HARARE Some Zimbabweans want the proposed constitution to empower Parliament to have a say in the appointment of service chiefs and other senior government officials such as the central bank governor and the Attorney General. This emerged from a survey conducted by pressure group Kubatana last week in which it asked members of the pubic to text their expectations ahead of the final outreach meetings of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) which were scheduled for Harare and Bulawayo this weekend.
Besides the usual responses about the need for a limited presidential term as well as the presidents powers and the incorporation of gay and lesbian rights into the Constitution, there was an interesting proposal that the new charter should give Parliament oversight powers during the appointment of army generals, the AG and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor.
Under the present arrangement, President Robert Mugabe can appoint anyone he wants to head the army, RBZ or AGs Office after consulting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
The veteran leader has however unilaterally appointed his loyalists to these positions in violation of a 2008 power-sharing pact among the three politicians, triggering off a feud with Tsvangirais MDC-T party.
The appointments of RBZ governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana are among several issues threatening to derail the fragile coalition regime formed by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara in February 2009.
The MDC-T wants Mugabe to reverse the appointment of the two officials and appoint consensus candidates to be selected by the three leaders.
According to Kubatana, some members of the public believe that the AG, RBZ chief and service chiefs should be vetted by parliamentarians before they are sworn in by the president.
Such an arrangement is similar to one used in the United States where the Senate vets all senior regime officials nominated by President Barack Obama.
Several top Zanu (PF) officials and army generals have been fingered in the atrocities that accompanied Zimbabwes chaotic decade-long land reform programme as well as political violence during previous polls.
Others, including Mugabe and Air Force of Zimbabwe commander Perence Shiri, have also been implicated in the 1980s massacre of more than 20 000 innocent civilians during an army operation to crash an uprising in the southern Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
Zimbabwe witnessed some of the worst political violence in 2008 after a parliamentary election that was won by the MDC-T while Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a parallel presidential election but with fewer votes to avoid a second round poll.
In a bid to ensure Mugabe regained the upper hand in the second round vote, Zanu (PF) militia, war veterans and security agents unleashed an orgy of violence and terror across the country, especially in rural areas most of which became no-go zones for the opposition.
The MDC-T leader later withdrew from the 27 June 2008 run-off poll because of the violence which was won by Mugabe unopposed.
Security chiefs and Zanu (PF) chefs have also tried to derail the unity government unless there are guaranteed immunity from prosecution.
They do not want to face the courts and fear that exposure of their crimes could threaten ill-gotten assets such as farms.
Post published in: News