Blessing Vava, spokesman for the NCA, told SW Radio Africa Zimbabweans are now tired of the never-ending political negotiations between ZANU PF and the MDC formations.
‘SADC can help so much but it must be left to us Zimbabweans to decide our own destiny and not three political parties. The negotiations to implement the GPA and come up with a roadmap have taken far too long and many people are just fed up and crying out for change,’ Vava.
Under the terms of the GPA, signed in September 2008 between ZANU PF and the MDC formations, elections can only be held when the country has adopted a new constitution and instituted a number of other reforms. But ZANU PF has now demanded extensive changes to the draft constitution that they had originally signed off on. Critics had noted that the draft was far from perfect as the MDC’s had already made major concessions to ZANU PF.
The two MDC formations have endorsed the new charter, completed on 18th July, while ZANU PF insists it won't accept the draft constitution without amendments.
ZANU PF wants homosexuality and same-sex marriages outlawed, the watered down attempts at devolution to be completely abolished and replaced with decentralization, and dual citizenship banned, even though the draft did not legalise dual citizenship. The party claims these were popular sentiments contained in the national report of the outreach program.
The deadlock over the constitutional process has forced the SADC Troika to convene a special summit next month, to discuss and address the issue. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete told journalists in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that they wanted to see free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Kikwete, who took over the Troika chair in August, said the summit will be held on the 7th and 8th October in Tanzania. – SW Radio Africa News
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