Zimbabweans now rejoice in an expensive proposed new constitution which nobody wants. If constitution-making was ranked as a productive activity Zimbabwe (or Rhodesia before it) would be world leaders: constitutions for all occasions. We might even flog one to the UK which has managed all these years without one.
As far as the Vigil can see, a constitution matters only if there is the rule of law. And when did that last exist in Zimbabwe? And, anyway, Mugabe has made it clear the constitution will not be adopted until he is satisfied with it (at one stage he seemed to have co-opted Tsvangirai to this idea!).
So the fiasco moves to Parliament and then to a referendum, apparently in mid-January, costing $100,000 or so. Of course Zimbabwe has no money for this – that is unless the Mugabes, the Mujurus, the Mpofus, the Chombos etc care to contribute a few dollars from their stolen millions. Mr Biti says we in the UK must pay. He says we are paying for Zimbabwe’s health and education (along with other donors) so we ‘have an obligation’ to pay for everything else. This logic is the sort that has made Zimbabwe the intellectual powerhouse it is today.
So here we will be in mid-January 2013 with a useless referendum on a useless constitution and the situation on the ground to all purposes unchanged – certainly no rule of law. And then Mugabe, coming up to his 90th year, can start campaigning for the elections he wants in March, leaving little time for the essential reforms agreed four years ago and still not implemented. The Vigil thinks this is a recipe for disaster.
Elections any later – and some are talking of October – will provide an interesting backdrop for the UN’s tourism conference at the Victoria Falls next August. The odious tourism functionaries from all over the world will then get the chance to see some real Zimbabwean ‘wild life’.
Post published in: News