December 2011, and the process was supposed to take
thirty five days. Just before Christmas, an incomplete Draft Constitution was leaked to the
press. The draft caused a lot of outcry as the Drafters had not correctly captured the
instructions of the Select Committee. With agreement from the co-chairs, the Drafters had
thrown in their own suggestions to complete some gaps. Upon reflection, it became evident
that the Select Committee had not given clear instructions to the Drafters.
On the 25th of January 2012, the Drafters produced a preliminary Draft that also raised a
number of controversies. As the arguments related to the conduct of the Drafters boiled over,
the Management Committee advised the co-chairs to seize the initiative and work with the
Drafters as co-chairs rather than involving every Select Committee member. The co-chairs
constituted the Co-chairpersons’ Forum, which was made up of the Co-chairs and one
Technical expert per each of the parties as well as one representing the Chiefs. Following a
series of meetings in Harare and Bulawayo, the Co-chairs Forum submitted a report which
was adopted by the Select Committee and became the fresh instructions to the Drafters.
As the Drafting process went on, a series of disagreements in the Select Committee arose.
This resulted in a list of ‘Parked Issues’, which included the following:
a) The death penalty.
b) The Attorney General
c) Homosexuality
d) Whether to have two Vice Presidents.
e) Devolution
48
The Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) Report to Parliament, February 2013
Select target paragraph3
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