It is the duty of every Zimbabwean to contribute to both the short-term and long-term solutions to this crisis, and it is in this context that the NCA responds to the Agreement between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations on resolving challenges facing Zimbabwe as follows:
1. NEW, DEMOCRATIC AND PEOPLE-DRIVEN CONSTITUTION
The reason why the NCA has continued to insist on a new, democratic and people-driven Constitution is that Zimbabwe needs a solid foundation for its governance system. It is bad and unaccountable governance that has brought this country to the current pains. A new, democratic and people-driven Constitution will provide the much needed solid foundation for good governance. The adoption of a new, democratic and people-driven Constitution must be followed by free and fair elections under that Constitution and a government operating under a new Constitution.
The NCA is disappointed that the Agreement does not provide for a new, democratic and people-driven Constitution. Instead, in its Article 6, it uses the phrase people-driven but provides for NOTHING of that sort. It claims that the people have the right to author their own Constitution, yet prescribes for them a process where politicians, through Parliament, have the final say as to the content of the Constitution.
In the Agreement, the parties boast about having already authored a Constitution which they adopted in Kariba on 30 September, 2007. The Agreement refers to it as the Kariba Draft’. It is this Kariba Draft’ which ZANU PF and the two formations of the MDC seek to sneak through as a new’ Constitution for Zimbabwe.
This is unacceptable. The NCA totally rejects it. The NCA therefore calls upon the people of Zimbabwe to unite and continue to push for a genuine democratic, people-driven Constitution led by an All Stakeholders Constitutional Commission.
As NCA, we do not believe or accept that ZANU (PF) and MDC, as political parties or as government have the right to unilaterally determine the process by which or through which a new constitution for Zimbabwe is to be written. We believe that a constitution can only be as good as the process through which it is created and thus the process for creating the constitution is as important as the constitution to which it gives birth. Furthermore, the process itself must be legitimate, transparent and accepted by all the stakeholders. This is not the case with the constitution making process that has been proposed in the agreement between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations.
If anything, the process that has been outlined in the ZANU PF-MDC agreement is an elitist constitution making process in which these formations, by and large, are keen on imposing a constitution on the people of Zimbabwe. This is unacceptable as the constitution must be written for the people and by the people. By proposing that the constitution making process be spearheaded by parliament ZANU PF and MDC are attempting to usurp the power of the people. The ZANU PF-MDC process essentially leaves out of the constitution making process important stakeholders that currently do not have representation in parliament.
As opposed to the elite constitution making process that ZANU PF and its MDC partners are proposing, the NCA proposes an All Stakeholders constitution making processes as outlined in the Zimbabwe People’s Charter. This process must proceed by way of an All-Stakeholders’ Commission whose composition must include representatives from a diverse collection of interest groups such as churches, labour unions, political parties, women groups, youth Groups, veterans of the liberation struggle, war collaborators, the academia, the media people living with HIV/AIDS business, the disabled, the informal sector and others.Â
2. POWER-SHARING
The NCA notes that this agreement proposes to share power as a solution to the current crisis. There are three points on this aspect which the NCA wishes to make:
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