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Political parties taking Zimbabwean for a ride
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
October 15, 2010

The Constitution Parliament Select Committee (COPAC) indefinitely postoponed outreach meetings scheduled for the 16th and 17th of October in Harare citing financial constraines. The Herald (14 October 2010) in an article entitled "Outstanding COPAC meetings postponed", quoted COPAC Co-Chairperson, Honorable Paul Mangwana, saying , ""the meetings have been postponed until further notice . . . until COPAC receives further resources from the Treasury". The new timelines announced late last week have been flouted.

Sources within COPAC have however indicated that the postponement was also as a result of squabbles between political parties on how many meetings should be redobe in Harare with ZANU PF saying that less than 40 meetings were disrupted while Movement for Democratic Change argued that 68 meetings were actually disrupted.

The decision by COPAC to postpone the remaining outreach meetings does not come as a surprise to many as the whole process has fallen short of the basic requirements of a democratic and people-centered process. The infighting among the political parties vindicates concerns by civil society organizations at the onset of the constitution making process that the government was an illegitimate body to run the process and that an independent body was more appropriate.

Political parties especially Zanu PF have further discredited the process by instigating violence against innocent civilians, limiting citizen participation. Zanu PF has gone further as to sell its party position to people with those who do not agree falling prey to the party's unrepentant thugs. Such a process cannot be regarded a s people-driven. The process has turned into a political sham bereft of any values of a democratic process freely owned and driven by ordinary citizens.

Some of the fundamentals of popular participation in constitution making are social inclusion, personal security and freedom of expression and assembly. The United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25 establishes the right to participate in public affairs, to vote and to take part in all national processes. This means people should own the process and to an extent lead the process. The contrary, the process has been hijacked by the powerful politicians and their violent followers.

So far, what has been witnessed in Zimbabwe's constitutional reform process is exactly what a constitution making exercise should not be. In Harare and Chitungwiza on the 18th of September 2010, people's fundamental right to participate and feel secure after participating was not realized. Residents of these areas were coerced, harassed, threatened, intimidated, beaten, instructed what to and what not to say while one activist in Mbare, Crispen Mandizvidza even list his life, all in the name of writing a democratic and people centered constitution. The level of violence was astronomical and shameful that one person in Chitungwiza even pulled out a gun at other participants.
The environment attendant to the making of truly democratic and people driven constitution should be peaceful and stable. That political environment was and is absent. Zimbabwe has toxic political environment acerbated by the legacy of ZANU PF culture of impunity that the Inclusive government has failed to curtail. I order to avoid repeating history and going for a "No Vote", the process needs to be done in a manner that respects the fundamental civil and political liberties of citizens. A democratic constitution I n longer simply one that establishes democratic governance but one that is made in a democratic process

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