Paul Mangwana, one of the three chairpersons of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) told a meeting of local media editors that the United Nations Development Programme had released US$7,1m of the US$8,2 million needed to successfully embark on the outreach programme.
The outreach is key because views gathered through this process will form the core content to be considered for the planned constitution, itself a critical foundation for future credible elections.
Seventy outreach teams of 10 members each will be deployed in the 10 provinces, said Mangwana, speaking on behalf of his two other co-chairpersons Douglas Mwonzora from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais MDC-T party and Edward Mkhosi, from Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambaras MDC-M party.
Mangwana who is from President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) party added; A total of 5 803 meetings will be convened in the 1 937 wards throughout the 10 provinces of the country. Participation at meetings will purely be voluntary.
Justice Deputy Minister Jessie Majome and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga also attended the meeting.
The constitution making process has already missed several deadlines, mainly because of lack of funding and political squabbling among coalition government partners.
A new constitution should have been in place by July this year, according to a timetable set out in the September 2008 power-sharing agreement also known as global political agreement (GPA) that established the coalition government between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara.
According to a revised timetable announced by Mangwana yesterday the draft should be ready by February next year, while a public vote on the draft should be held in May next year.
Mangwana played down fears of violence, saying parties had set up inter-party committees in each district to ensure peace, adding that the police had pledged to provide five police officers per outreach team.
However, apart from violence, there are fears that most people selected to be part of the outreach programme could snub the process because of unsustainable allowances of US$15 per day, not even enough for members to afford meals in hotels where they will be staying.
Mangwana confirmed that the allowances were unattractive, adding that COPAC had appealed for higher allowances.
We have made an appeal for higher allowances because imagine someone will be out in the field for 85 straight days and the allowance they are getting is hardly enough for food. Most of the people on the outreach teams are employed elsewhere, and some have businesses to run, said Mangwana.
The new governance charter will pave way for free elections although there is no legal requirement for the unity government to call new polls immediately after a new constitution is in place.
Post published in: News