THE
law
is
an
ass.
It
has
no
intrinsic
values,
nor
does
it
have
any
inherent
moral
content.
It’s
a
tool;
a
weapon.
And
there
are
mercenaries,
men
and
women
ready,
willing
and
able
to
lend
service
to
other
men
and
women
of
wicked
intent
and
evil
schemes.
These
can
argue
anything,
the
absurd
even.
They
write
laws,
they
interpret
laws
and
they
enforce
laws
under
the
guise
of
constitutional
office
and
just
‘doing
my
job’.
They
are
undertakers;
enablers;
conspirators;
accomplices.
Then
there
is
the
other
side.
The
law
can
be
engineered
into
a
tool
for
justice;
for
the
fair
regulation
of
the
interaction
and
affairs
of
a
people;
for
the
collective
progress
of
a
society.
And
there
are
men
and
women,
ready,
willing
and
able
to
lend
service
to
these
ideals.
Why
possibly
would
a
person
choose
the
former
variety
of
the
law
and
legal
operation?
Justice
Minister
Ziyambi
Ziyambi
chose
that
route
when
he
presented
himself
as
a
willing
legal
mercenary
to
shepherd
on
his
boss’
behalf,
a
coterie
of
proposed
amendments
to
the
Constitution
under
Constitution
of
Zimbabwe
Amendment
No.
3
Bill
of
2026,
that
go
above
and
beyond
the
treacherous
Resolution
1
at
the
2024
Zanu
PF
National
People’s
Conference.
Men
and
women
who
oversee
Zimbabwe’s
governance
in
Cabinet
on
February
10,
2026,
chose
to
join
Ziyambi,
and
lent
their
souls,
wits
and
all
to
Zimbabwe’s
most
audacious
constitutional
scheme
yet
since
the
November
2017
coup.
The
struggle
for
a
new
constitution
has
been
long
and
odious,
from
the
women’s
movement
of
the
1980s,
to
the
economic-led
discourses
of
the
early
1990s,
to
the
civil
society-led
movement
that
culminated
in
the
referendum
of
2000,
to
the
political
party-led
processes
that
eventually
birthed
the
2013
constitution.
There
are
so
many
Zimbabweans
who
died
for
a
new
constitution,
literally.
They
are
dead
and
buried.
Imperfect
as
that
2013
document
was,
at
long
last
we
had
made
remarkable
progress.
The
ink
had
yet
to
dry
when
by
2017
we
were
witnessing
a
reversal
of
gains
with
the
first
regressive
amendments
to
the
constitution.
In
2021
we
were
to
see
another
round
of
the
same
breed:
controversy,
regression,
manipulations,
process
violations,
and
so
on.
Now
2026,
we
are
back
at
it
again.
But
now
it
is
different.
It
is
not
an
exaggeration
to
say
the
2017
coup
and
the
now-approved
Cabinet
memo
detailing
proposed
amendments
to
the
Constitution
of
Zimbabwe
are
the
most
defining
constitutional
moments
in
Zimbabwe’s
history
since
2013
when
that
constitution
was
voted
for
by
94.4
percent
of
our
people.
Men
who
came
to
power
through
a
coup
are
now
moving
to
remove
the
powers
of
the
miliary
to
“uphold”
the
constitution
–
as
if
anyone
had
told
the
coup-plotters
in
the
first
place
that
the
army
had
any
business
stepping
into
civilian
governance
and
taking
over
power.
They
now
want
to
change
the
electoral
system:
remove
popular
participation
in
electing
the
president
and
place
the
responsibility
on
parliament
–
a
borrowed
concept
from
electoral
systems
that
operate
at
a
totally
different
wavelength
to
ours.
They
want
a
7-year
term
for
the
president
and
parliament
–
a
total
of
14
years
if
one
does
two
terms.
They
are
incentivising
parliamentarians
to
vote
for
an
extended
presidency
for
selfish
reasons.
They
now
want
to
bring
back
even
greater
opportunities
to
manipulate
the
voters
roll
and
engage
in
gerrymandering.
They
now
want
to
remove
transparency
by
removing
the
public
interviews
in
the
selection
of
all
judges
of
the
Labour
Court,
Administrative
Court,
High
Court
and
Supreme
Court,
having
removed
such
transparency
in
the
appointment
of
the
Chief
Justice
Deputy
Chief
Justice
and
Judge
President
under
Amendments
1
and
2.
They
want
to
expand
the
senate
by
allowing
the
president
to
appoint
10
senators
–
whatever
benefit
that
brings
to
Zimbabwe!
They
want
to
eliminate
the
Zimbabwe
Gender
Commission
and
the
Peace
and
Reconciliation
Commission.
I
dare
say,
of
all
the
actions
of
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
since
the
coup
in
November
2017,
this
is
the
darkest
move
in
his
governance
agenda.
Whatever
rules
of
engagement
we
thought
as
a
nation
we
had
agreed
to
in
2013,
and
whatever
route
we
had
decided
for
our
nation,
Mnangagwa
and
team
have
arrived
to
change
course
at
will.
When
we
write
a
constitution,
we
do
so
for
the
nation
and
country.
Far
from
cosmetics,
a
constitution
is
an
existential
issue.
How
can
a
group
of
men
and
women
be
so
evil
to
bury
the
prosperous
future
of
a
nation
for
short
and
immediate
power
gain?
Oh,
what
vanity;
oh,
what
iniquity!
Long
after
Mnangagwa
and
all
those
who
will
mutilate
the
constitution
are
dead
and
buried,
there
shall
remain
a
country
called
Zimbabwe.
Surely,
what
possible
wisdom
could
there
be
to
take
Zimbabwe
decades
back
to
the
day
of
an
imperial
presidency,
nebulous
‘tap-on-the-shoulder’
judicial
appointments,
manipulated
elections,
long-term
presidency
and
other
such
dictatorship-like
trappings?
There
is
nothing
admirable,
defensible,
honorable
and
legal
about
this
entire
process.
This
is
not
good
or
proper
law;
this
is
not
good
politics.
This
is
not
societal
progress.
There
is
no
economic,
social
or
political
benefit
to
Zimbabwe
as
a
country
from
this
constitutional
manipulation.
This
whole
process
is
not
people-driven,
is
anti-people,
is
anti-progress,
is
a
naked
breach
of
the
social
contract,
is
a
subversion
of
the
will
of
the
people,
and
violates
the
spirit
of
the
constitution.
The
constitution
has
a
spirit;
it
is
not
just
about
the
words
written
on
paper
and
what
the
dictionary
says
they
mean.
There
is
something
called
unconstitutional
constitutional
amendments;
there
is
something
called
the
basic
structure
doctrine.
When
a
constitution
has
now
been
mutilated
out
of
recognition,
it
is
no
longer
the
original
document;
it
is
now
something
else.
These
regressive
amendments
is
not
what
Zimbabweans
want
or
asked
for
–
not
even
the
poor,
helpless,
hapless
long-suffering
foot
soldiers
of
Zanu
PF
forever
played
by
their
elite
masters.
However
Zanu
PF’s
spin-doctors
come
and
justify
their
own
annihilation
by
their
masters
–
for
whatever
pay
and
reward,
and
however
Zanu
PF,
Mnangagwa
and
Ziyambi
drink
champagne
to
celebrate
their
victory
over
the
people,
they
have
just
committed
a
grave
betrayal
to
Zimbabwe’s
future
that
will
take
long
to
reverse.
On
days
like
these,
I
am
ashamed
to
be
a
lawyer
in
Zimbabwe,
and
I
am
ashamed
of
my
government.
I
am
proud
I
never
voted
for
them,
but
I
am
ashamed
of
them.
Yet
for
my
country,
people,
beliefs
and
values,
I
will
remain
an
active,
vigilant
and
resourceful
citizen
in
search
of
the
Zimbabwe
we
want.
Many
other
citizens
too.
And
I
have
faith
that
Zimbabwe
will
be
found
through
the
mobilisation,
action,
and
perseverance
of
its
patriotic
children.
Musa
Kika
is
a
human
rights
and
constitutional
lawyer