Zimbabwe’s humanitarian and economic crises came at a time when the protracted impasse over the working conditions and salaries of health workers spilled into 2020 unresolved as witnessed by the continuous strikes by nurses and doctors in addition to similar actions by the country’s teachers. In the meantime, the government forged ahead with its plans to amend the Constitution following completion of the public hearings on the Constitution Amendment No.2 Bill. Contentious sections proposed for amendment, among others, include removal of the presidential running mate clause, tenure (extension of) office of judges, delimitation of constituencies, appointment of the Prosecutor General without public interviews and selection of judges without public interviews. These proposals were generally rejected during the public hearings. It therefore remains to be seen whether the will of the people will be respected given that the 2013 Constitution was endorsed by an overwhelming 94.5% of voters when it was subjected to a referendum. While the Freedom of Information Act has since been signed into law, the government gazetted the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill, which is strong on surveillance of citizens and weak on balancing cybersecurity with the enjoyment of fundamental rights such as free expression online, privacy and protection of personal data. The government was also to announce its intentions to come up with a Patriot Bill, which if enacted, has the potential of curtailing the exercise of rights such as media freedom and freedom of expression, right to privacy, access to information, freedom of conscience, political rights, freedom to demonstrate and petition, and freedom of assembly and association. Meanwhile, the report mentioned earlier in this report, by the UN Special Rapporteur, came on the backdrop of his visit to Zimbabwe on 17 - 27 September 2019 at the invitation of the government. The purpose of the visit was to assess the exercise, promotion and protection of the rights under his mandate in a moment of transition following the adoption of the new Constitution in 2013 and the change of leadership in Zimbabwe. It is trite to note that the Special Rapporteur, in his report, urged the government to take action to end corruption, and tellingly, to improve the human rights situation and ensure accountability and rule of law to encourage the lifting of “measures” imposed on Zimbabwe. 5