Zimbabweans will not reject the draft constitution: Mangwana

Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution (Copac) co-chairperson, says he is confident Zimbabweans will not reject the draft constitution during the forthcoming referendum given the enthusiasm they have shown in the outreach phase.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Harare Agricultural Show that ended yesterday, Mangwana said almost everyone who visited the Copac stand at the Exhibition Park was looking forward to a new supreme law for the country and was determined to vote in favour of the draft.

Mangwana said Copac had exhibited at the Harare Agricultural Show to enable the committee members to interact with the public.

"The other idea for participating was to ensure that we get as many views as possible from the public about how best we should proceed with the constitution- making process that is now at an advanced stage," he said.

Mangwana said he was impressed by the citizens' interest in the new people-driven constitution adding that he was confident that they would go out in numbers to vote in favour of the draft.

"We are quite happy with our public awareness programmes; they are paying off.

"It looks like people are very much interested in the new constitution," he said.

Zimbabwe is in the process of crafting a new people-driven constitution, which, if approved, would replace the Lancaster House Constitution that has been amended 19 times.

The drafting of the country's new constitution is pursuant to a resolution of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that was signed by Zimbabwe's three major political parties ' Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M.

Once adopted, the new constitution would pave the way for fresh elections.