Magwana said the management committee had now resolved the matter and teams had been recalled to commence the production of reports from today.
“The production of reports was delayed due to disagreement over the form there were to take. The select committee considered the template to be used by thematic committees to produce district reports,” he said.
Magwana said the select committee was unable to do the district and provisional reports as discussions on the form these will take did not yield a common position.
“Two divergent views emerged during these discussions. The first view is that the preponderance of views should be considered. The second is that the number of times an issue is raised is irrelevant. In other words each view is given equal status,” Magwana said.
Copac’s management committee comprises of six Global Political Agreement negotiators who are Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma from the MDC-T, Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche from Zanu PF and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Moses Mzila-Ndlovu from the MDC. Copac’s three co-chairpersons, Mangwana Zanu-PF, Douglas Mwonzora MDC-T, Edward Ndlovu MDC and Eric Matinenga MDC-T, are also part of the 10-member committee.
Magwana said parties had agreed that both qualitative and quantitative methods be used in the compilation of district and provincial reports for the constitution-making process after tension-filled discussions.
The process had suffered a body blow last month after it was abandoned for the umpteenth time following differences over the methodology to be used in compiling the reports as well as the recruitment of drafters.
The MDC has been supporting the use of qualitative methods as it argued that numbers were not important but the quality of submissions made by the public during the outreach.
Zanu PF, which vigorously mobilised supporters to push its agenda in the outreach programmes held countrywide to get people’s input for a new constitution, has been pushing for quantitative methods of compiling reports because of the dominance of its views during the outreach.
Post published in: News