Section 328: Amendment of Constitution

(1) In this section—

“Constitutional Bill” means a Bill that seeks to amend this Constitution;

“term-limit provision” means a provision of this Constitution which limits the length of

time that a person may hold or occupy a public office.

(2) An Act of Parliament that amends this Constitution must do so in express terms.

(3) A Constitutional Bill may not be presented in the Senate or the National Assembly in terms of section 131 unless the Speaker has given at least ninety days’ notice in the Gazette of the precise terms of the Bill.

(4) Immediately after the Speaker has given notice of a Constitutional Bill in terms of subsection (3), Parliament must invite members of the public to express their views on the proposed Bill in public meetings and through written submissions, and must convene meetings and provide facilities to enable the public to do so.

(5) A Constitutional Bill must be passed, at its last reading in the National Assembly and the Senate, by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the membership of each House.

(6) Where a Constitutional Bill seeks to amend any provision of Chapter 4 or Chapter 16—

    (a) within three months after it has been passed by the National Assembly and the Senate

in accordance with subsection (5), it must be submitted to a national referendum; and

    (b) if it is approved by a majority of the voters voting at the referendum, the Speaker of

the National Assembly must cause it to be submitted without delay to the President,

who must assent to and sign it forthwith.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an amendment to a term-limit provision, the effect of which is to extend the length of time that a person may hold or occupy any public office, does not apply in relation to any person who held or occupied that office, or an equivalent office, at any time before the amendment.

(8) Subsections (6) and (7) must not both be amended in the same Constitutional Bill nor may amendments to both those subsections be put to the people in the same referendum.

(9) This section may be amended only by following the procedures set out in subsections (3),(4), (5) and (6), as if this section were contained in Chapter 4.

(10) When a Constitutional Bill is presented to the President for assent and signature, it must be accompanied by—

    (a) a certificate from the Speaker that at its final vote in the National Assembly the Bill

received the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the membership of the

Assembly; and

    (a) a certificate from the President of the Senate that at its final vote in the Senate the Bill

received the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the membership of the Senate.