‘This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy’, says opposition activists amid Zimbabwean authorities’ crackdown on CAB3 meetings
THE Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP) has condemned what it describes as a deliberate State campaign to block public engagement on Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), warning that such actions threaten Zimbabwe’s democratic foundations. In a statement released Saturday, DCP convenor Jameson Timba said authorities were systematically denying citizens their constitutional right to assemble, […] The post ‘This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy’, says opposition activists amid Zimbabwean authorities’ crackdown on CAB3 meetings appeared first on NewZimbabwe.com.
Black News 
THE Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP) has condemned what it describes as a deliberate State campaign to block public engagement on Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), warning that such actions threaten Zimbabwe’s democratic foundations.
In a statement released Saturday, DCP convenor Jameson Timba said authorities were systematically denying citizens their constitutional right to assemble, despite organisers having sought police clearance.
“These developments are neither isolated nor administrative in nature,” Timba said.
“They reflect a clear and deliberate pattern in which the State is utilising MOPA not as a facilitative legal framework, but as an instrument to suppress the constitutional rights of citizens.”
The group argued that the disruption of meetings linked to CAB3, a matter it described as being of “national importance” signals an effort to exclude Zimbabweans from decisions affecting their sovereignty.
“This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy,” Timba added.
DCP further criticised the effectiveness of legal remedies, noting that court processes are too slow to provide meaningful relief.
“By the time relief is granted, the purpose of the intended meeting has long been defeated,” the statement read.
“This creates a situation where rights are acknowledged in law but denied in reality.”
Invoking Section 59 of the Constitution, Timba stressed that the right to peaceful assembly is fundamental and cannot be overridden by administrative barriers.
“The right to peaceful assembly is not granted by statute. It is guaranteed… and cannot be extinguished through administrative obstruction,” he said.
The DCP urged citizens to assert their rights peacefully.
“The defence of the Constitution must now return to the people,” Timba declared, warning that “any attempt to criminalise the peaceful exercise of this right would constitute a direct assault on the democratic foundations of our Republic.”
CAB3 proposes extending the tenure of the President and Members of Parliament from the current five-year term to seven years, a move critics say would delay electoral accountability and entrench incumbency while supporters argue it could provide longer policy continuity and reduce the frequency of costly elections.
The push for the amendment has unfolded amid reports of intimidation and arrests of activists and organisers, with police disrupting meetings and detaining participants, raising concerns about the shrinking space for public debate on the proposed changes.
Seven Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members were last week arrested, later appeared in court before their pretrial detention for plotting protests in Harare.
The post ‘This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy’, says opposition activists amid Zimbabwean authorities’ crackdown on CAB3 meetings appeared first on NewZimbabwe.com.
