Jennifer Dube
13 June 2009
Harare — THE Parliamentary Select Committee steering the constitutional reform process on Friday announced new dates for public hearings on the new constitution dealing a severe blow to attempts by Zanu PF to stall the process.
Initially the public hearings had been scheduled to start yesterday but were cancelled after the Zanu PF caucus asked for more time because "people were busy harvesting their crops".
But sources said Zanu PF wanted to stall the process so that it could mobilise its supporters to drown MDC views during the consultation process.
The legislators from Zanu PF are also said to have demanded allowances before they could participate in the hearings.
Douglas Mwonzora, the co-chairperson of the committee, told journalists that the public hearings will be held between June 24 and 27 in all the country's 10 provinces.
Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which established the unity government gives guidelines on the writing of a new people-driven constitution.
Mwonzora said the provincial consultations were in fulfillment of the article's demand for a process that was owned and driven by the people.
He said on June 24 meetings will be held in Harare, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland and Mashonaland West.
On June 27 Matabeleland North, Midlands, Masvingo, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South would hold their meetings.
Zanu PF chief whip Joram Gumbo, who represented Zanu PF co-chair of the select committee, Paul Mangwana, at Friday's meeting, said his party's earlier concerns on the process were "misunderstood".
He said Zanu PF MPs only wanted to be given more time to assist the committee to mobilise people to participate in the consultations.
"It is not true what some of the papers are alleging," he said.
"To clear the air, all we said is that Zanu PF MPs were requesting, if possible, that the co-chairpersons postpone the hearings as they felt it was too early for them to be able to help the committee to mobilise people to participate.
"We did not snub or try to stall the process . . . If anything, we want to see the process succeeding."
Mwonzora said the committee had secured enough funding to conduct the consultations but appealed for more assistance towards other events to be carried out later.
The committee is expected to hold an all stakeholders' conference to consult civil society on its participation in the Select Committee's sub-committees and the process of coming up with the new supreme law.
Some civil society organisations led by the National Constitutional Assembly have threatened to mobilise people to reject the new constitution because they believe the process is not people-driven.
But in a paper presented at a recent stakeholders' meeting, University of Zimbabwe lecturer Professor John Makumbe urged civil society to embrace the process and ensure that they play a watchdog role.
He said the country cannot afford to throw away the chance of ridding itself of the "much- maligned and over-amended Lancaster House Constitution, which Mugabe once described as a good document".
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Juhlman;
The people of Zimbabwe, those who fought for and continue to defend the revolution today, do not need to be "reactivated" because they are always active.
Who in Zimbabwe today needs to be told why we fought a bitter and bloody 16-year-old independence war to rid the country of racism, colonialism, oppression, slavery, subjugation, fascism and Apartheid?
Who needs to be told why the brave woman, Mbuya Nehanda Nyakasikana, way back in 1997, had to be hanged by the neck along Tongogara Ave? Who in their right state of mind needs to be reminded why President Cde R.G. Mugabe had to spend 11 years in prison and 5 years in the bush?
One only needs to open one's eyes and see how loyal cadres of the revolution came out in full support of Dr Gono and the work he did in ensuring that Zimbabwe does not crash under the weight of illegal, racist, barbaric, ruinous and horrendous sanctions imposed on our country by imperialists at the instigation of Tsvangirai and his MDC party.
Maybe Comrade Gumbo meant that ZANU-PooF needed more time to marshall "Green-Bombers" and "War Veterans" to the consultations to claim the "people" supported ZANU-PooF!
Once that "camps" are reactivated, ZANU-PooF will be only too happy to proceed with the "consultations" regarding the Constitution.