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Govt, opposition still mum on the 'Zim We Want' document
Lucia Makamure, The Independent (Zimbabwe)
April 13, 2007

http://allafrica.com/stories/200704130445.html

THE architects of the Zimbabwe We Want document, proposed as a solution to the country's intractable political stalemate, have expressed disappointment at stakeholders' response to the initiative.

Ecumenical Peace Initiative Zimbabwe (EPIZ) spokesman, Father Fradereck Chiromba, said both the government and opposition parties were yet to submit their responses.

In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday, Chiromba said there had been a lot of misconceptions about the document which has resulted in very little debate taking place.

"Discussions around the document have not been exhaustive as stakeholders are more worried about the origins of the document than its content," said Chiromba. "What we launched was a discussion document calling for dialogue and only the Reserve Bank has submitted its response in writing," he said.

The Zimbabwe We Want: Towards A National Vision For Zimbabwe document was launched in September last year as a basis for discussion of the country's crisis and the future.

Chiromba added: "We have been doing a lot of work since last year behind closed doors because of the polarisation in the media. We have had talks with other countries through their ambassadors and their response has been encouraging."

He said they were holding talks with stakeholders at provincial, district and ward level to come up with "the actual National Vision which we wish to launch by the end of the year".

"All political parties, the business community, and civic organisations' contributions will be incorporated in the final draft of the National Vision," he said.

He said the current political developments in the country were a cause for concern as they do not help the church in mapping the way forward.

"Such incidents (March 11 beatings of opposition leaders and their supporters) do not help what we are doing. As the church our role is to make sure that such events are minimised and that the nation has a vision," said Father Chiromba. "Once Independence was achieved the church failed to come up with a national vision and without a vision we will perish," he said.

Chiromba dismissed reports that there were divisions among the three church bodies which drafted the document: the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

"There are no divisions among the church bodies," he said. "As churches we work together and we are free to respond to events separately. As EPIZ we are fully behind the stance taken by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference in speaking out against human rights abuses and corruption in their lent pastoral letter."

Chiromba also said although the document was received with scepticism, this has not prevented it from achieving some of its goals.

"The National Vision has achieved a lot in terms of initiating dialogue," he said. "We have enabled people to freely address topics which used to be taboo like the economic meltdown, constitutional reforms and leadership failures."

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