The legislators were made to promise in writing not to discuss the constitutional outreach exercise with the media, in a puzzling decision by the COPCA that should instead be encouraging more media attention on the reforms to ensure greater public awareness and participation.
One of the three chairmen of the COPAC, Douglass Mwonzora, defended the decision to gag the legislators as necessary to ensure a disciplined reform process.
Mwonzora said: “MPs in the outreach teams are not supposed to speak to the media, the media must deal with the chairpersons of COPAC or (Jessie) Majome the media person in the committee we are doing this so as to ensure discipline in constitution making process.”
Some MPs have expressed unhappiness over the gag saying that since there will be the people on the ground and meeting the public then they should be free to talk to the media.
However, Mwonzora said that there was need to follow proper channels. “We encourage members of the outreach teams to bring us updates and we as COPAC we shall ensure that the media gets daily updates.”
Apart from imposing the media gag on legislators COPAC has also outlawed political sloganeering during the whole period of the process that is expected to produce a truly people driven constitution.
Post published in: Politics