Mediation team led by Honorable Mafumadi ,the
Local government Minister in South Africa.
The team explained their mandate as one which involved
facilitation of dialogue and not necessarily mediation
between the political parties ZANU PF and MDC.
The representatives included a broad section of the
civic society, unions and churches, such as Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (ZESN), Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum,
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU); Women’s
Coalition; National Association of Non Governmental
Organization (NANGO), Bulawayo Agenda, Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Law Society of
Zimbabwe, National Constitutional Assembly (NCA);
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition and a representative from the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign.
The team clarified that CSOs have no seat in the
political dialogue but that in terms of the SADC
treaty and method of doing business, it was important
for the voice of CSO’s to be heard since they
represent the views of a significant number of
Zimbabweans.
Representatives of CSOs raised key issues that are
necessary to be done before the crisis of governance
in Zimbabwe is resolved.
The issues raised are the following:
· There is need to work towards a people driven
constitution that entrenches democratic governance as
a pre-requisite to holding democratic elections;
· The electoral framework must be reviewed to make it
comply with the barest minimum requirements of the
SADC guidelines and other recognized international
standards.
· The practice of organized violence and torture has
to be dismantled in a credible and transparent manner
so as Zimbabweans can live an atmosphere of peace,
freedom and security,
· The SADC state need to ensure that there is food and
security in Zimbabwe and to ensure that the practice
and use of food as a political to should be banned
forthwith,
· There is need to repeal repressive laws such as
AIPPA and POSA.
· There is need to open up access to public media by
all sectors of society
· There is an urgent need to restore the rule of law
in Zimbabwe, in particular, through compliance with
court orders and decisions and recommendations of the
African Commission on people and human rights and
other international human rights bodies.
The team wants to ensure that in resolving the
Zimbabwe crisis the 2008 elections are key in that
Zimbabweans need to hold elections whose outcome could
not be contested. It was then suggested strongly that
indicators for the creation of a climate that allows
for free and fair elections needed to be developed and
timeframes stipulated so that the facilitation process
can be credible and transparent.
It was also agreed that CSOs being key to the
resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis will be engaged by
the team on an ongoing basis to ensure effective
consultation with a broad spectrum of the Zimbabwean
community. In particular, representatives of CSOs
emphasized the need for a constitutional review that
is located in effective civic participation. They
firmly rejected the idea of subordinating
constitutional making processes to parliament. The
process must be owned by the Zimbabwean people for it
to be credible.
The facilitation team and the representatives of civil
societies noted that Zimbabwean and South African
people are mutually intertwined both in our history
and destiny.
The representatives of CSOs undertake to continue to
engage the Facilitation team to ensure that the
Zimbabwean crisis is being resolved in a manner that
ensures inclusivity, transparency and credibility in
process, substance and outcome.
Post published in: News