It has become patently clear to everyone that the whole constitutional consultative process has been an unmitigated disaster. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai this week announced that, as a result of the COPACs failure to capture the wishes of the people around the country, the three parties to the GPA would be forced to negotiate a new constitThis, of course, vindicates NCA chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, whose position all along has been that the whole process was fundamentally flawed as it was not people-driven.
The politicians who spear-headed the consultative process simply could not resist the temptation to use the exercise to score points for their individual parties and feather their own nests.
We remember with disgust the feeding frenzy on the part of MPs and other hangers on, before the process even got off the ground. They demanded huge allowances and threatened to boycott the whole thing unless they were rewarded handsomely.
The nation-wide involvement of the army, the police and the CIO obviously at the command of Zanu (PF) in using force to people from having their say, is despicable but not at all surprising. This involvement of civil servants in politics is one of the key factors to be addressed in the new constitution.
It is a basic tenet of democracy that people who receive taxpayers money must serve the people and not any particular party. This hangover from a one party state has proved to be an albatross around our necks and must be addressed before we go any further.
This whole sorry exercise has proved one thing beyond a doubt Zanu (PF) has nothing to offer but violence. They are bankrupt of ideas. The only thing they have to offer is the power to steal things that rightfully belong to others for dishing out to a select few.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga