The Chronicle
By Owen Gagare in Bulawayo and Dumisani Sibanda
29 June 2009
THE public has responded overwhelmingly to the constitution-making process with some organisations already presenting their own drafts of the supreme law of the land for consideration, an official has said.
In an interview by telephone yesterday, the co-chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee steering the constitution- making process, Senator David Coltart, said Zimbabweans had responded well to the invitation by the committee to attend provincial consultative meetings meant to identify stakeholders to be called for the first stakeholders conference set for next month.
“In Harare and Bulawayo there was a huge turnout. What I’ve heard so far, is that the attendance was the same in other provinces although I can’t really confirm that because I have not received the official reports,†he said.
“What is clear though, is that there is a lot of interest and a wide range of organisations are keen to take part. The churches have met in Harare and have come up with a very detailed draft. The Bulawayo Legal Practitioners Association in conjunction with the Law Society (of Zimbabwe) have also given us their draft document,†he said.
Sen Coltart said women and children’s groups as well as other sectors of society also came out in large numbers so that they could be included in the process of crafting a new constitution for Zimbabwe to replace the Lancaster House Constitution which has been amended 19 times.
“People are very anxious about the process and they want to be heard,†he said.
The select committee has assured people during the provincial consultative meetings that the constitution would not be doctored, as people’s views would be taken seriously.
Addressing people who attended the Bulawayo provincial consultative meeting on Saturday, the co-chairperson of the committee, Mr Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said the public would be involved in every step of the process and would get a chance to see the draft before being finalised.
He said each thematic group would keep three copies of their reports so as to ensure transparency until the draft was presented.
The select committee is made up of 25 Members of Parliament, nine from MDC-T, nine from Zanu-PF, three from MDC, three appointed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly and Senate President to represent special interest groups and one to represent chiefs.
According to article V1 of the Global Political Agreement, the role of the select committee is to facilitate the writing of a new constitution of Zimbabwe by the people of Zimbabwe for the people of Zimbabwe.
In Lupane, the issue of the Kariba Draft that was put together by Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations during the inter-party dialogue took centre stage at the Matabeleland North Provincial Consultative meeting on Saturday held at Mabhikwa Secondary School near Lupane Business Centre.
The meeting was attended by mostly representatives of various civil organisations in the province including churches and political parties as well as farmers, academics, professionals and traditional leaders.
Before the start of the meeting, members of Lupane Youth for Development distributed pamphlets demanding “a people-driven constitution”.
“No to Kariba Draft; Yes to devolution of power, shared power, recognition of minority groupings and proportional representations,” read the message on dozens of pamphlets distributed at the meeting.
In an interview after the meeting a representative of LYD, Mr Alfred Sihwa, said his organisation did not want the Kariba Draft to have a special place in the constitution-making process.
“All documents should be used as drafts. What we need is a framework to work on and nothing more,” he said.
Earlier during the meeting, one of the participants, Mrs Rhoda Ncube, asked why the Kariba Draft was being mentioned in the constitution-making process.
“Let us be clear here. Are we amending the Kariba Draft or making a new constitution,” she asked.
A woman from Tsholotsho who identified herself as Mrs Mlevu,also raised similar sentiments.
“I believe we are mature now. Why should we talk about the Kariba Draft?” she asked.
Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee who were at the meeting, Minister of State in Vice-President Joseph Msika’s Office, Flora Bhuka, Matabeleland North Governor, Sithokozile Mathuthu and MDC-T legislator, Mr Brian Tshuma were at pains to explain the connection between the constitution-making process under way and the Kariba Draft.
“Article Six of the Global Political Agreement acknowledges the Kariba Draft and by the way this is the section from which our select committee is derived. In addition to the draft there are other drafts. The Kariba Draft is one draft among many others,” said Mr Tshuma, who is also a lawyer.
President Mugabe is on record as saying that in line with the GPA, the Kariba Draft should be used as the reference point in this constitution-making process.
Governor Mathuthu, who is the leader of the five-member group from the select committee covering Matabeleland, urged participants not to lose sight of the “onerous responsibility” at hand by overplaying the Kariba Draft issue.
“The Kariba Draft is not a Constitution. It is not the Constitution. You can have views on the draft. It is not cast in stone. We are coming up with the supreme law of Zimbabwe. The Kariba Draft issue should not worry us. We are not amending the constitution but we are coming up with a new one,” she told participants.
Earlier Minister Bhuka had urged people of Matabeleland North not to be “left behind as the constitution-making train is taking off”.
She said the process of coming up with the blueprint was a lifetime opportunity that they should not miss.
“You all know that the Lancaster House Constitution we have was crafted during the war. It was a transitional arrangement from the war. We were still fighting, our children dying, Smith had his own pressing issues. That constitution did not capture our views and aspirations hence the 19 amendments that have been made on it so far.
“If that constitution were a pair of trousers you can imagine the amount of patchwork that would have been done on it. I do not think you would be proud of it and I bet you would want a new one, hence this exercise,” she said.
“Let us be clear that the National Constitutional Assembly Draft is not a Constitution. The draft produced by Senator David Coltart is not a constitution and the Kariba Draft is not a constitution. Let us find out about the contents of those drafts so that we contribute from an informed point of view.”
Minister Bhuka said each province would provide 500 delegates to the First Stakeholders Constitutional Conference to be held in Harare next month.
“We will also look at your proposal that you want equal delegates from each constituency or district in the province,” she said.
Minister Bhuka said “there will be no teaching as your representatives will be involved at every stage of this process” and the select committee was merely “facilitating or co-ordinating” the exercise.
Some participants were overruled as they wanted to raise issues of “content†on the constitution yet the select committee’s mandate at this stage was to look at issues of process.
Several Government officials from Matabeleland North led by the Provincial Administrator, Ms Latiso Dlamini attended Saturday’s meeting as well as most legislators from the province including the Minister of Small to Medium Enterprises, Sithembiso Nyoni.