OUTREACH teams for the new constitution are expected to flock into Harare today for training as the process to write a new supreme law for the country gets back on track after four months of near paralysis. Parliamentary Select Committee co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T) said the teams would comprise both legislators and representatives of civil society organisations.

"We are finalising a training programme for the outreach teams," said Mwonzora, who represents Nyanga North in the House of Assembly. "They will arrive in Harare on Sunday (today) and will undergo training on Monday and Tuesday."

Mwonzora said the trainers were last week busy planning for the two-day exercise.

"These trainers are professional Zimbabweans of unquestionable skill drawn from civil society and academic institutions," he said.

After the training, outreach teams will be deployed to different parts of the country to gather people's views for 65 days.

But while the parliamentary process gets back to life, there are mounting claims by civil society that Zanu PF functionaries are trying to derail their awareness programmes.

So far three different organisations say they have been barred from outreach programmes in Mashonaland Central.

Police are also accused of using the notorious Public Order and Security Act (Posa) to bar meetings while Zanu PF militias are using threats of violence.

Officials from the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ), Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) and the Artistes for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT) accused Mashonaland Central governor Martin Dinha of blocking them.

"There is a trend that we have seen in Mash Central where organisations are failing to get permission to run awareness campaigns," said CCDZ director Philip Pasirayi.

"In our case the police would not allow us to hold road shows in Bindura, insisting we should be cleared by the government first.

"In Mvurwi they said they had no manpower and advised us to hold workshops instead of road shows."

While the police reportedly said they were doing this to help them, Pasirayi said the move was part of sinister motives by Zanu PF sympathisers.

"We think this is well calculated to block us from meeting a lot of people through road shows, which usually attract bigger crowds," he said.

ZimRights director Okay Machisa said they also failed to host a music concert dubbed "Jive it" the people's Constitution, which they had jointly organised with ADZT in Mvurwi on November 21.

"We sent a police clearance request to Mvurwi police and they did not have any problems with it," Machisa said.

"The problem arose when we wanted to access the venue, where we were told we needed clearance from the district administrator who said his hands were tied because he had to seek permission from the provincial administrator.

"We ended up moving the concert to Chinhoyi."

Machisa and Pasirayi said they were informed that Dinha had given a directive that all organisations intending to run any programmes related to the constitution should seek his permission first.

The Zanu PF official however dismissed the claims.

"This is a democratic country my dear, why would I stop anyone from exercising their democratic right," Dinha said.

"If I can allow political parties to run their programmes here, why would I block these organisations?

"We have very high democratic credentials not only as a party, but also as individuals.

"The constitution-making process is a political programme.

"Organisations wishing to hold events around it should go to the police and not come to me.

"But if they face any problems with the police or anyone in the province, the governor's office is open to everyone and prepared to assist.

"I am reliably informed the concert was held as scheduled and that the CCDZ are having their road show on Saturday and I am preparing to attend."

While Dinha was trying to sound neutral to The Standard yesterday The Herald reported he had banned Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) from operating in Mazowe District.

Dinha also unashamedly said when another NGO, Africare approached him for "Clearance" to distribute seed to villagers he gave them conditions.

It could not be immediately established if the CCDZ meeting finally went ahead yesterday.

The organisation had petitioned the Ministry of Home Affairs on the police's conduct.

Co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa (MDC-T) said he will investigate the Bindura police's conduct but emphasised civil society were obliged to inform police about their conduct under Posa.

Mwonzora said his committee had received the reports from Mashonaland Central.

Meanwhile, the select committee's management committee -- which comprises the six negotiators of the GPA and the three co-chairpersons -- will today hold a meeting to specifically address issues of violence and other impediments to the historic process.

"Civil society groups operating within the laws of the country should be allowed to carry out their democratic duties," Paul Mangwana the co-chairperson of the select committee said. "They are free to do so as long as they comply with the constitutional provisions of this country."

Fambai Ngirande, the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations advocacy and public policy manager said the development in Mashonaland Central pointed to a wider problem.

"This is a disturbing phenomenon in our society," he said. "You will remember that during election time civil society's observers were denied access to the electorate," he said.

Government temporarily banned the operations of NGOs ahead of the controversial June 27 presidential run-off election accusing them of supporting Morgan Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai was the front runner in the election pitting him against President Robert Mugabe. He eventually pulled out of the race citing mounting violence against his supporters.

Ngirande said in some parts of the country people were being forced to attend Zanu PF meetings aimed at popularising the controversial Kariba Draft.

"We have also received reports that militiamen are still wreaking havoc in rural areas.

"Arrests of human rights and civil society activists are also continuing.

"The national healing process has not been able to deal with the issue of political volatility of the past decade. People are still up in arms against each other.

"This is not good for constitutional reform," he said.

But Mangwana said everyone was free to campaign for a draft they wanted. Zanu PF wants the Kariba Draft while MDC-T has also come up with its own proposals.

However, Mangwana refused to comment on the reports of violence saying they were rumours.

The constitution-making process was stalled in July due to lack of funds, disagreements and inter-party fighting over the control of the process.