By Blessing Vava
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| Principals in the shacky coalition government |
Zimbabwe’s political crisis
has been a hot subject in the region and beyond. In finding a solution to the
unending crisis, it resulted in a compromised negotiated ‘Global
Political Agreement’ of September 2008, that formed the inclusive government.
Of great worry however was the fact that we ended up having a compromise document,
a compromised government and all the processes that followed were compromises.
All the parties had their own interpretation of the Agreement and up until now
it is yet to be fulfilled. Always remember that Zimbabweans spoke
on the 29th of March 2008, and the clear message from that electoral result
was that ZANU PF was no longer the majority party in Zimbabwe’s political
arena. As a result the election that Mr Mugabe wanted to conduct in June 2008
was illegal and should be dismissed with contempt. It is foolhardy for any
normal person to claim victory in such a charade that did not have
any semblance of legitimacy. Simply putting it, the June 27 ‘thing’ was not an
election but a drama, meant to legitimise and confuse the world that indeed
Robert Mugabe was the people’s choice. What is surprising is that despite
losing the only credible election in March, Mugabe is still wielding a lot of
power ahead of his rival Tsvangirai who was undoubtedly the people’s favourite.
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| With the people NCA Chairperson Prof Lovemore Madhuku addressing villagers in Gokwe South |
The greatest political suicide
committed was allowing the three parties to negotiate on behalf of all
Zimbabweans thereby forming an unelected government that had no legitimacy from
the people. The negotiations even excluded people like Simba Makoni, who had
polled 8% in the March elections and various other sections of society
including the civic society. Shockingly, people like Mutambara, Ncube, and
other electoral rejects at constituency level ended up occupying high positions
in the governments and one wonders if the people’s wishes will ever be
respected. One of the many lessons we learnt when this illegal
government was formulated is that politicians are selfish and their interest is
power, luxuries at the expense of the people . This government is illegal
and it has no mandate from the people. It was only supposed to play a
transitional role to pave way for a democratically elected regime. We are tired
of compromises. But what worries me is the quietness of Zimbabweans when such
scandals continue to hog our political environment. Compromised
governments which are not elected through democratic processes should be
removed and never be allowed to continue operating especially when they lack
direction, and take people for granted.
This takes me to the question of the constitutional reform
exercise being spearheaded by COPAC. COPAC has compromised the interests of
Zimbabweans for political convenience and for their thirst of donor funds.
Since inception everything they touched turned to rust. Their first
stakeholders meeting at Rainbow Towers was a big disaster which marked the
beginning of a chaotic process that was nevertheless heavily funded. Surprisingly
up until today COPAC is yet to come up with a consolidated draft constitution,
three years after its inception, a draft that was supposed to be produced in 18
months. And those who continue funding such dubious processes need
to be questioned since the reality on the ground proved beyond any
reasonable doubt that COPAC has failed to produce a constitution. What
are their motives to keep funding such a bogus, illegal and undemocratic
process that undermines the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe and our
national interests? The nation asks? COPAC is a threat to democracy and the
sooner they are stopped the better. Zimbabweans should not continue
watching without demanding accountability from bodies like COPAC.
Why did they waste our precious time gathering people in community halls at
growth points under the guise of collecting our views to be included in the new
charter whilst they knew they were not going to include them? I have always argued
that the framework as articulated in Article 6 will never produce a good
constitution for the country. COPAC never wanted the views of Zimbabweans
full stop, but rather they wasted our time and fundamentally they only wanted
to enjoy donor funds poured in reckless abundance.
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| Tactfully smuggled the words 'people driven' to COPAC former NCA vice Chairperson and now COPAC co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora |
Ironically president
Mugabe had indicated that there was no need to consult the people because the
parties had already crafted the Kariba draft. At least he was honest, he clearly re-affirmed his party's policy of imposing unpopular policies without the input of the citizens. I know
for a fact that it was the MDC that incorporated the words, ‘people driven’ to
COPAC, the words were the main messages at
the formation of the MDC at the National Working Peoples Conventions in 1999.
Such words were alien to ZANU PF and they were the core message in the struggle
for a new constitution for Zimbabwe spearheaded by the civic society.
Those who opposed Article 6 like the National Constitutional Assembly, were
not fools; they knew that the words ‘people driven’ were meant to mislead Zimbabweans
into believing that indeed the process
would be indeed people driven. The time is now for those leading COPAC to
be ashamed of themselves, swallow their pride and admit that they failed
Zimbabweans. In doing so they should publicly apologise for taking the whole
nation for a ride. Whatever draft they will eventually come out with, it will
certainly not contain the wishes and aspirations of the people but those of the
negotiators and not even the membership of their respective parties.
They have made it clear that they have agreed on the content
and rectified some sections dumping what the views they collected during the
outreach meetings. How scandalous was such a move! The people stated
clearly what they wanted and who then gave COPAC the right to change those
views? Not that I supported the process, but why did they even allowed for the
outreach. The time for Zimbabweans to demand accountability is now, COPAC
should not be allowed again to continue operating; they should be disbanded as
a matter of urgency to pave way for a truly independent body with no political
inclinations to start a fresh process otherwise we keep wasting more money and resources
to a process which will yield a nothing. The referendum should never be allowed
to take place because the product of COPAC is not ours but that of the parties
in government. However
if they insist Zimbabweans will unite and reject the compromised document
produced through a compromised and undemocratic process. COPAC has scandalously and fraudulently compromised the interests of the
nation for political expediency and hence they should be disbanded. Zvazviri!
Blessing Vava is from Chipinge, he writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on blessingvava@gmail.com
