Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Welshman Ncube announced Thursday that the draft had been finalised, three years after the process of writing a new constitution was started. The document still needs to be ‘rubber-stamped’ by the standing committees of the political parties in government, ZANU PF’s politburo and the full COPAC parliamentary committee, before a final draft goes to a referendum.
The news has so far been cautiously welcomed, because it means the drawn out constitution making process is finally gaining some momentum towards a referendum. But there are also concerns being raised that the process is far removed from the people-driven one that was originally promised, and the result will be a constitution with few changes from the current Lancaster House charter.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said on Friday that it remains “unshaken” by the agreement reached by government, because “the COPAC process was illegitimate, undemocratic and not people driven.” NCA spokesperson Madock Chivasa told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the constitution is clearly politicised and will be “rejected” if key changes are not made.
“This has fallen short of the democratic process of coming up with a new constitution because the government leaders were the ones to finalise it. That is even worse than the COPAC driven process. So we hope they’ve made some changes, for example the unlimited powers of the President. But if the views of the people have not been taken into account, they will reject it,” Chivasa said.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) also expressed reservations on Friday about the lack of public input, both in the making of the draft and in the coming ‘rubber stamping’ process.
“Citizens should be given an opportunity to understand the draft, debate it and make choices based on information and awareness of the contents of the constitution. The constitution is for Zimbabweans and they need to be prioritised in these processes. The draft has to be translated and summarised into content that is accessible and understandable to citizens to enable informed choices at the referendum,” ZESN said.
The groups added that is “concerned that taking the draft back to the parties’ standing committees and the politburo will regress the process as more changes will be proposed and negotiations will commence again, thus hindering the progress to referendum.”
To contact this reporter email alex@swradioafrica.com or follow on Twitter
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Tafadzwa says in Mudzi, ZANU PF thugs and war vets, led by the people who recently killed MDC activist Magura, are terrorising villagers and threatening to kill any MDC supporters in the area. People are now living in fear and are running away from their homes; while Choga says people in Ruwa have lost all hope and faith in Zim politics and don’t see any democratic change in the near future; and Citizen says people now have no respect for VP Joice Mujuru, after her blasphemous uttering that the killer and evil president Mugabe was anointed by God to rule.
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Fannuel Mabhugu from the Progressive Teachers Union talks about an education project launched this week, aimed at restoring the respect teachers used to have in communities. Mabhugu said teachers are seen as poor and powerless victims of political violence. Government still refuses to pay them enough and allows them to be victimized. The project aims to sensitise communities to issues affecting the profession, in order to bring peace and understanding.
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Author Cathy Buckle writes: “The snail’s pace of the constitution and confusion of voter eligibility became even more muddled when a new-voter registration drive started at New Year. A few days later it stopped; then we were told there was no money for the exercise, and then that voter registration had been cancelled, until funds were released. While this went on big crowds gathered outside run down government offices. Not allowed to queue inside people have to stand in the mud, the rain and the puddles waiting, waiting, waiting to be allowed in or to be told what’s going on.” -SW Radio Africa News
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