Selected Challenges and Prospects of the Zimbabwe Constitution of 2013 in the Protection of Human Rights and Constitutional Democracy in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article analyses selected aspects of the provisions of the Zimbabwe Constitution Amendment Act 20 of 2013 (“Zimbabwe Constitution 2013”) that, inter alia, deal with the protection, enforcement and limitation of fundamental rights in Zimbabwe. Moreover, the article discusses certain provisions and aspects of the Zimbabwe Constitution 2013 that deal with corruption, elections and the promotion of democracy. This is done in order to investigate the adequacy of the aforesaid provisions in relation to the practical and/or consistent promotion of constitutional democracy in Zimbabwe. To this end, an overview analysis of selected challenges and prospects of the provisions of the Zimbabwe Constitution 2013 is provided. Moreover, where possible, the article also provides a comparative analysis of these challenges and prospects and those that were provided under the Lancaster House Constitution of Zimbabwe Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1600) as amended by Amendment Act 1 of 2009 which introduced amendment 19 of 2009 on 13 February 2009 (“Lancaster House Constitution 1979”). This is done to examine whether the Zimbabwe Constitution 2013 has now adequately resolved the challenges, flaws and gaps that were embedded in the Lancaster House Constitution 1979.