The NO VOTE is in defense of history

By Blessing Vava

Abstract

A constitution is the highest law of the land, which defines and limits the powers of government and its various branches, vis-à-vis each other, and the people, and provides a strong foundation for a state based on the rule of law. For the UN, the term constitution-making covers both the process of drafting and substance of a new constitution, or reforms of an existing constitution. Both process and substance are critical for the success of constitution -making. The design of a constitution and its process of development can play an important role in peaceful political transitions and post-conflict peace building. It can also play a critical prevention role. Constitution-making presents moments of great opportunity to create a common vision of the future of a state, the results of which can have a profound and lasting impact on peace and stability. United Nations Rule of Law Coordination and Resource Group

Zimbabwe

The  Parliament select committee  finally agreed and produced a draft constitution with the aid of their principals in the shaky coalition government to end years of uncertainty to a process that was neither people-driven nor democratic rather an elite arrangement by those in the corridors on  power. The draft is part of the requirements of Article 6 of the 25 September 2008 agreement by the three parties, however, a section fearlessly contested by the NCA.  It is this Article 6 that mandated the parties to come up with a committee of parliamentarians to spearhead the process of writing a new charter for Zimbabwe.

Principles and Process vs. Political Greed

The NCA argued that the involvement of those in power to drive the process was not only going to compromise the contents of the document but also the full active participation of the citizenry in this important process in the history of this country. Fully aware that the process of making a constitution is as important as the content we remained skeptical about the whole arrangement. This position may have been largely misunderstood or deliberately shelved. The people driven constitution approach is centered on national ownership and support for inclusive, participatory and transparent processes.

Support is to be tailored to the specific citizens context (often referring to historical and current political epochs) and is drawn from a wide range of expertise both within and outside the government system with its independence uncompromised to ensure access to international and comparative best practice and that the voice of the voiceless is protected. Advance planning is required for the creation and implementation of public information and civic education campaign, public consultation process and the securing of funds, human and material resources. A structured (and time intensive) national dialogue or consultation process that feeds back the views of the people to the decision makers involved in the drafting and debating of the constitution is an essential element of an inclusive, participatory and transparent process. 

The NCA encourages constitutional approaches that directly incorporate and make supreme international human rights standards, including an independent and impartial judiciary, as a strong foundation for the rule of law. The setting up of institutions, structures and mechanisms that promote adequate follow-up to ensure implementation of the constitution or constitutional reforms once adopted. This is where COPAC failed the test. It was a commission appointed by their party principals, who ultimately had the final say over what went into its Draft Constitution. After purporting to have collected the views of the people COPAC during the outreach exercise what finally came out was a negotiated constitution containing the views of the elite class in government (Kariba Draft style and majority of the content).

 The people driven constitution discourse was simple yet so cumbersome in the views of the oligarchy - citizens participation in the making of a constitution will ensure that their wishes are safe guarded and sacrosanct in the new constitution

History has it on record that we argued in 2000 that the people must determine a process of constitution – making which they can dominate. It was on the strong belief that, the principle of democracy is fully entrenched as people will not, thereafter; allow any future government to change the constitution as it wishes.

After producing two different drafts, one in March and another one in July 2012, it became clear that the final product was going to be nothing but an illegitimate and fraudulent document paraded to the nation as a democratic constitution yet in essence is meant to protect the power of the ruling elites. One of the most contentious and controversial sections which resultantly led to the rejection of the Chidyausiku Draft is the Executive presidency, which the proposed draft has brought back. 

·       The proposed Draft still provides for an executive president with almost similar powers to the Lancaster Constitution. The President is endowed with unchecked totalitarian powers such as appointing and dismissing most public figures, exercising the prerogative of mercy.

·       Chapter 5, Section 88, the president is still the Head of State and Government and Commander in-Chief of the Defence forces. It would have been prudent for the draft to create to create a post for prime minister to act as Head of Government a more democratic arrangement suitable for a post conflict nation and would provide for intra-accountability in the executive.

·       The proposed charter is still silent on the retirement age limit for the president. The president still enjoys immunity for crimes committed in his/her personal capacity. Section 98(1)While in office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his/her personal capacity.

·       Again on appointments, this draft gives the president powers to appoint an unlimited number of cabinet ministers, this clause is open to abuse and that’s the reason why currently we have a bloated cabinet thereby burdening the treasury in a small country like ours. Past and present ministers are known for non delivery and only vocal on ‘benefits’

·       On accountability-this draft provides that vice Presidents, Ministers and their deputies are accountable to the President and not parliament [Section 107 (1)] Subject to this constitution, every Vice President, Minister and Deputy Minister is accountable, collectively and individually, to the President for the performance of his or her functions. This system is open to abuse and will not allow transparency and proper accountability of ministers in the execution of their duties. Yet modern democracies are characterized by shared decision making by the legislative and executive branches allowing for both horizontal and vertical accountability.

Going through Chapter 6 of the draft left me in shock on some of the provisions herein. For a draft that is essentially a product of members of parliament critics were however proved correct.  Zimbabweans have always been against a big parliament as it has become a mere talk show and a burden to the fiscus.

·       Like the Chidyausiku Draft which proposed a big parliament, the current draft provides for 270 legislators. The figure is not only shocking but a clear show of extravagance and accommodation for the ruling elites to create jobs for the boys as parliament has since become an employment bureau.

·       The draft fails to set term limits for members of parliament and one can be an MP for life.

·       Parliament is weak, it cannot pass a vote of no confidence in a Minister. If new legislatures are going to have a central role in a nation’s governance a democratic constitution provides for a relative balance of power between the legislative and executive branches

It is also imperative to note that this draft allows for the amendment of the constitution by a two thirds majority in parliament Section 328 (5). This is how flawed this draft is in that any party with a two thirds majority that time can change the constitution at will.

In practice the citizens voice is silenced, a nation that deems itself in a transition to democracy should be ready to create provisions for citizens to participate in a referendum to amend a constitution. Any proposed amendments to the constitution must be brought to a referendum to allow citizens to participate as this concept of two thirds supermajority is prone to political manipulations by ruling parties in infant democracies. With these few submission I have made my mind to vote NO in the referendum and I encourage fellow citizens to reject this daft dangerous draft.

 It is a negation to the democratic principles of governance and should be rejected resoundingly to send a clear message to those who want to impose a bad document on Zimbabweans. A rejection does not mean we do not want a constitution but is a clear a message that we want a good constitution that is authored by the people for the people and not a few individuals.

Nb* Should you use this article, please acknowledge that it was first published  www.blevava.blogspot.com.

Blessing Vava is a member of the NCA Take Charge Campaign Technical Committee. He writes from Chipinge and can be contacted on blessingvava@gmail.com. Twitter-@blevava

Elections: Make or break for the MDCT

By Blessing Vava

One man race-President Mugabe voting for
himself in a sham election pitting himself

The month of March 2013 will mark exactly five solid years since the country held the historic harmonised elections whose result for the first time in history were not in favour of Robert Mugabe and his party ZANU PF.  Unlike the previous polls, it was a relatively peaceful poll with less incidences of politically motivated violence and many Zimbabweans expected a new government to take over from ZANU PF as indications from the ground signalled a lose by the Mugabe regime.  That election taught us about the power of masses, it was a protest by the masses of Zimbabwe that they were tired and had lost confidence in the Mugabe administration.  It was a big NO to a stale economy, corruption, looting, dictatorship, violence, and intimidation all which had been the core characteristics of the ZANU PF government since they took over Harare in 1980.

 

Not anyone in ZANU PF probably expected a rejection from the electorate they were confident of securing a victory.  In fact the election result left them in a state of shock and by that time they were clueless because they never imagined losing an election. However, apart from losing that election, the MDC aided ZANU PF to resuscitate itself.  The MDC surrendered the people’s victory by failing to claim victory as evidenced by its leadership including Morgan Tsvangirai who fled the country to Botswana instead of running to state house. During that time the masses were energised they were very much prepared for a new government led not by ZANU PF but by the MDC. The people were prepared to defend democracy, what was needed was a leader that would invoke revolutionary spirit amongst the electorate and assure them they would ‘walk and live with the masses.’

To much shock and surprise the MDC lacked a clear plan to take over the state and they gave ZANU PF space to breathe again. The reaction was largely that the MDC entered into a race without expecting to win. As if that was not enough, the party pulled another shocker by pulling out of the runoff election a week before it was conducted. The move to pull out was a betrayal to the thousands of Zimbabweans who were beaten, incarcerated, killed in the run-up to that June 27 make-believe. Seriously how do you pull out on the eve of an election without a strong basis of doing so? ZANU PF’s electoral mal-practises were reaping the negative on its bid to retain power -violence had ceased to work in Zimbabwe’s body politic and I bet my last dollar that Mugabe was not going to win that election. "We have resolved that we will no longer participate in the violent, illegitimate sham of an election process. We will not play the game of Mugabe," Tsvangirai had said at a press conference in Harare on 22 June 2008. The irony is that little did he know that the people had precisely protested to this electoral fraud earlier in the March polls and with the intensification of violence between April and June the MDC was assured of a resounding victory

                                          Ran away from victory-Morgan Tsvangirai

 

Now in 2013, the talk of elections seems topical with the MDC now being the loudest in wanting polls despite having many disadvantages. It’s really surprising that they are so confident that this time again they are going to form the next government yet they have not corrected the mistakes of 2008 and made more blunders thereafter. In 2008, they managed to get more votes than ZANU PF because the masses were energised to their cause but still they sold the people’s victory by failing to demand the keys to state house.

The MDC has systemically shied away from its founding principles in the process alienating itself from the broader Save Zimbabwe ‘former’ alliance partners namely the worker’s, the students union and the NCA who backed their campaign in 2008. The support they received from the three partners is unlikely in this year’s polls. This time around it will be a different ball altogether, there is discord in the structures, the masses are lukewarm.  The corruption, looting by councillors will also be a determining factor.  In short it is the performance of the MDC in the inclusive government which has been disastrous and dangerous which will cost them dearly. Their stay in government has exposed them as a party incapable of forming the next government. Despite warning from the Freedom House survey that showed the party losing ground from its traditional support base, the MDC chose to lash at empirical evidence.

The biggest travesty committed by the MDC was its betrayal of its founding principles epitomised by the constitution making process for the country.  Instead of pushing for a people driven process as articulated by the founding documents they desperately tried to convince alliance partners, the ZCTU, NCA and ZINASU who were strongly against the flawed politician driven process that the process was a good one.

 That’s where they lost it all, they were short-sighted and wanted immediate power as they argued during that time that a new constitution will get rid of Mugabe.  So funny how they imagined that ZANU PF was sincere in that short space of time considering that it was the same party which had maimed, raped, killed and jailed MDC supporters in the last decade, despite this trend continuing in the GNU the MDC chooses to cast a blind eye. Apart from that the MDC has become so much comfortable in government and have since deserted their party headquarters and they now speak in comfort of their government offices while the party structures are in shambles and the party more isolated than before.  

The imposition of candidates will cost them in the elections, they need to rethink and allow for democratic processes like the holding of primary elections if they are serious in claiming a victory over ZANU PF.  What is baffling is that the party lost the Redcliff seat in 2008 after this imposition, with party supporters disenchanted that they threatened to stab Tsvangirai who had to flee for cover. The current attempts to defend the imposition of candidates by culturalising it is folly and alien in the founding documents of the party, it will only serve as an on-go giving ZANU PF electoral advantage. The MDC should not fool themselves into believing that this time again they will easily wrestle power from ZANU PF in the elections. This elections is no longer about chanting slogans but issues-based-leadership responses and implementable policy frameworks meant at curbing corruption, taming and eliminating dictatorship within the party and at a national scale, democratising the authoring of a new people driven constitution, real economic resuscitation and growth, provision of genuine health care and quality education to the masses inter alia sustainable job creation guaranteeing minimum wages and salaries.

They must go back to the drawing board and re-adopt the founding principles, spirit and letter to the party’s formation in order to re-energise the masses to their cause, without which it will be a catastrophe to enter into a race where the electorate is in doubt and demobilised. The only certain thing at the moment is that the masses of Zimbabwe no longer want a ZANU PF government. 

NB-Views expressed in this article are purely personal.

 Blessing ‘Vuvuzela’ Vava is a blogger who writes from Chipinge and can be contacted on blessingvava@gmail.com or 27849686624

 

Of political entrepreneurship and greed

By Blessing Vava

Lovemore Moyo:''Right now I am using a
Discovery as an off-road yet juniour
 persons like Deputy Ministers
 are driving better cars''

The demand by legislators to get exit packages after the expiry of the term of office for the Parliament of Zimbabwe cannot go unchallenged and should be dismissed with contempt it deserves. The somewhat debilitating demands by the third arm of government should be scrutinised in comparative terms with the general standards that roles which the MPs are expected to discharge during the tenure of office. These roles include but are not necessarily limited to the following

·       The law making activity

·       The surveillance activity and

·       Constituency service activity

When individuals make a deliberate decision to become part of the government’s their arm in complementary duty to the other two arms namely the executive and the judiciary, they must do so with a general appreciation that it is public call for duty rather than a narrow expectation of primitive accumulation. 

Luxurygate:

Inside the Speakers garage

Since they were elected our dear legislators have made headlines for the wrong and shocking reasons especially to the electorate who voted them into office hoping to have their grievances being dealt with in line with the afore stated three levels of activities they are supposed to fulfil.

In terms of the law making activity, the legislature has over time degenerated into a rubber-stamping institution with the MPs either sheepishly endorsing directives from the executives and in most cases sustaining a repressive law and policy regime.

 Nabbed:St Marys MP Marvellous Kumalo (centre)

accused of looting CDF Funds

At constituency development level, the majority Mps looted the people’s resources and failed to develop the poor communities. The general expectation that an MP is a people’s servant has since sublimated into abysmal nightmare by day light. In essence the current crop should go and never have the guts to claim even a cent from the treasury. It is equally true that the same MPs, with their powers to summon any person besides the president, the function of surveillance remain moribund and presents an oxymoron sense of self defeat. It seems the only purpose that is left with the legislature is transforming the august house into a begging bowl that delivers nothing except a bubble of hot air.

During the last campaign in the 2008 elections a lot of the MPs had flowery manifestos full of promises of development. Like a man proposing love to a woman, they came out sounding sweet and saying all the right things. But in reality, they are nothing more than wolves dressed in sheep's clothing promising heaven on earth and miracle galore. But deep down they have a hidden selfish agenda to benefit only themselves and their kind.

They promised to deal with issue of service delivery, health, education, clean and available water and electricity, all of which has been the most affecting to the majority of the populace. The manifestos were forgotten and slowly but surely the ideals in them were exchanged for the selfish vices of merriment, primitive accumulation and self aggrandisement.  

When Zimbabweans voted for them, they wanted the issues mentioned earlier to be addressed as a matter of urgency not packages or allowances for MPs. But alas since 2008, nothing much has been done to improve these communities mainly because of a leadership dearth, corruption recorded both at local government and  the Houses of Assembly.

Mutare West MP Shuah Mudiwa (MDC-T):

“We are approaching the end of the session

and we have no assurance that

we will be coming back.

 Can the minister tell us if he is going to

 give us exit packages and allowances?”

None will forget their demands for a car every year which left many Zimbabweans in a state of shock. The current bunch of legislators is the worst we have had since independence always looking for avenues of milking the treasury dry, while turning a blind eye to their constituencies. The lack of qualitative socio-economic and political debates in the house leaves a lot to be desired, it was neither impressive nor informed by a genuine desire to alleviate the poverty endured by the electorate: NOT impressive at all as nothing much was done as far as the legislative reform and formulation agenda is concerned.

Their affinity for luxury is regrettable. Its  sobering as it is mind boggling for an MP to claim an exit package as if they had been working for a company. Zimbabwe has no room for political entrepreneurs! Already they have gobbled enough the money from the treasury, namely their vehicles, allowances and hotel accommodation and the Constituency Development Funds they put to personal use rather than developing their constituencies.

Poverty taking its toll in many constituencies

Those who are calling for these packages know very well that they have not done anything for their constituencies during their horrible stint in parliament, they are fully aware that the electorate will not vote for them again so they want to benefit for the last time. It will be a record set in that some will leave the house after five years without uttering a word in parliament apart from the swearing-in ceremony. The other opportune time they opened their mouths was when they were either singing the national anthem, or heckling other honourable members during debates and of cause they open their mouths wide during those lunches hosted for MPs.

Since 2008, the MPs are now proud owners of two vehicles, Isuzu vehicles they were scandalously given by Gideon Gono, and the Mazda BT50 from the treasury. In Zimbabwe being an MP has since become a profession and one way of getting rich quickly as evidenced by these outrageous demands and all that they acquired during this session of parliament. But the time has now come when rhetoric and empty promises will not have space in our political landscape.

The calibre of legislators we currently have leaves a lot to be desired. It is simply mediocre!  In the previous election some became MPs mainly because of bravery at the height of political violence and not what they were capable of delivering. At least the coming in of the inclusive government has afforded an opportunity to the electorate to assess the quality of leadership we have. The coming election will not be about protest voting, it will not be about bravery, but those who are capable of delivering.  Those who are corrupt will surely be shown the exit door.

Blessing ‘Vuvuzela’ Vava is a blogger from Chipinge, who believes in the ideals of the Peoples Charter. He can be contacted on blessingvava@gmaill.com

Response to ZCTU's Japhet Moyo

To ZCTU Secretary General Mr.Japhet Moyo

 

On the 27^th of September 2012, I received a complaint letter from Cde Japhet Moyo, on a Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) letterhead, authenticating it to be disseminating ZCTU views and position pertaining to constructive criticism I made on my BLOG, the Vuvuzela Times. I deduced one basic and worrying point from the tone of this letter: ZCTU is now in a drive to stifle freedom of expression, civic commentary and withdrawing into shellshock.

It is worrying to note this sad development given the imperative fact that the trade union has been in the past the doyen of free expression, champion of free association and proponent of free choice as noted by how it played the midwifery role in the birth of a very strong and dynamic labour back movement, then the MDC.

From time immemorial, the activities of the ZCTU, were synonymous with the struggles of the peasants, the working class, the students, the weak in the society, the suppressed and those that are at the lower ebb of the socio-political and economic ladder. This was made possible due to the deliberate efforts of the leadership at the ZCTU then to provide strong vision and leadership through the creation of a platform that enhanced the critical pillars of such struggles as: freedom of assembly; freedom of association; freedom of expression and above all being at the epic-centre of collective bargaining on behalf of the suffering and toiling workers.

Having note the forgoing and having contextualized the issue at hand let me make these take-home points for the ZCTU leadership and the authors of the ill fated 27 September letter addressed to my person.

1. The ZCTU should move away from this elitist approach of focusing on writing letters in their air-conditioned boardrooms targeting people offering them free advice that is second to none such as my comments on my blog.

2. The ZCTU is not a private company that enjoys managing the public relations for narrow personal ends. It is OUR organization, the workers and the children of the suffering masses, hence we are the critical stakeholders who must be treated with respect and dignity when we make commentary on the well being of our institution.

3. When the leadership is weak, or is lacking, there is no room for blame shifting for such leadership deficiencies. Face the challenges and address them instead of seeing shadows from any constructive commentary.

4. The ZCTU should not be seen to be promoting internal cannibalism, through taking us back to stone age periods were criticism is viewed at enmity, deviousness and evil-some. Instead it should be viewed as an opportune moment of introspection and shaping a refined road back to the hey days when the labour movement was viewed as the centre for socio-political and economic struggles.

5. The ZCTU (hyena) should not accuse its kids of smelling like goats when it wants to devour them. As a proud son of the ZCTU, I hold no ulterior motive except seeing to it that the organization is stronger and regains its lost voice of being the centre for national mobilization. During my time as the National Spokesperson of ZINASU, I worked hard with ZCTU and NCA is ensuring that there was the general appreciation that ZCTU is the MOTHER of ZINASU (STUDENTS) and that NCA is the constitutional arm of the suffering parents and students. This has been the reality and gospel unless it’s about to change now? If it’s changing, then I will be the first person to inform you that I will not want to waste my time on you and your “name” and the future of such a private set up.

6. We don’t believe in the current thinking at the leadership that believes when there is a misunderstanding the best option is to rush to laws levelling criminal charges against online media activism. If you felt harmed in any way you are free to approach the VOLUNTARY MEDIA COUCIL OF ZIMBABWE (VMCZ) which your institution subscribes to as noted by adverts in your paper, THE WORKER.

I would like to remind you that the workers of Zimbabwe are not bothered about this exchange of letters, engagement of lawyers over letters, accusations of this and that and boardroom meetings. They want the tangible results of seeing their salaries increased, better working conditions, reductions in the cannibalistic taxation system and better relations between employer and employee.

I therefore make the following immediate recommendations:

1. Take an active role in ensuring that the biggest employer in Zimbabwe, the Government pays its employees, the civil servants better salaries and awards them their bonus as due.

2. Make concerted efforts towards dragging the employer and government to the negotiation table for improved working conditions

3. Be vocal on the workers’ than writing letters to me.

Having said all these things I wouldn’t want to waste my productive time through sitting down and responding to any communication from your office.

Mr Secretary General, I hope NOT to hear from you again on such issues or any related to the same.

Your Revolutionary Comrade,

I remain,

Blessing “Vuvuzela” Vava

 

The COPAC circus continues

COPAC co-chairpersons during a press conference

By Blessing Vava

The much hyped COPAC 2^nd ‘All Stakeholders’ has come and gone with nothing much coming out, rather the parties maintaining their positions with regards to the constitution  making process which has taken too long to complete than anticipated. Unlike the 1^st Stakeholders conference in 2009, which was marred by violence and chaos, this one was rather ‘peaceful’ with no incidence of chaos reported, something commendable in our political landscape which has been riddled by polarisation and intolerance. The conference was nothing much to write home about and now that it has gone just like one of the many  money spending ventures, time wasting with no value added, no progress, to give it a better phrase it was a useless meeting typical of  what the inclusive government has been holding since its inception.

We have the final say-Mugabe

It was not surprising that the meeting yielded nothing, apart from attempting to fulfil lost timelines and values of the GPA. A closer look at how the conference was structured would give us a clearer picture of its irrelevance. Firstly, the GPA is not clear on the purpose of the holding of the indaba, its rather vague, Section (c) (iv) the draft Constitution shall be tabled within 3 months of completion of the public consultation process to a second All Stakeholders Conference.’’ Copac representatives ended up saying that the meeting is for recommendations and not amendments. One would ask who will be giving recommendations in this instance? From the onset the process has been in the hands of the three principals, the draft we have is a combination of positions from the same to their parties. The delegates to the conference were also largely drawn from the three formations except a few from civil society who begged for their inclusion or the other way round.  So it is like setting an examination for yourself and marking it at the same time.  It surely doesn’t work. From its framework Article VI in its very nature is exclusionary of political parties and other players outside parliament. Section 6.1says...  ‘’The Parties hereby agree: a) that they shall set up a Select Committee of Parliament composed of representatives of the Parties whose terms of reference shall be as follows:  (i) to set up such subcommittees chaired by a member of Parliament and composed of members of Parliament and representatives of Civil Society as may be necessary to assist the Select Committee in performing its mandate herein; They made it clear from the start that the role of civil society was to assist at the behest of COPAC as may be necessary, meaning that the process is for parties in government and no one else outside those confines have a say. You can only be invited at their mercy. Pity some civil society organisations still had faith in such a process were their  participation was at the behest of political parties. Some colleagues of mine from civil society confided that they were accredited under political parties making their contributions to this meeting highly compromised. They allege that a day before the conference all those accredited by MDCT including civic organizations had to meet at harvest house were accommodation and chapters for thematic committees were being allocated. They were chanting party slogans and telling people what to say during the conference, including people from civic society who were present. When getting into the conference there was a list were one had to check for his/her name, there was no list for civic society, all the names of civic society members appeared on the MDC-T list, the discussions during the thematic sessions ended up being a contest between the parties in government rather than objective analysis.

 It’s very much disturbing when civil society is now showing lack of principle and consistence employing desperate means forcing themselves on processes which   are clearly in sharp contrast to what they purport to be advocating for. They begged to be part of a meeting they were not wanted and political parties cleverly put them under their armpits in the process swallowing their voices rendering civil society representatives  mere party functionaries and spectators during the conference. Kana washanya pamusha pewanhu unodya unyerere chero zvikashatasei unongoti zvinonaka. That is exactly what they did. No need of crying foul now when they failed to contest Article VI which relegated civil society to ‘mere’ assistance of the select committee as may be necessary. Instead of begging COPAC to be part of its process civil society should take a leading role in fighting mal-practices and fraudulent processes being done by COPAC. Maybe this is the ‘people driven’ process civil society has been clamouring for in the past. When the role of civil society becomes compromised on political party politics and selfish expedience it becomes a cause for concern.

What happened to the principles and ideals of the National Working People’s Convention? What happened to what civil society agreed in the Zimbabwe Peoples Charter? These are clear positions which have the capacity to carry this country forward and this is what civil society should be fighting for and not to act like a chameleon which changes its colour based on its surroundings. Whereas COPAC/GNU will be continuing with their anti-people crusade there are some civic groups who will still be begging to be part of such processes abandoning their role as civics.

 COPAC has been a great betrayal and failure, it is a disgrace, undemocratic and an illegitimate process that has wasted national and donor resources.  They have personalised constitution  making for the whole nation to be their private project, Zimbabwe does not belong to three principals let alone political parties, that we should be said loud and clear!!! 

 To show unscrupulous nature of COPAC - the time allocated to analysing the draft was rather dubious, how can people analyse 176 paged document written in legal language, English for that matter in one and half hours? Not all  delegates at the conference passed through the law school,  COPAC should have tabled a simplified version of the draft in all languages if they were really genuine.

In summation, the process was a charade, it was exclusive to the three parties and their principals, no other political parties or interest groups were invited as equal partners to participate can do for their nation is to dismiss the dining and wining canvassed as an ‘all stakeholders,’ it was just a meeting of the parties in GNU. Equally, the greatest flaw of it all is that the principals will have the final say as President Mugabe put it clearly during the opening of the conference, he is honest unlike the other leaders in the GNU who keep lying to the whole nation that the process is people driven. 

 Blessing ‘Vuvuzela’ Vava is a blogger from Chipinge. He can be contacted on blessingvava@gmail.com