The Great Deception...the arrival at Kariba

Macho man-the powerful Mugabe, maintains his 'powers'

By Blessing Vava

It took them close to three years, a whooping 45 million United States dollar to come up with a 164^th paged document which they are saying  is a proposed draft constitution for Zimbabwe. The so-called final draft is nothing but a copy and paste job from the  Kariba Draft constitution crafted by the three parties in the GNU.

The ‘final’ draft, subsequently  a product of the COPAC Management team which comprise negotiators from the three parties in government, the same people who crafted the first Kariba constitution in 2007. Indications coming out so far are that many Zimbabweans are not happy with the COPAC draft  and it does not require  a rocket scientist to tell you that come the referendum, the COPAC draft will  be rejected resoundingly because it deviates from the views of the people. After spending huge sums of money, 3 years only to copy and paste the Kariba draft is scandalous and playing with the minds of millions of Zimbabweans whose desire is surely that of seeing a prosperous nation with good laws and an accountable government that respect their will.  The politicians are taking us for granted and getting away with it, they are not even ashamed, in shona we will say ‘havana nyadzi.’

 Mugabe chats with Zanu-PF secretary for Transport and Welfare Cde Nicholas Goche (left) and Copac co-chairperson Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana at the party’s headquarters before the start of a Politburo meeting in Harare yesterday

The two MDCs  have already endorsed the draft urging Zimbabweans to vote YES in the referendum, with only ZANU PF so far saying they are agreeing with 97% of the contents pressing for more amendments to suit their needs.   Finally the draft will sail through in parliament after the final changes to be made by the principals. Fascinatingly, three of  the principals namely Mugabe, Ncube and Mutambara were rejected by the people of Zimbabwe in the March 2008 elections, funny how unelected people who Zimbabweans did not vote for obviously for lacking confidence in these individuals will now have  a final say on the country’s supreme law. It will be very interesting to see both ZANU PF and the two MDCs  campaigning for the YES vote during the referendum, that should show Zimbabweans how selfish politicians can be in protecting their interests. For their interests they unite. No Zimbabwean will forget the luxurygate scandal where the same politicians bought themselves top of the range luxury vehicles when the lives of citizens has not improved. With a population faced with starvation, lack of clean water, electricity, good education and health for the poor. Strange how those who questioned the rational of purchasing of these luxury vehicles at the expense of improving service delivery and paying civil servants were considered enemies of the state.  Politicians defended themselves saying the vehicles were in synchrony with their new acquired status. The politics of opulence is their game, that is what the draft is essentially about.  With a bloated national assembly with 210 members plus 88 senators a notion which the people of Zimbabwe have been critical of.  Again all these members will be demanding hefty allowances and luxuries as we have witnessed with the current.

Rejected by the electorate-MDC President Ncube and DPM Mutambara

It is about power and wealth, nothing for the people. Initially  they came to the people to ask for their views, later on they dump those views and negotiate their positions and again they will be shamelessly  coming to the people to urge them to vote for a document which contains not their views but of politicians. How selfish? That is one of the reasons until now we have not seen the National Report which contains critical information and statistics of what Zimbabweans said during the outreach phase.

For the  MDCT their satisfaction  with the draft despite its flaws is regrettable to say the least. From my own analysis, as a party that is confident of winning the coming polls they are not seeing the flaws of the draft simply because they would also want to enjoy the same powers once in total control of government. It is all about power nothing else. Shame how people easily forget. Theirs is not to democratise this country as they purport but simply to be in power and replace ZANU PF so it now seems. Remember what the late ZANU PF legal affairs secretary Edison Zvobgo, who introduced executive powers in the constitution as he hoped to take over from Mugabe and enjoy the same as he harboured presidential ambitions.  In the draft nothing  has substantially  changed with regards to the powers of the president as we are being made to believe. If anything the powers have been expanded only the term limits which have been reduced. Not long ago they (MDC) were complaining about too much executive powers vested in the presidency and this time their deafening silence on the issue raises a lot of questions than answers. The issue of an all powerful president is one of the reason why Mugabe is still in power using those powers to abuse Zimbabweans.

For that reason Zimbabweans should reject the draft, it does not matter whether its Mugabe or Tsvangirai who will be in power the point is we do not want an all powerful executive president, the experience with Mugabe opened our eyes and thus we rejected the Chidyausiku draft. The myopic thinking by the MDC is dangerous, they think that simply because ZANU PF is somehow appearing as if they are against the draft then automatically it makes the draft a good document. A wrong perception indeed, the same thinking they had during the GPA, when they thought that Tsvangirai had executive powers, only to be reminded regularly that Mugabe is the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the defence forces. And the GPA has proved Tsvangirai as a ceremonial senior Minister premier with no power. In this draft, I believe that it is ZANU PF that benefitted the most, they  managed to block  issues like real devolution, diaspora vote in the final draft and these are some of the critical issues which the  MDC were clamouring for. The constitution is a very important document that should live beyond individuals it should be a contract between the governor and the governed something that is missing from the COPAC draft.

Essentially  the debate  on the draft especially by the ZANU PF  pressing for further amendments is alarming. Very surprising that they are now meeting to debate the draft and make positions but  in the first place each party had negotiators and these negotiators should have been constantly updating their party on the progress. The principals should have had an idea on the contents of the document before it was delivered to them and now we are being told the principals will have a final say to the draft. It’s really a circus.

In this long process we had been hearing reports that the principals, politburo etc were being briefed on the process time and again. We wonder what they were really doing, was it not scrutinising? Are they afraid of their initial judgement or is it ZANU PF feels they lost in the negotiations or rather they are just playing politics? Something fishy here.  They should have been instituting  checks and balances periodically not to wait this long to start scrutinising the draft again.

Lastly I am flabbergasted by COPAC’s 2^nd All stakeholders conference needing 2 million dollars, a meeting which they are saying will give the public an opportunity to ‘interrogate’ the draft, but perceptibly they will not be in a position to change its contents. The question which a lot of Zimbabweans are asking is why are they wasting such an amount on a process that will not change the draft rather than just subject that constitution to the referendum so that people decide if they want it or not. Besides, of the 2000 delegates proposed by COPAC only 200 will not be coming from the three main parties so why waste our time? 

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

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The new constitution is not about removing Mugabe

By Blessing Vava

(This article was first published on the 25th of May 2011)

Zimbabwe’s crisis of governance has basically been believed to emanate from a constitutional crisis that has plunged the country into a serious socio, economic, political quagmire. This was exacerbated by the partisan inspired amendments to the "cease-fire" Lancaster House constitution by the then ruling ZANUPF making the document itself an insult to the democratic values  shared and aspired  for by many Zimbabweans. The fundamental basis of the Lancaster House document has been destroyed by the claw –back clauses which characterises the bill of rights and the whole fabric for the safeguard of fundamental human rights and their sanctity. This created a scenario under which the constitution became an instrument of oppression  gradually to outright dictatorship and authoritarianism. ZANUPF is continuously turning a deaf ear to this 21^st century reality (by driving the political environment into a vampire, chaotic lot) a wind of change blew in the land between the Zambezi and Limpopo.

The zeal for a democratic home grown people driven constitution that would ensure a peaceful and prosperous democratic Zimbabwe, saw the progressive civil forces conglomerated into a powerful political alliance that would wrestle power from ZANUPF with the hope that it will seek among other things, to transform these aspirations into practical realities. It is therefore the purpose of this article to attempt to unravel the relationship between constitution making and democracy highlighting  challenges facing the current generation of democracy activists in Zimbabwe as the flout parliamentary inter party constitution making process unfolds under article 6 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) with particular reference to the youth in Zimbabwe .

 When the government of Zimbabwe is criticised as undemocratic and dictatorial, its quick response is that it is a constitutional regime that respects the constitution of Zimbabwe.  However the question that has been asked by many is that does the current constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the respect of the rule of law and fundamental human rights to the Zimbabweans and the youth of this nation in particular so that it deserves any respect? For the majority of the young people, the answer is totally NO! As if to give a brief historical analogue, the seeds for democracy were sown in 1980 when the country realised its independence which was not in itself, the advent of democracy and the respect of the rule of law. However the regime of President Mugabe did not water the seed so that it germinates and grow into a mature democracy from which all generations across the political, ethnical and racial divide would enjoy. Rather, the country degenerated into unprecedented levels of pandemonium in early 1980s as ZANUPF embarked on an on slaughter of the rule of law in the Midlands and  Matabeleland regions  under an operation code named ‘Gukurahundi’ (clearing the chuff) resulting in a genocide against the Ndebele tribe. This was meant to crack down the Zimbabwe African People Union (ZAPU) which had its roots in the province. This was the earliest indicator on what will become the order of the day, as ZANUPF intensified its campaign for a one party state a few years later.

There is little doubt the people of Zimbabwe now understand democracy to the deepest of its meaning to the extent that to leave them from effective and meaningfully participating in the constitutional reform process is tantamount to making a grievous mistake. Having endured the perilous struggle for the past decade, these masses understand what they have been engaged for and where they want to go. In this light the inclusive government’s exclusive constitutional making process falls far short from meeting the minimum standards that are relatively common in most constitutional reform initiatives. This has almost shattered the whole fabric of what seemed a vibrant and promising civil society, with most of the vibrant youthful movements like the students movement and workers unions joining hands with the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) to try to push the parties to meaningfully involve the people. Others have, for reasons unknown, decided to ally themselves to the process probably for their political expedience. Evidently what has happened so far shows that the COPAC process will not yield the desired results.

The position taken by the broader alliance that is the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), ZINASU and the NCA, therefore is commendable and progressive as they seek to fight for their space in the process of democratic nation building. There is overwhelming consensus amongst these organisations that despite the fact that the MDC played a critical role in efforts to build a strong democracy in Zimbabwe, it has no mandate to exercise it on behalf of the thirteen million Zimbabweans. Clearly this shows the direct correlation between constitutional reform and people participation in building a sustainable democracy. The behaviour of the MDC in the debate and process unfolding in Zimbabwe depicts the culture of African opposition politics, that they are not necessarily and fundamentally a democratic alternative to the incumbent. Rather they may be worst abusers of power who only lacks it.

The essence of popular participation in constitution making is critical on four main matrixes which are;

a)     It allows people to enjoy democracy while building it.

b)    It makes people feel proud of themselves and that they own their constitution hence respect it.

c)     There is respect of diversity of culture, ideas, race, religion, sex, political affiliations

d)    Builds a sustainable democracy

In Zimbabwe the concept of people participation has been taken to be more of an academic opinion and dismissed by the three political parties who are custodians to the 15 September 2008 agreement, who have instead resorted to the infamous Article 6 of the GPA which enshrines an exclusive process under the so called Kariba draft document. Realistically, it may be difficult to achieve especially with regard to most developing worlds like Zimbabwe who may not have enough resources to fund a grassroots based process. However this is not to justify hijacking of the process by politicians who have compromised the importance of people participation in constitution making.

The current process is a fast track process that does not even reflect the effort to get the views of the ordinary man and woman, youth and the elderly who the constitution, if achieved, is meant to protect. Principally it is grossly erroneous for Zanu (PF) to use the constitution reform agenda as a yardstick to destroy the opposition MDC and buttress its hold on power. It is equally erroneous and wrong for the MDC to attempt to manipulate the new constitution making agenda as a shortcut to removing Mugabe. It should be taken into cognizant that writing a new constitution is one thing and political endeavours are other things. The argument by the MDC that after the constitution making process the nation will go to polls which will remove Mugabe and herald the advent of democracy should be dismissed as nonsensical and unrealistic. This is because the writing of a constitution is one process and getting rid of Mugabe is another separate process to the extent that a fusion of these two unrelated endeavours should be rejected with the contempt they deserve.  Therefore there is a need to contrast what the people of Zimbabwe want to achieve and what the political parties want to achieve. The point here is that a constitution should be written procedurally and duly, with no political attachments to it, otherwise a constitution has more to offer beyond political aspirations. It is therefore wrong for the MDC to attempt to use the constitution reform as a yardstick of removing Mugabe and therefore put 90% of its energies to addressing the technical issues of getting rid of Mugabe in which case his departure should not be confused as the beginning of democracy in Zimbabwe.

By participating in a proper people driven constitution making process, Zimbabweans will have a lifetime opportunity to nurture their own democracy and contribute meaningfully in the democratisation process that’s needed in the country. The conviction in the majority of youth from the progressive pro-democracy organisations that have been and are still engaged in the struggle for democracy is that the first fruits of victory in our struggle for democratic transformation is  our uninterrupted participation in a process where the youth have faith that their views will be considered. In this way the youth will therefore enjoy among other citizens, democracy at its infancy. There are certain benchmarks which the youth in their various groupings have set and those should be given utmost consideration in the constitution making process. For those in school and universities  who continue to play a critical role in the struggle as the umbilical cord between and among communities, a democratic constitution should enshrines the right to education at all levels as a fundamental human right and ensure an enabling environment that ensures the respect of academic rights with outlined remedies in case of breach of these rights. Other youth from the non academic world demand the reform of the Ministry of Youth development and economic empowerment so that it can be demilitarised and de-patronised putting an end in the training of youth militias and hit squads in the name of the national youth service. With the levels of awareness in the youth thanks to the efforts of the civil society, a process that seeks to exclude the youth shall be an exercise in futility.

‘The process of making a constitution is as important as the content of the constitution itself to the extent that a defective constitution making process leads to a defective outcome. If people participate fully and effectively in a proper people driven constitution reform process there is assurance that the outcome will be a document that enshrines fundamental liberties and lays the foundation of a free and democratic nation. It should be pointed out that the constitutional debate in Zimbabwe is happening in a nation which does not have a constitutional vacuum but one which has a constitution that lacks both the philosophy of constitutionalism and legitimacy. In this regard the legitimacy of a constitution is in the people in their diverse existence, who are the authors of their own constitution in which case this fundamental reality defeated a flout and stage managed undemocratic constitutional reform attempted by the ZANUPF government in 2000 drawn by politicians exclusively. If politicians were up to something good for the nation as a whole, they should have learnt a lesson from that experience that the road towards constitutional democracy should be democratic itself, and not a ‘burden’ of Global Political Agreement (GPA) principals.

A genuine people driven process must synergise diverse views from the diverse society so that a new constitution will reflect different aspirations as clearly explained in the Zimbabwe People’s Charter adopted at the People’s Convention, Harare on the 9^th February 2008. It clearly states that the people shall have a constitutional reform process whose outcome will ensure a society characterised by tolerance of plurality on divergent views, cultures, religion inter-alia other aspects of plural society. This will give result to a constitution that is free from any manipulation by the political party that has majority number of representatives in the August house. What is needed is an independent commission to lead the process and with no attachments to political parties.

As such the constitution making process should be viewed with the future generation in mind, not to seek to sacrifice the basic needs of the future Zimbabweans for unsustainable expediencies of a rapacious clique of power hungry politicians. The youth believes that a constitution which they actively input will safeguard fundamental liberties and freedoms that every citizen will be proud of, just as the youth in the USA feel indebted to their constitution. There is little doubt that this will inaugurate a lasting democracy that ensures a bright future and bring an end to polarisation and marginalisation among the youth. Hence the only thing left is to reject the COPAC constitution come referendum because it was not written by the people.

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

Zuma not the solution

By Blessing Vava

SADC Facilitator President Zuma poses for photographs with
his wives

The previous week’s newspaper headlines screamed with messages that the SADC facilitation team headed by president Zuma was on its way to this great nationwith some even suggesting that finally president Zuma will break the so-called  impasse that newspapers are claiming exist between the parties in government. There was too much expectation from most Zimbabweans, but it turnedout that President Zuma was a busy man. Coincidentally his troubled ANC was hosting its policy conference ahead of the heated congress in Mangaung in December this year. A make or break congress were he is seeking second termre-election and his serious contender being  his Deputy president Kgalema Mothlante backed by the Youth League.

Theresa Makone-Chihuri's appointment legal

 So to expect much from Zuma was purely magical because of the internal dynamics rocking the ANC, the man hasmuch to chew on his table.  Lest we forget that former president Mbeki was recalled just days after he thought he was a hero after brokering a unity deal betweenZimbabwe’s political parties. During his 2nd term of office he had been spending muchtime travelling to Zimbabwe to deal with the Zimbabwean crisis. Maybe his muchabsence from South Africa and much presents in Zimbabwe gave his rivals achance to plot and conspire against him. And after all this President Zuma is now very much aware that he has to put his house in order  first rather than spend valuable time in dealing with the unending Zimbabwean crisis with crooked politicians. Charity begins at home and that is why maybe he first had to deal with policy conference rather than flying to Zimbabwe to deal with insincere leaders.  In the same vein I wish to share the same thought with MDC’s secretary general Priscilla Musihairambwi when she said that it’s hightime we solve our issues as Zimbabweans rather than placing all our hopes to president Zuma and his team. She said these remarks at a Quill speak discussion at the Quill Club last Friday.  We are now tired of unending SADC summits, Troika meetings and unending visits by the facilitation teams who haven’t brought anything tangible rather than ultimatums and timelines. Zimbabweans are now tired of this script which has not changed much since this government was formulated.  Zuma’s team can make several trips to Harare but if there’s no will from the political leaders in Zimbabwe nothing much will change.

The politicians in government are just buying time and that is why i have been arguing that there’s no impasse existing between these  parties. Those who are talking of an impasse are lost; I do not believe there is any impasse in the GNU. They are mere side-tracks, the impasse is for the public who are made to believe non-existent things that there is an impasse. The parties in government, seemingly have found each other, surely if there was an impasse I did not expect people like Chimanikire to see no anomaly for the army to own a diamond mining company, even more shocking are the remarks by the controversial Ministerof Home Affairs MDCTs Theresa Makone who had the guts of saying that ZANU PF apologist Augustine Chihuri's appointment as commissioner general of police was legal.  We all wonder so who is really fooling who here? What is now evident is that  people in government seem to  have ran out of ideas to justify their continued stay in 'comfort' and 'luxury' of thisdysfunctional government.

No one wants elections, if you can ask what happenedto ZANU PF’s verve of having elections this year, a message they have beenparroting in the past months. I however think that no matter how many times the facilitation teams come here nothing will change as long as we Zimbabweans are failing to deal with some of these issues on our own.  The facilitation team has had several implementations plans despite the GPA beingan implementation plan in itself. The solution is in the hands of the political players, Zuma's role is to listen and advice. It is not president Zuma who hasa solution but us the people of Zimbabwe and the reason why he didn’t come as many were expecting was the fact that he had also his domestic issues to deal with, which are much more important than that of a neighbour who has spent close to five years negotiating and seemingly failing to find a conclusion to the so-called crisis. That’s the reason why I’m arguing that the impasse does not exist; the politicians are just trying to find justification and an excuse to continue serving in this unpopular government at the expense of millions of Zimbabweans who seem tired of this creature they did not vote for. We should not expect much from president Zuma, because he is not a decision maker in solving our problems, the responsibility lies entirely onus the custodians of this country and we should seriously think about that. Because it is now appearing that Zimbabwe is now another province of South Africa, mainly because we have given Zuma too much mandate and responsibilities to prescribe the course to take for this country.

We should be very careful and worry of South Africa colonising us indirectly because we have given them too much room to do so and dictate the pace for us.  Its like a man who is having sexual problems with his wife and goes to call a neighbour to mediate, yet the neighbour always looks at the wife with a lustful eye. South Africa has many interests in this country ranging from mineral claims and other business interests and the politicians should be wary of that fact and straighten up and end this bickering and approach the matter of solving the crisis with utmost patriotism and a sense of belonging bearing in mind that Zimbabwe has to be preserved for the generations to come. Same goes to the constitution making process which has dragged three years than anticipated, they have agreed on the Kariba document and now they continue negotiating and no one really knows when they will conclude. They have continued misleading us but we are now aware that they are sailing in the same boat.   The time is now that Zimbabweans demand a conclusion to all this GPA madness. It is not only about the three parties in government but, the millions of Zimbabweans whoyearn to see a progressive nation they enjoy its fruits and be proud of. It can only be us and no one else.

Blessing Vava is a blogger from Chipinge

ZIFA being run like a village grinding mill (chigayo)

By Blessing Vava

Disgrace-ZIFA President Cuthbert Dube running ZIFA
like a grinding mill

The dismal performance by the senior national soccer team, the warriors can only be described as a national disaster. Without doubt football is the most popular sport in this country and many Zimbabweans love the sport to unimaginable proportions but it is sad how their national soccer team always break their hearts.  Years ago  former coach Ghanaian national Ben Koufie declared that Zimbabwe’s soccer team will never qualify for any prestigious tournament even if they get a coach from the moon, and according to him it was purely on the basis of maladministration by those running the affairs of soccer in the country. And now with a new president Cuthbert Dube, who bought himself to be  at the helm, our standards of soccer continue deteriorating reducing the senior men’s team into a laughing stock. The man is running an important national  football association as if he is running his rural tuck-shop or a village grinding mill.

Lies to the marrow-ZIFA
CEO Jonathan Mashingaidze

After failing to grab a victory in three consecutive serious games.  After the poor showing in Burundi, we even suffered in our own backyard playing against Guinea and the latest being the draw away to Mozambique, ZIFA is now unashamedly shifting the blame to the players making flimsy, unfounded and stupid allegations that matches  were being fixed. Those peddling such allegations can only qualify to be best candidates to a psychiatric clinic for a brain assessment. It is insanity of the highest magnitude to believe such a lie.

At the centre of controversy-suspended
former ZIFA CEO Henrietta Rushwaya

The point here is that Mr Cuthbert Dube and his team have failed the nation they should admit and stop this blame game to Karuru and Musona.  Surely how possible for a player like  Musona  with a lucrative offer in Germany would accept the little bribes ZIFA is alleging? With Asiagate scandal hard on our heels I don’t think there is any right-minded player, more importantly Musona and Karuru who are plying their trades in lucrative European leagues would want to risk their careers for such expediency as alleged by Mashingaidze and crew. I laughed off seeing ZIFA CEO Jonathan Mashingaidze trying to convince Zimbabweans on ZTV news that they have approached FIFA  because they suspect that the matches were fixed. Utter hogwash!  From his body movements and lips  Mashingaidze was not convincing even to himself, he appeared like a man caught having sex with someone’s wife and yet trying to deny that he doesn’t know the woman. Either the guy is lying to the marrow, or every other Zimbabwean expect himself knows why the team that is so rich in talent is failing even against lowly rated teams such as  Mozambique. 

Promising career under the wire-Ovidy Karuru

 What Mashingaidze is saying is utter rubbish and nonsense and should be dismissed with contempt. I wonder why such people are put at the helm of such important offices.  From the look of things one can easily deduce that ZIFA is out to settle personal scores rather than the development of our football. The match fixing allegations are a mere smokescreen to cover their failures as an association. They are failing to attract a meaningful sponsor for the national team. They have failed even to get an official sponsor for the kit of the national team. They are even failing to organise friendly matches with stronger opponents opting to pair the national team with a club like Caps United and boozers (Friends of Benjani) as  a preparatory match ahead of crucial ties. How they keep recycling failed coaches to continue leading our national team. Surely how do we expect our football to grow when ZIFA is failing to do the basics that will make our team more dignified, stronger and mould them into a serious competitive team in the continent and the world at large.

 Instead of investigating the alleged bribery scandal, it is high time that ZIFA investigate their role in the failure of the warriors. Shocking to note I had a chat with one of the players in question who expressed ignorance on the said allegations by Mashingaidze, that they are  only hearing  it from the media. Shockingly and suspiciously up until last night ZIFA had not formally engaged the players notifying them about the allegations. It even makes the case more dubious and suspicious on why they rushed to the press before first informing the players as is the norm.  I would advice young Karuru and Musona to  sue these guys for defamation. So does it mean any soccer player who speaks to Henrietta is involved in match fixing? These are  low levels of desperation by failed administrators who are eager to destroy promising careers. Funny Mashingaidze boasts of having a ‘security’ team monitoring players when they are failing to pay allowances for players.

Taking leadership-Alois Bunjira with his juniors ALBUN

 The time is now for former football players to get organised lead such bodies like ZIFA and the PSL, because they know what is required in football. Zambia have soccer legend Kalusha Bwalya  at the helm and they have already reaped the results. I believe people like former Caps United ace Alois Bunjira, Ian Gorowa, Edzai Kasinauyo, Bruce Grobeler, Tauya Murehwa, Paul Gundani, Peter Ndlovu, Benjani Mwaruwari can manage  that association better because they have played the game before. We have tried these professionals and the results are proving beyond doubt to be disastrous.  For now we should try former footballers and see how it goes. The people who are running ZIFA are opportunists who don’t have a passion for the game but the pocket and the sooner that they are shown the door the better. Otherwise we will continue weeping and our hearts bleeding spending another decade without qualifying for any major tournament with the way things are going at the moment. The Benjani testimonial is a clear example of how corrupt and greedy these so-called administrators can be. Had it that we had a responsible government surely this was the right time to intervene as a matter of urgency to save our football from the doldrums of chaos. We need a new culture, a new system and a new people at number 53 Livingstone Avenue to run the affairs of our football Dube and team have failed. Zvazviri!

Blessing ‘Vuvuzela’ Vava writes from Chipinge

TIME OF RECKONING FOR COPAC

Introduced executive powers-The late Edison Zvogbo

By Blessing Vava

Now that COPAC has officially released its first draft constitution exactly 24 months after its inception in April 2009, the bickering and the hide and seek game has finally come to an end. They can no longer hide anymore. After failing to produce a draft after the stipulated 18 months in the GPA, and stretching this far, the people of Zimbabwe have now seen for themselves what the select committee was doing for the past 24 months in coming out with an incomplete draft. Notwithstanding the 45million dollars wasted by COPAC, in hotel accommodation, allowances, and various other processes undertaken by COPAC, the 161 paged draft is nothing but just a replica of the Kariba draft with a few changes here and there. The negotiated  document authored by the three political parties and bearing no views from the people should never be accepted by the people of Zimbabwe because it does not contain their views. It boggles my mind why the select committee even wasted time in collecting the views of the people while they knew already that those views would be thrown by the wayside.

Morgan Tsvangirai- eyeing to enjoy the executive powers

One section which has already raised the ire of most Zimbabweans is Chapter 6, were COPAC has once again retained the all-powerful president with his executive powers. Like the present constitution the president is still the Head of State and Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, a president which many Zimbabweans will surely not accept. It was rejected in the 2000 draft and it will be rejected again this time around.  Zimbabweans have learnt a lesson in what it means to have an executive president,  again this is one of the many reasons why this draft will not be accepted should the referendum be held. By agreeing to include such a dangerous clause it also means that even the MDC would also want Tsvangirai to enjoy the same powers once he becomes president.   That is why those who opposed the process did not want to have politicians driving the process, for politicians it is for their political power and nothing else.

Interestingly there has been spirited attacks on COPAC and the draft constitution  mainly by the hardliners in ZANU PF and recently we heard the military voicing their anger on the draft constitution. Of course ZANU PF never wanted a new constitution period!  They are very much comfortable with the Lancaster House peace charter that they have been abusing to remain in power and they are even pushing for elections to be held under the flawed amended 1979 cease fire agreement.  Therefore, their participation in COPAC should be interrogated. There are three questions which I think form the basis for their decision to agreeing to have the process in the first place.

Paul Mangwana COPAC CO-Chairperson

Firstly, Did ZANU PF enter the process to fulfil the requirements of the GPA? Article Six of the GPA gives a provision for the writing of a new constitution to be spearheaded by a select committee of parliament.

Secondly,   was it just to buy  time knowing fully well that somewhere in the middle of the park they were going to frustrate the process so that we remain with the Lancaster House constitution and go for elections with that document, a chorus that is now being amplified in ZANU PF’ s circles? We should not forget that the GPA was a life saver to ZANU PF. In the early stages of the new government they pretended to be fully committed to it, but tactfully buying time to re-organise their camp that had been disintegrated by the shock of the March 2008 election.  This is the same tactic they employed on the constitution making.

Thirdly they might have genuinely entered the process thinking that they were going to influence the outcomes from the outreach meetings. This they based on the assumption that they have a more organised and coherent membership than the MDC.  However think that all the parties were not happy about some of the issues raised by Zimbabweans during the outreach process, this might be  the reason why the parties ended up negotiating positions and dumping the views of the people.

As for ZANU PF’s spirited attacks on COPAC might not necessarily be genuine; it might be a calculated move to deceive the MDC. Simply putting it, the MDC thinks that what ZANU PF is against is therefore good, just because ZANU PF will be saying no to it. ZANU PF is part of COPAC, they had their representatives, who are still part and parcel of the same process but today they act as if that draft is a product of the two MDC formations. The COPAC draft is a collective document of the three parties and  I am really surprised by the discord coming from the parties. Whilst there are some elements within the MDC who foolishly think that the COPAC draft is a good document simply because ZANU PF is attacking it, my advice to such elements is to re-think before celebrating half time oranges before the trophy.

 A closer look at the draft one will notice that the MDC lost it on some of the important issues that they were pushing for. On the core issues parked excluding devolution which has been rejected the issue of the diaspora vote and dual citizenship are seemingly heading the same drain. Why is it in all the negotiations done so far between the parties, the MDC are always tricked? The MDC’s failure to defend their initial positions in the negotiations  is very much regrettable. They are being tricked once again,  ZANU PF  is scared of devolution mainly because of its unpopularity in Matabeleland. And by doing away with it in the constitution they are aware and scared to the reality of that Diaspora vote as many Zimbabweans who are in the diaspora left either because of political persecution or economic hardships caused by the ZANU PF regime. 

So as the circus continues, again Zimbabweans will be relegated to the peripheries as politicians continue panel beating the document to suit their political needs and not the needs of the Zimbabwean. This constitution making process has been one hell of a process that has failed to meet any standards of constitution making. Rather it has been more of a comical show than constitution writing. ZANU PF’s strategy now seems to be carrying the day. And now that the process is coming to an end we expect  COPAC to publish the national report and a detailed audit report on the finances  used since the process started. COPAC should account for every dollar that they used since constitution making process was not their private affair but rather  a national process that affect 13 million Zimbabweans. The audit results should be made public because it is the right for every Zimbabwean to know how the funds were used. Zvazviri!

 

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