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Constitutional update
Bulawayo Agenda
July 07, 2010

Matabeleland South

Complaints have been coming in from the area on the failure by the District Administrator's office to coordinate the meetings in the different wards. Meetings were cancelled in Collen Bawn and Manama after the people failed to turn up in the scheduled areas for the meetings while in some cases the communities do not receive any information on where the meetings will be held. They said that the organisation of the meetings should not have been placed at the discretion of the district administrators who sometimes misinform the communities on where the meetings will be held. Some of the issues that are continually coming up frequently include the devolution of power and limited terms of office for the president. The issue of proportional representation has been largely sidelined with the communities calling for first past the post system in voting. Meanwhile in the Dambashawe area the meeting had to be changed to Nsindi after the teams where told to go to Dambashawe when the community was informed that the meeting will be held in Nsindi. The participants who included 42 women and 53 men called for the devolution of power. They however said that they were not very conversant of some of the issues in the constitution arguing that the thematic teams should elaborate further in order for them to gain understanding. The communities argued that the thematic committees have been failing to explain to the communities the tenets of the new constitution.

Midlands

Consultations are going according to schedule in the Midlands with most of the teams going about their duties diligently. A member of one of the teams in the province said there are huge turnouts in the meetings that they are convening and are averaging about three hundred people per meeting. There is also a pattern in which there are particular people who are doing the contributions suggesting that this was planned. The team member felt that political parties have impressed upon their supporters their party positions and this is what the people are regurgitating in the meetings. The member said that it is so bad that some individuals even say out something before the particular issue has been tabled for discussion. One of the teams which was in Chirumanzu today, a predominantly rural resettlement area, said that many of the people are saying that they want a stronger presidency in which the president does just about all the major appointments. He said the number of youths appears to be increasing in the meetings and they recorded 91 young people out of 314 in their first meeting today. The issue of allowances has not improved and members of the teams are not happy with the diet that they have been forced to do with.

Matabeleland North

There was confusion as residents in Ndlovu Camp in Jambesi Area in Hwange were presented with a copy of the Kariba Draft with answers which they were supposed to use to answer questions by the outreach teams. The meeting, which was comprised by youths from Border Gezi would first check the Kariba Draft papers before giving answers. Among other issues that were raised included the three month period that was suggested for the hand over to a new government. Devolution of power was also an issue that the people of Matabeleland North raised sighting that they want local governments to govern themselves. The people also said that they want the new constitution to guarantee the independency of commissions for security reasons of the country. However, in meetings in Lwendulo Hall and Sinamatela in Hwange, some central intelligence officers were seen milling around and this intimidated the people who failed to contribute freely.

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