{"id":2396,"date":"2026-06-29T06:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=2396"},"modified":"2026-06-30T06:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:25:43","slug":"cab-3-may-require-referendum-says-tsunga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/cab-3-may-require-referendum-says-tsunga\/","title":{"rendered":"CAB 3 May Require Referendum, Says Tsunga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Arnold Tsunga – Constitutional lawyer and governance expert <\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HARARE, June 29, 2026<\/strong> \u2013 Constitutional lawyer and governance expert Arnold Tsunga<\/strong> has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to carefully examine the constitutionality of Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB 3) before signing it into law, arguing that parliamentary approval alone may not be sufficient to satisfy Zimbabwe’s constitutional requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing in an opinion article published on June 25, Tsunga said the Bill, which has already been passed by Parliament and is awaiting presidential assent, raises constitutional questions that could require judicial determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that the debate over CAB 3 should move beyond politics and focus on whether the proposed amendments comply with the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The passage of a constitutional amendment through Parliament does not necessarily conclude the constitutional inquiry,” Tsunga wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Tsunga, the Bill should be assessed against three key tests: procedural legality, substantive constitutional compliance and democratic legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He questioned whether some of the proposed amendments required approval through a national referendum before Parliament could lawfully enact them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsunga also raised concerns over whether Parliament has the authority to amend constitutional provisions that enjoy special protection under the Constitution without direct approval from voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further argued that amendments affecting citizens’ political rights, including the right to directly elect the President, deserve careful judicial scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senior lawyer said constitutional amendments should not only meet legal requirements but also command public confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Legality determines whether an amendment is constitutionally valid. Legitimacy determines whether it is likely to command enduring public acceptance,” he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsunga also linked the debate to Zimbabwe’s commitments under regional and continental democratic frameworks, including the African Union’s governance principles, saying constitutional reforms should strengthen rather than weaken democratic accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further called for careful consideration of amendments relating to the constitutional role of the defence forces, describing civil-military relations as one of the most sensitive aspects of any constitutional system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the President’s role, Tsunga said the Head of State’s constitutional oath requires him to ensure that any Bill presented for assent complies with both the letter and spirit of the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He suggested that amendments affecting presidential tenure, political participation and other foundational constitutional provisions could derive greater legitimacy if subjected to a national referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsunga said such a process would strengthen public confidence in constitutional reform and reduce future legal disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 was recently approved by Parliament and now awaits President Mnangagwa’s decision on whether to sign it into law. The proposed amendments have generated public debate over their legal and political implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsunga, who wrote in his personal capacity, is Principal Managing Partner at Tsunga Bamu Law International and Senior Policy and Legal Advisor at the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita HARARE, June 29, 2026 \u2013 Constitutional lawyer and governance expert Arnold Tsunga has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to carefully examine the constitutionality of Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB 3) before signing it into law, arguing that parliamentary approval alone may not be sufficient to satisfy Zimbabwe’s constitutional requirements. Writing in an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2398,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions\/2398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}