HARARE - The parliamentary committee driving the process towards Zimbabwe's new constitution has approached Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for an urgent meeting amid allegations of delay tactics by some officials. (Pictured: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai)Committee co-chairperson and MDC legislator for Nyanga, Douglas Mwonzora, this week said the 25-member parliamentary team wanted to enlist Tsvangirai’s assistance in hurrying the process of drafting the new supreme law.
Dismissing as “totally false” claims that the parliamentary team had suspended its activities, Mwonzora said one of the issues the committee wanted to discuss with Tsvangirai was the apparent politicking by Parliament’s administration over the mobilisation and application of financial resources.
“What was agreed at the meeting held on Wednesday last week is that…the select committee should go ahead with its plan to meet the state Prime Minister regarding the programme,” the legislator said.
He said the decision to meet Tsvangirai followed information given to the select committee by Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, to the effect that President Robert Mugabe “was delaying signing the approvals for the resources, including allowances for the select committee”.
“We have since learnt that this information was false as no such application was submitted to the President by the Parliament administration for since the select committee was established in April,” Mwonzora said.
Mischievous allegations
He described as mischievous weekend reports in the state media that the committee had gone on strike over unpaid allowances.
The state-run Sunday Mail quoted Zanu (PF) legislator and select committee co-chairperson, Paul Munyaradzi Mangwana, as saying the team had suspended indefinitely its activities amid concerns about the government’s failure to mobilise its own resources for the constitution-making process.
The paper quoted Mangwana as saying committee members had agreed to suspend activities fearing that the lack of internal funding would open the process to foreign interference.
“I have talked to Honourable Mangwana about the statements attributed to him and he denied saying any such thing,” said Mwonzora.
The MDC lawmaker said contrary to the state propaganda, the constitution-drafting exercise was proceeding as planned, with the select committee agreeing at its meeting last Wednesday to finalise the formation of thematic sub-committees in preparation for an outreach programme.
The outreach programme would see the committee soliciting the public’s views on drafts produced by the thematic sub-committees.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the select committee is a creature of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and as such it has no power to vary, suspend or extend the programme as set by the principals,” Mwonzora observed.
Purporting to do so would be tantamount to usurpation of the powers of the principals over the consummation of the GPA.
Observers said hawkish elements within Zanu (PF) were desperately trying to derail the process towards political reforms and to delay any fresh elections until the current parliament runs its full five-year course.
Under a power-sharing deal between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara, the select committee should table a draft constitution by February 2010, with a referendum to approve it in July.
The draft would then be introduced to parliament by October next year.
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