Kariba Draft coercion turns ugly

According to the Youth Alliance, a Matebeleland-based activist was assaulted by Zanu (PF) youth for wearing a Crisis Coalition T-shirt with the slogan Say no to Kariba Draft on it front. The thugs forced the activist to remove the T-shirt and replace it with one saying Youths in Defence of National Sovereignty and Economic Empowerment. Bases have been established where all night vigils are being hosted to ‘conscentise’ people about the Kariba Draft as the sole document to be used as reference in constitution making, said a spokesperson from the Youth Alliance.

It is even worse in Mutoko. People are being told that the Global Political Agreement is only relevant to Harare and it does not apply in their area. The same is happening in all the Zanu (PF) strongholds. The state media is also openly campaigning for the Kariba Draft. The ZTV programmes Media Watch, Melting Pot and Newshour are dominated by Zanu (PF) apologists. These include Maxwell Hove, Tafataona Mahoso and Chris Mutsvangwa, all speaking in defence of the Kariba Draft as the only “reputable” reference.

This allows manipulation of the generality of Zimbabweans by individuals who are protecting their power. Given the fact that the stated form of media has the widest coverage, it greatly influences the outcome of the process, said the spokesperson. Another strategy which has been made use of by the former ruling party is to manipulate MDC leadership into defensive positions. This is in order to preoccupy them with defending themselves at the expense of critical issues like the constitution making process.

We are worried as this will further compromise the will of people of Zimbabwe. We want to emphasise the need for massive alternative media advocacy. We reiterate our position that engagement is always better than disengagement.