ZimRights Petitions Parliament to Extent the Nomination Period for Commissioners of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
Today ZimRights has petitioned the Parliament of Zimbabwe to extend the time for the public to make nominations for persons to be considered for appointment as Commissioners for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC). This follows a call published by the Parliament of Zimbabwe giving members of the public slightly over two weeks to make nominations.
In a petition signed by over 1000 ZimRights members from the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe, ZimRights notes that ZHRC is a very important commission for the people of Zimbabwe. It further notes that the time period is very short for maximum participation. ZimRights raised concern that there has not been sufficient publicity to allow people in marginalised areas to be aware of the call. Parliament has not availed sufficient tools and information for participation. The nomination forms currently are only available at the Parliament Building and on the website, and these platforms are inaccessible to the wider majority of people.
ZimRights believes that public participation in parliamentary processes should not be mere tokenism but must be substantial. It therefore calls for the Parliament to give the process more time. In the meantime, Parliament is encouraged to improve on information dissemination and make the nomination form available in all the provinces, and in all the official languages in line with the principle of inclusion. ZimRights remains ready to avail its structures across the country to help the Parliament with receiving nominations.
Issued by the ZimRights Information Department.
Email: info@zimrights.org.zw
