Germany is willing to continue with the support for the constituional alignment process” said Ambassador George Schmidt. These were his key words at a public forum on Tuesday in the capital, Harare.

Ambassador George Schmidt, is the Regional Director of Sub-Saharian Africa and Sahel of the German Federal Foreign Office, who visited Zimbabwe for a 2 days conference.

The conference ”Assesing progress on the Implementation of Zimbabwe New Constitution: National, Regional and Global perpectives” is organised by the Ma-Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law (MPFDPR), Germany in conjuction with the Development and Rule of Law Programme (DROP) at the Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and the Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust, Harare.

In his speech, Ambassador Schmidt said, the constitution is a new departure for Zimbabwe, which would protect dignity, grant democratic space and social rights. He mentioned that it will be all citizens of Zimbabwe who will benefit from the ‘rule of law” system protecting economic and political rights.

Concerning economic reform, Ambassador Schmidt acknowledged encouraging signs like Zimbabwe performance in the Staff Monetary Programme (SMP) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In his last words Ambassador Schmidt stressed” should the positive signals in the process of constitutional alignment and economic reform prove to be suistanaible Germany is prepared to enter into an open dialogue with the government of Zimbabwe, on ways out of the economic crisis, including the burdensome debt of $739 million American Dollars that the Government of Zimbabwe owe to Germany.

During his visit in Zimbabwe, Ambassador Schmidt had meetings with the Vice President and minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Honourable Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, Honourable Christopher Mutsvagwa and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.