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Report on the CADEGO / NCA traditional leaders workshop held at Bethania Primary School
Civic Alliance for Democracy and Governance (CADEGO)
April 27, 2006

Constituency: Mutasa South
Number of participants: 30
Facilitators: Farai Maguwu and James Mundenda

After the elections, ZANU PF youths, led by the youth leader in ward 15, Margaret M, went around the ward conducting mock funerals of Morgan Tsvangirai in the homes of MDC supporters. They demanded ZANU PF T-shirts from real and perceived MDC supporters who had been given the T-shirts by Oppah Muchinguri. She had encouraged all people to receive her T-shirts irrespective of their political affiliation. There was political violence as MDC supporters defended their homes from the youths who were conducting the mock funerals. As all this was happening, village heads and headmen were just watching helplessly, fearing that if they intervene they would be labeled MDC supporters. This workshop aimed at assisting traditional leaders to act swiftly when the rights of their people are being violated. The workshop also aimed at helping traditional leaders understand certain concepts of democracy such as freedom of choice, association, expression and movement and freedom from torture.

Introduction
The workshop started at 10 00 am and ended at 1 00 pm. Two headman, Ishe Neude Mudzindiko and Ishe Josphat Chipangura, and 24 village heads attended it. There were representatives of 4 village heads who could not attend. We started with prayer that was followed by the traditional greeting that was led by village head Duri. This was followed by self-introductions by participants. Mr Maguwu then briefly talked about the National Constitutional Assembly and the Civic Alliance for Democracy and Governance. He explained that these are not political parties but civic organizations whose missions are to promote the writing of a people driven constitution and democratic governance respectively. He then introduced the first speaker, Mr James Mundenda.

Facilitator 1: James Mundenda
Mr Mundenda opened his presentation by asking general questions about traditional laws. He said laws are meant to ensure law and order in society. He said it is therefore very important that we include everyone when writing laws since they will affect everyone. He gave an example of people who decide to form a cooperative. He asked whose duty is it to make laws for the cooperative. Participants answered that members of the cooperative must make the laws, no one must make the laws on behalf of others. Mr Mundenda said in the same vein, national laws must be made by every mature citizen, not by a selected few.

He went on to talk about the Lancaster House Constitution, which he said was a compromise document whose main objective was to end the war and ensure a smooth transition to black rule. Mr Mundenda said the current constitution is not homegrown and thus can be challenged technically since it was drafted in a foreign land, thousands of miles from home. He said most of our problems could be traced back to Lancaster House. Even the highly polemical land issue, with its recent politicization, was left unfinished at the Lancaster house constitutional conference. Mr Mundenda said the constitution is very important as it gives us guidelines of how to tackle difficult issues. A flawed constitution will result in economic recession, social unrest and political confusion, he said. If the constitution does not specify for how long a president can stay in office, that constitution is weak, he added. He also said the constitution must guide how elections must be conducted, how the state must function and the separation of powers. Mr Mundenda said for the constitution to be effective, just and progressive, it must have input from a cross section of the population

Mr Mundenda assigned participants to ten groups of three for group discussions. He gave them ten NCA booklets written various guidelines to writing a people-driven constitution. Each group was asked to answer a question about what they wanted included in the new constitution for Zimbabwe. Participants raised a plethora of issues, which they felt needed to be included in the constitution. One group said the constitution must ensure that there is a balance of power in government with respect to provinces. The group went further to demand that the post of Vice President must rotate to all provinces and they said its high time the country’s vice president came from Manicaland. Another group said the new constitution must limit the president’s term of office to ten years. They however said if the president fails to perform during the first five years in office he should be removed but if he does well he should be allowed to continue in office for another five years after which he should not be allowed to contests even if he is a very effective leader.

They also talked about equal opportunities between men and women in education and employment. Traditional leaders said the new constitution must guarantee them a salary from the government just like any other civil servant.

There was also a call for the harmonization of traditional courts and criminal courts. Traditional leaders felt the constitution must clarify the relationship between traditional courts and criminal courts. There was a heated argument concerning the power of traditional leaders to judge someone who was already convicted and sentenced by a criminal court. One participant argued that once he had been convicted and sentenced by a criminal court, and served the sentence, no traditional leader must summon him to his court for the same offence. He said a person couldn’t be convicted and sentenced twice for the same offence. However majority of the participants were of the opinion that traditional leaders still had the power to summon the ex-convict for a hearing and impose a traditional fine with fines that are permissible under traditional leaders act. They said if traditional leaders are stripped of their power to punish lawbreakers then anarchy and commotion will prevail. Summoning the ex-convict to the traditional court reaffirms traditional authority and helps traditional leaders maintain law and order in society.

Mr Maguwu then described the duties of a leader. He said a leader is there to help the people achieve their goals. He said a leader is there because of the people. People are very dear to a leader because without them he has no one to lead. He explained the concept of democracy and good governance, saying these are not American or British concepts. He said Democracy is about human rights and human rights are universal. Mr Maguwu said traditional leaders must ensure that they don’t violate the people’s rights by forcing people to do certain things.

Participants were then assigned to groups for discussions. Below are the topics that were discussed:

1. Is it good for a traditional leader to join active politics?
2. What are the challenges faced by traditional leaders and how can they be overcome?
3. What are the characteristics of your ideal traditional leader?
4. In what ways do traditional leaders oppress the people?

Participants said it is not for the good of the community for a traditional leader to join active politics. They said a traditional leader is like the head of the family to whom all people come for help. Politics is about competition and out-witting each other and as such a traditional leader would compromise his position if he publicly lends his support to a political party. They also said one of the duties of a traditional leader is to broker peace and resolve disputes in the community. If the leader becomes partisan along political party lines, they argued, he wont be able to make peace since he will be viewed as an interested party and therefore one-sided.

Another group said traditional leaders face a host of social, economic and political challenges that hinder them from effectively carrying out their duties. They complained that they are being left behind in educational and capacity building initiatives being carried out by the government and NGOs. Traditional leaders said there is need to boost their leadership capacity through short courses and workshops that keep them abreast with global trends. They cited lack of adequate resources as hindering the effective discharge of their duties. They said traditional leaders are some of the poorest people in society and as such those who are economically powerful are constantly challenging their authority. They also complained that they are put under undue pressure from politicians during election times. Politicians would like to use traditional leaders to campaign for them during election times. If they refuse to campaign, they allege, they are threatened with unspecified action.

Participants in group 3 said they would like a traditional leader who loves all his people, one whose leadership is just, fair and above reproach. They said a good leader must put others first, and like a true shepherd, must make some sacrifices for his people. They said a good leader must not engage himself in active politics since this will divide his people.

Group 4 look at ways in which traditional leaders oppress the people. They pointed out that by denying opposition supporters donor food and access to grain sold by GMB, traditional leaders are denying some people the right to life. They also said traditional leaders impose heavy penalties on people who commit minor offences and deny them the right to appeal. The group also complained against the practice of traditional leaders accompanying their people to the polling booth. They said this is tantamount to intimidation. They said many traditional leaders had threatened to evict opposition supporters from their areas, saying they cant stay with rebellious people.

Issues raised
Participants said this workshop was an eye opener but complained that they didn’t have enough time to discuss some pressing issues. They also pointed out that the workshop had started very late because the timing was not good. Participants said they came late because to them Thursday is a working day and as such they wanted to spend the first few hours of the day in their fields. They said they would like us to come for a whole day workshop where the constitution and democratic leadership debate will be exhausted, or at least be discussed in detail.

Participants requested us to bring them photocopies of the Traditional Leaders Act and the NCA draft constitution that we constantly referred to during the presentations.

Conclusion
Ishe Josphat Chipangura said he was happy with what was discussed at the workshop and he said he would give report of what had happened to the District Administrator’s Office and to Chief Mutasa. He said he was watching closely whether we would talk politics but he was satisfied that we remained focused on constitution making and democratic leadership.

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