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ROHR Zimbabwe comments on the disrupted "All stakeholders" conference
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)
July 17, 2009

The most colorful display of the constitutional discord was witnessed on Monday 13 July when delegates at the "All stakeholders" conference saw the petal of confusion, deception and violence cascading down to the center stage, effectively blowing the runway light bulbs when the constitutional plane was just about to land. The level of disorganization and the consequential impression emanating from the just landed indaba fails to justify the commitment and faith placed by relevant stakeholders in the parliamentary led constitutional initiative.

ROHR Zimbabwe is a huge supporter of people driven and democratic processes and therefore stands opposed to the current process led by the parliament. Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which gave birth to the parliamentary steered constitutional process makes a mockery of the constitutional reform process in Zimbabwe as it relegates civil society to an observer role with little influence while awarding the primary political parties ample room and opportunity to manipulate the document for political gain. It preclude other political players from participating and reduces civil society to mere spectators with an insignificant muscle to manoeuvre meaningfully.

Albeit predictable, the disruption of the Indaba by hired ZANU PF thugs is a statement not only of the fact that the former revolutionary party has not yet repented, but that politicians see the constitution as yet another bargaining tool of sealing deals of the interparty negotiations that began in 2007. Installing the usual infrastructure of violence at the starred hotel facilities to disengage any gears of progress casts serious questions on the wisdom of bestowing an exercise of this importance in the hands of politicians, particularly these primary parties currently involved in tugs and negotiations for political grip in the government. Obviously the drafting of the constitution is yet another tool necessary to create and/or strengthen party stake in the Government in preparation for the impending elections. We seriously question their credibility to be at the forefront of this agenda.

ROHR Zimbabwe firmly believes that any reform of the Zimbabwe constitution should be people driven and not parliamentary driven. The secretive nature of political negotiations gave birth to the controversial draft doctored at the resort town of Kariba in September 2007 , and the GPA in September 2008, both of which are political deals kept away from public scrutiny and participation to the detriment of popular input. There is little doubt that the insertion of Kariba draft in the parliament led process as referenced in article 6 of the GPA is a well orchestrated campaign by the primary negotiators to protect their political interests. If the draft is to be used as the basis for constitution-making in the country, Zimbabweans will be denied their right to write a constitution for themselves. The draft is seriously flawed. It sneaks in weak aspects of the current constitution and that of the rejected constitutional commission draft that was reject by the people in 2000, thereby producing an unacceptable government with unchecked executive powers, a weak parliament, and inadequate protections for fundamental rights and freedoms.

Therefore Restoration of Human rights Zimbabwe reiterates its position that we will not participate in the process in its current form because we believe it is not people driven and runs the risk of political manipulation. By stating the following ROHR Zimbabwe is only reiterating the position we took in 2008 and the views expressed in the People's Charter that the people should be allowed to write their own constitution in a free, transparent and participatory way and this can be achieved through creating an independent inclusive All Stakeholders Commission to run the process.

Furthermore our non-participation approach stems from prior knowledge of President Mugabe and his colleagues in ZANU PF who pride on a culture and history of violence and politics of coercion in the agency of youth militia, ex-combatants and the passive or active cooperation of national institutions such as police, army and Central Intelligence Organization. Despite his verbal commitment to power sharing in a coalition Government with MDC, Mugabe is yet to demonstrate policy and attitude shift from this culture and the recent disruption of the constitutional conference only strengthens this fact. What we observe is Mugabe's continued intransigence as shown by his keenness to ignore all stakeholder rejection of the Kariba Draft which we all agree fails to protect anything else except enormous and sweeping powers for the President while underplaying the importance of checks and balances derived from judicial independence and strength of parliament.

As a progressive movement, we will not stop anyone who wants to participate or observe the proceeding of the constitutional process led by the Parliamentary Select Committee. Our position will however remain as that enunciated before that ROHR Zimbabwe will not participate in a process we do not believe will produce the result necessary to solve current constitutional and human rights challenges that catalysed Zimbabwe into a gigantic human rights furnace, exposing her citizenry to the worst economic and social dragons unprecedented in the history of the nation.

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