STATUTES REQUIRING CONSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENT __________________________________________________________________________________ 70. War Veterans Act [Chapter 11:15]* This Act must be extended to accord veterans their “due recognition” and the right to basic health care provided for in section 84 of the Constitution. 71. Water Act [Chapter 20:24]* There should be a provision in this Act stating that the right to water is a fundamental right, as provided in section 77 of the Constitution. 72. Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education Act [Chapter 25:27]* This Act prohibits anyone from operating a private institution of higher education, including a university, unless it is provisionally registered by the Council or permanently registered by the President. Registration is dependent on the Council or the President being satisfied that establishment of the institution is in the interests of higher education in Zimbabwe. This conflicts with section 75(2) of the Constitution, which gives everyone the right to establish and maintain educational institutions of reasonable standards. 73. Zimbabwe Gender Commission Act [Chapter 10:31] Although this Act is intended to make a constitutional commission operational, it contains at least two provisions that conflict with the Constitution: • Section 16 gives the Minister of Women’s Affairs power to issue policy directives to the Commission, and the Commission is obliged to comply with them. This infringes section 235 of the Constitution, which states that the independent commissions (and the Gender Commission is one of them) are independent and not subject to the direction or control of anyone. • In terms of paragraph 3(2) of the First Schedule to the Act the President can require a commissioner to vacate his or her office if he or she has been absent from three meetings of the Commission. This conflicts with section 237 of the Constitution, which sets out the only grounds on which commissioners can be removed from office – failure to attend meetings is not one of them. 74. Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Act [Chapter 10:30]* The Act was promulgated when the Lancaster House Constitution was still in force and it does not reflect some of the provisions of the new Constitution. In particular, the Act makes no provision for the following functions which are conferred on the Commission by section 243 of the Constitution: • ensuring observance of human rights in Zimbabwe; • protecting the public against abuse of power and maladministration; • directing the Police to investigate suspected crimes involving human rights violations; • requiring State agencies and other persons to provide information and reports to the Commission (this function is conferred on the Commission by section 244 of the Constitution). Furthermore, there is no provision in the Act for the Commission to co-operate with other constitutional commissions such as the Gender Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. Such co-operation is essential if the independent commissions are to carry out their functions effectively. 24