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Constitution public consultations concluded
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)
November 02, 2010

Constitution public consultation meetings were concluded on Sunday 31 October with few cases of violence recorded.

COPAC co-chairperson Hon. Paul Mangwana confirmed this saying that with the public consultation process over, the COPAC management team is now able to move to the next stage of the process. This process is the collation and analysis of data.

Although COPAC said it is ready for the next stage, it says its progress is still dependent on how resources will be dispatched to them by their funders. At the moment for the next stage which was budgeted at USD8million they have USD6million secured from the donor community and negotiations with the treasury are now underway for the outstanding money.

During the outreach meetings there were reports of violence in some areas and evidence of bussing in of participants by political parties. Crisis Coalition reports that a participant at St Johns retreat was hospitalised after being assaulted by some suspected ZANU PF supporters. It is alleged that the participant, Joshua Manyere, was beaten because he had made contributions that were inconsistent with ZANU PF views.

At meetings attended by members of the ZimRights secretariat at Belvedere Teachers' College and Queen Elizabeth High School among others, people were participating freely and dissenting voices were heard. Budiriro was relatively quiet, compared to the disturbances experienced at the previous meeting. Nineteen police officers were stationed at Current Shopping Centre in Budiriro 5 and they managed to maintain peace and order. The only problem that arose at the venue was that the 437 participants were not happy with the meeting place because there was no shade and they were forced to sit in the sun for hours.

Participation at Makuta Secondary School in Epworth was good, with most people saying what they want, despite the occasional party position.

Kambuzuma outreach meetings were also violence free. Although there was no violence at Kambuzuma High 1 in ward 14 most of the contributions made were party positions. Meanwhile, in Ward 16 at Area E, there were a number of participants that were bussed to the meeting. These individuals are reported to have caused commotion on the arms of the state thematic point. There was a lot of controversy on whether the state should be headed by a President or a Prime Minister, and also whether both offices should be maintained in government.

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