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Outreach on Constitution making launched
Youth Agenda Trust
February 04, 2010

The Youth Agenda Trust is set to launch a public outreach programme on the constitutional reform process in Marondera this Friday. The outreach programme will be conducted for over a period of more than six months and is set to be initiated by a schools consultative meeting targeting over two hundred pupils from Marondera. "The meeting will amongst other things solicit views from school children on their expectations on what must be included in the new constitution. It will also serve to inform the youthful participants on the ideal contents of a good constitution, particularly on the issue of children's rights" says Lawrence Mashungu, Youth Agenda Trust Advocacy officer who will be directly responsible for the outreach programme. "The Youth Agenda Trust outreach is set to target over twenty one districts covering a geographical span of four provinces in the country. The outreach will be conducted through a series of community meetings, school children consultations, sporting tournaments, road shows and community discussion forums and will target school children and youth in the age ranges 10 to 35 years of age. A similar community meeting targeting out of school youth is also set to be held at Wedza centre this Saturday with a total of eight outreach meetings being targeted by the end of this month," he added.

The outreach comes in the wake of stagnation of the Select Committee of Parliament (COPAC) led outreach that was constitutionally meant to have ended in November last year. The outreach process has been marred by intense political bickering by the politicians' signatory to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which ushered in the Inclusive government and gave the roadmap to a new constitution under article six. The Youth Agenda Trust and other youth formations have since condemned the violation of the country's constitution by the select committee of parliament on constitution making through failing to respect the timelines that are set in the GPA. Meanwhile ZANU PF has intensified its campaign for the Kariba Draft as evidenced by the dispatching of its high ranking officials such as Vice president, Joyce Mujuru, Finance Secretary, David Karimanzira amongst others into the rural communities to drum up support for the ZANU PF congress resolution to back the Kariba Draft. Youth Agenda Trust therefore warns that ZANU PF intends to adopt a two legged approach into the constitutional reform process where it stalls the COPAC led process through unending negotiations, deadlocks and negative publicity whilst on the other hand mobilising its structures of coercion and intimidation such as the military and the notorious Border Gezi youth militias to sing the Kariba Draft propaganda. This is clearly meant to lead to a hurried COPAC outreach exercise which has very limited consultations with the people of Zimbabwe and ultimately lead to a negotiated constitution with no variance from the draconian Kariba Draft.

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