The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) is saddened by the untimely passing of human rights stalwart, Dr Alex Magaisa on 5 June 2022.
The Forum joins the entire human rights community in mourning the loss of an affable, fearless and indefatigable defender of the oppressed and voiceless. Dr Magaisa was a friend of the Forum. Dr Magaisa leaves an indelible mark on the country’s transformative constitutionalism endeavour with arguably his most influential role to date – as a core member of a technical drafting team advising the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) which drafted a new Constitution to repeal and replace the Lancaster House Constitution.
He will be remembered among the brilliant minds who produced a draft which was approved by more than half of the six million people eligible to vote in the country at the time in a nationwide referendum held on 16 March 2013. His appointment by then Prime Minister and now late Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai as his advisor, by which he made his maiden foray on the political front, is an irrefutable affirmation of his stellar thought leadership.
Throughout his well-decorated professional career, Dr Magaisa was a proponent of the promotion and strengthening of the principle of democracy in Zimbabwe as a means of ensuring the enhancement, efficacy and long-term survival of Zimbabwe’s nascent constitutional dispensation. A fierce critic of corrupt rule and cognate practices, both in Zimbabwe and other developing nations, he was a true embodiment of what speaking truth to power – even at the highest echelons of raw executive power, really is.
It is in this spirit that the Forum mourns the sad loss of an unwavering champion for the voiceless. Known for his rich legal, social and political commentary, Magaisa leaves behind a void that will be extremely difficult to fill.
The Forum extends heartfelt condolences to the Magaisa family, his close friends, co-workers, students – past and present, and to the entire human rights fraternity for such a great loss. In his name and to his memory, we will continue to advance the causes of constitutionalism, human rights, and good governance.
Source: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
