About 40 public meetings for comment on the revision of the constitution canceled last month in Harare due to violence have been postponed again by the parliamentary committee in charge of the exercise, citing a lack of funds.
Constitutional Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Paul Mangwana said his panel needs another US$260,000 to hold the meetings, called off last month due to disruptions and violence, allegedly by militants of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. One member of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change was killed.
Mangwana told VOA Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere that his committee is seeking the funding from the government and the United Nations Development Program, lead international donor supporting the revision process.
Constitutional law expert Greg Linington of the University of Zimbabwe said such continued delays suggest that the resulting draft constitutional is not likely to reflect what Zimbabweans want in their basic document.