Most people in Manicaland province have the knowledge of the new constitution and its provisions, a report by the International Republican Institute has revealed. According to the report on local governance and constitutionalism, 86 percent of people in Manicaland are aware of the new constitution.
Midlands, Mashonaland East and Masvingo provinces follow respectively on knowing the constitution. Matebeleland North and South recorded the least number of people who were aware of the new constitution.
According to the survey, 72 percent of people who know the constitution applauded family and friends being the major source of disseminating the information about constitutionalism while 67 percent of the populace got to know about it through the radio and only 38 percent acknowledged having heard about the constitution from theConstitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) outreach meetings.
The survey also established that the women’s rights and gender equality as the most important thing in the new constitution with the majority of respondents.
Poor state of the country’s infrastructure particularly roads were also identified by the survey as the most pressing service delivery problem.
Women bemoaned lack of clean water in both rural and urban settlements as another service delivery issue being faced by the majority citizens.
It is now almost two years since the new constitution was introduced replacing the Lancaster house, which the country was using since independence.
The new constitution, which was adopted in 2013, started to be distributed this year.
By Natasha Justin
