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Process matters as much as substance
Gugulethu Moyo
From The Day After Mugabe, Africa Research Institute
November 01, 2007

Read more from The Day After Mugabe: Prospects for change in Zimbabwe

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Questions about a new constitution are a recurring feature of debates about how to begin repairing the damage in Zimbabwe. At the heart of the current malaise lies the simple truth that Zimbabwe needs fundamental political change - a different contract between the government and the people. Constitutional reform will not, of itself, resolve the crisis. But it can help develop a set of principles around which to build a more cohesive society.

In September 2007, parliament ratified Constitutional Amendment 18 with support from both the ruling party and the opposition. MDC and ZANU-PF leaders explained that the cross-party deal, following negotiations mediated by South Africa, was a necessary compromise. The agreement has been interpreted as a sign that mediation by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is succeeding.

Just days after details of Amendment 18 were announced, stories were leaked to the press that the bargain struck in Pretoria reached well beyond what had been made public. However much a deal on the constitution may seem to the politicians to be necessary and inevitable, important constituencies back home are not convinced. Regardless of the substance, further constitutional arrangements made in closed negotiations without the participation of a broad spectrum of people will lack democratic legitimacy.

Proponents of constitutional reform who have not been party to recent negotiations have a different definition of success. The National Constitutional Assembly - a broad-based lobby group which includes church leaders, journalists, lawyers, academics and grassroots activists - have been largely consistent in their hopes and ambitions. Their most important demand is that reform should be a democratic process. They want an open, deliberative constitutional assembly in which popular participation essential.

In the wake of Amendment 18, a little perspective helps. Since 1999, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its allies in civil society - led by the National Constitutional Assembly - insisted that constitutional reform should not become the property of any party or group of parties. Zimbabwe needs a new people-driven constitution, framed through an inclusive and participatory process. For eight years, the MDC refused to condone any process dominated by the ruling party.

During that time, ZANU-PF and its hegemony have at least paid lip service to joining negotiations on anything and everything except the process of constitutional reform. On the critical issue of the constitution, the ruling party has not surrendered control. ZANU-PF is not ready to allow others to jeopardise a system carefully devised to legitimise and prolong its rule.

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