The Constitutional Reconstruction of Zimbabwe: Much Ado About Nothing?

Abstract

Zimbabwe became ah independent sovereign state on 18th April, 1980under the Lancaster House Constitution which had been negotiated and agreed upon by the Patriotic Front Alliance, the British Government and the Smith-Muzorewa Alliance. To date, Zimbabwe has been governed under that Constitution which has remained basically intact except for two major amendments effected during 1987. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes that have so far been made and those that are likely to be made to the Lancaster House Constitution with a view to Assessing the interests that are being protected by such changes. However, before one can analyze the changes and in whose interests they have, or will be made, it is essential to understand what constitutions arc and also what interests are protected by the Lancaster House Constitution. It is, therefore, necessary to begin by briefly explaining what a constitution is and how it comes about and its relationship with the socioeconomic order of a given country and - then proceed to briefly outline the major features of the original Lancaster House Constitution so as to ascertain the interests that it registered.