Zimbabwe draft constitution will be ready by year end

THE Constitution Select Committee insists the draft of a new constitution will be out by the end of this year.

Copac co-chairperson, Munyaradzi Mangwana, yesterday said while the process had been affected by technical challenges, they were determined to complete the process soon.

"We want to ensure that we have a draft at least this year. We are working hard to ensure that we achieve that," said Cde Mangwana in an interview yesterday.

Mangwana said Copac was finalising data collection reports for district and provinces and drafting of the constitution should start in two weeks time.

"We are finalising reports on data collection for districts and provinces and we hope that this process would be complete by this Friday," he said.

The completion of constitution making is part of the benchmarks parties to the Global Political Agreement have set for them to achieve. Zanu-PF and the MDC formations have since agreed on most issues on the election roadmap that would lead to the holding of fresh elections.

President Mugabe has said elections would be held by March next year and urged Copac to expeditiously complete the constitution making process.