Doug Coltart Was Foolish To Attend Public Hearings: Chinamasa Speaks On Chaotic Scenes At City Sports
ZANU PF Treasurer General Patrick Chinamasa says lawyer Doug Coltart was “foolish” to attend the 31 March 2026 public hearings at City Sports Centre in Harare, where he was assaulted and had his mobile phone taken during chaotic scenes that erupted at consultations on Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3.
The violent incident, which occurred on Tuesday 31 March 2026, saw Coltart shoved, slapped and his glasses broken as tensions escalated during the meeting. His mobile phone was also taken during the confrontation, with reports identifying a ZANU PF Central Committee member as the individual who grabbed the device.
Chinamasa made the remarks on 6 April 2026 following nationwide public hearings conducted between 16 February 2026 and 2 April 2026 across Zimbabwe’s 71 administrative districts.
Introducing his remarks, Chinamasa described the Harare meeting as the only one that turned chaotic.
“All went well countrywide except for the Public Hearing held at the City Sports Centre in Harare on Tuesday, 31 March 2026. This was the only bad apple, from what I can gather, among all public hearings held countrywide.”
He said the meeting had been disrupted by what he described as provocations.
“The City Sports Centre Public Hearing was marred by agents provocateurs and the naivety of some ZANU PF supporters, who failed to read that the end game of the agents provocateurs was to disrupt the proceedings.”
Coltart Assaulted And Phone Taken During Chaos
The chaotic scenes unfolded during a parliamentary public hearing on proposed constitutional amendments.
The Associated Press reports that Coltart was attacked while attempting to leave the venue.
The publication states that supporters shouting in favour of the proposed changes shoved and slapped Coltart during the confrontation. His glasses were also broken.
The publication further reports that Coltart’s phone was taken during the incident, with Luckmore Tinashe Gapa, a ZANU-PF Central Committee member, identified as the individual who grabbed the device.
The unrest came as critics of the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 attempted to voice opposition at the meeting.
The hearings were part of nationwide consultations conducted by 11 parliamentary teams across Zimbabwe’s 71 administrative districts.
Chinamasa: Coltart Was “Foolish” To Attend
Chinamasa criticised Coltart’s decision to attend the hearing, where the majority of attendees supported the proposed constitutional amendments.
“When a person attends a Public Hearing with a predictable, overwhelming 99.99% of ZANU PF supporters, with the intention to express publicly and loudly a 0.01% opposition view, I consider that provocative to the 99.99% of the attendees.”
He said such reactions were predictable.
“The behaviour of the masses, when assembled together, is highly predictable. An assembled crowd of people of one mind does not take kindly to a differing viewpoint.”
Chinamasa then directly referred to Coltart.
“I say this not to justify what happened at City Sports Centre, but to point out the frailty of human beings the world over… and to highlight the foolishness of Doug Coltart and his ilk in attending that public hearing with the intention to voice opposition to Constitutional Amendment Number 3.”
He also said the consultations across the country were largely peaceful.
“These hearings, covering all administrative districts of the country — 71 of them — went exceedingly well, and the people spoke boldly in support of Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3.”
Chinamasa concluded his remarks with a vernacular statement:
“Nokuti hatigoni kurega kutaura izvotakaona neizvotakanzwa.”
(“Because we cannot stop talking about what we saw and what we heard.”)
The police have not issued a detailed update on the incident. However, they have confirmed that investigations are currently underway, after Coltart filed a police case.
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