Monday, February 25, 2013
PEOPLE REJECT COPAC DRAFT
If recent results of a constitution debate on the YES\NO vote hosted by Crisis in Coalition, are anything to go by, then the politicians who are advocating for yes votes have everything to worry about because the people rejected the COPAC draft describing it as a weak and selfish draft meant to further the interests of politicians. COPAC co-chair Douglas Mwonzora,Virginia Muwanigwa from Womens coalition, Psychology Maziwisa from ZANU PF and Dr Charity Manyeruke from the University of Zimbabwe were advocating for a yes vote .On the other hand the No vote was represented by Clever Bere(NCA).Job Sikhala(MDC-99)Munyaradzi Gwisai(ISO)Simba Makoni(Mavambo).
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Speakers of the yes vote came one after the other trying to defend the draft constitution but to no avail. The people objected when Psychology Mazivisa stated that if ZANU PF was to win the coming elections, it will amend the constitution and this brought the discussion to a standstill. What this means is that people will have no say in the amendment process because this will be dealt with at party level. The audience noted that the current Lancaster house constitution was amended more than 18 times but still fell short in addressing real issues and this has been done over a period of more than 20years.What guarantee do people have that if they voted yes for the constitution, when the time to make amendments come, will they be consulted and how long will that take? Such an observation prompted people to question the motive behind the politicians call to vote for a yes come referendum time. The people even queried why the people were given only 3 weeks to read and analyse the draft and yet it took COPAC 4years to come with a draft.
Mwonzora tried as much as he could to fire fight for the yes vote but he could not extinguish the disgruntlement people had with the draft document. The people at the debate refused to allow political parties to continue misleading the people on the constitution by deceiving people about the so-called incremental gains purported to be in the draft. Even the representative from ZANU PF actually admitted that the draft falls short in terms of addressing issues and called it a ‘compromise “document among the political parties. In his presentation Mazivisa expressed his dislike of the draft constitution because it was a “compromise” document fully acknowledging that it fell short on party expectations .What is important to note is that the constitution has been about the political parties and this explains why they had closed door meetings to edit and horse-trade several clauses while the people of Zimbabwe were kept in the dark. For how long shall politicians be allowed to play old tricks on the people? Simply put, the draft seeks to protect the interests of whoever wins the next elections who will seek to amend the constitution to their own taste.
Those who were representing the no vote did well to critic the draft in an informed manner and managed to convince the audience that they should vote no in the coming referendum. Of major importance is that in the draft there was an age requirement for one to be president but there was no retirement age. The issue of having an all powerful executive was not welcomed by the audience.
As the election bell continues to toll towards judgement day, with the political parties using vast resources to whip and buy their supporters to vote yes in the coming referendum, it remains to be seen who will heed to such a call. This writer is more convinced that no progressive Zimbabwean would want to surrender the fate and future of coming generations to a bunch of inept and selfish leaders who tell people to vote “yes” so that their selfish ends are achieved.Zimabwe is more than ZANU PF and MDC. Who would want to vote yes for a draft that one political party would change to its own taste? Have people become that callous to surrender the destiny of this troubled country to politicians?
Dr Simba Makoni who maintained a neutral approach during the course of the debate blasted the advocates of the yes vote advising them to find better reasons, if any, on why the people should vote yes in the coming referendum. Even well known ZANU PF apologist Goodson Nguni described the draft constitution as “rubbish’.
Now is the time for those progressive Zimbabweans who are not confused and have not fallen prey to the stratagems by politicians, to put to an end this nonsense once and for all by voting NO in the coming referendum
If enough time is given for people to critically analyse the draft, they will see for themselves how monstrous the COPAC draft is.
Rawlings Magede is a rural political enthusiast who writes from Nkayi, Matebeleland North Province
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Friday, February 22, 2013
Why youth empowerment in Zimbabwe is a pipe dream
By Rawlings Magede
Over the years the Zimbabwe has witnessed many socio-political and economic changes. These changes have a direct effect on every age group. However, the most vulnerable group is the youth who remain at the mercy of circumstances.
With the scourge of unemployment running rampant, many fall unsuspectingly into the trap of being used for other selfish means by politicians.
The youth constitute the majority of the population, this entails that whenever there is any economic haemorrhage and meltdown, and they are affected the most. Despite this, over the years, the youth have played servitude and prostration at the hands of politicians who have continued to use them as barricades against leadership change and renewal.
The problem we have in Zimbabwe today is that those in positions of leadership are not prepared to relinquish their privileges so as to accommodate the plight of the suffering masses ( youths included)such as dealing with the high rate of unemployment, either because of ideological deficiency and selfishness.
Such elements turn to the youth for political survival. Zimbabwe has a wanton record of political led violence. Every time the country goes for elections, violence characterizes the process and it is a morass to a peaceful political transition. All this stifles the democratic process.
Despite having many organizations that purport to advance the concerns of the youth, the majority of youth remain vulnerable to manipulation by politicians. I am not sure if I should conclude that these organizations are not doing enough to advance and raise awareness among the relevant stakeholders.
The youth remain unemployed and destitute and this means that as long as the youth remain unemployed, political violence can never be eradicated.
A telling example is the OLD mutual Youth Fund that was politicized from the beginning. To date many youths still live under false hope that their projects are still being considered.
Despite the Ministry of Youth and empowerment stating that the agricultural sector received the largest allocation of funds under the Old Mutual Youth Development Fund that was being administered by CABS since 2009, it remains to be seen what the so-called agricultural projects will yield.
Acccording to the ministry the agricultural sector received 34% of the grant, distribution took 315%,manufacturing 23%,service 11% and mining .The ordinary youth still questions the opaque manner in which the fund was disbursed. The mystery of why their project proposals were turned down continues to haunt many today.
The youth ministry also allege that the fund also benefited youths from Nyanga, Mutare, Macheke, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Hwange and Gweru. If what the ministry is saying is anything to go by, then an audit of how the youth fund was disbursed is needed to find out if the process was not done in a partisan manner.
The audit should be done by an independent commission made of members from civic society, youth leaders from communities and political parties. A cursory cross checking of facts reveals that the fund was abused or diverted for other “projects”.
Recent media reports suggest that The Zimbabwe Youth council that three quarters of the youth who benefited from the fund diverted the money meant for projects.
“Some of you are now asking the reason why we are have resorted to paying for what one would have applied to get for his or her project because the money is being diverted,” Livingston Dzikira Zimbabwe Youth Council Director told reporters in Nyanga at the UNICEF workshop.
“So far from the people who have benefited, 70% of them have diverted the funds. Some have taken the loans to pay lobola and those are the same people you seem at public forums denouncing the program”.
This reveals serious levels of corruption and graft. In the first place why was the process done secretly? Why did the ministry of youth not do a wide consultation across the country to assess the projects? If the youth council knows as Dzikira clearly states the names of people who abused the fund, what has his office done to deal with such gross abuse of funds?
The youth fund was politicized from from the beginning when Vice president Joice Mujuru officiated the programme under the watchful eye of Kasukuwere. This they saw an opportunity to drum up support for ZANU PF and revive its waning popularity.
It’s a pity that most youths not aligned to ZANU actually wasted their time and resources coming with project proposals with the hope of having their proposals approved. It’s not given that half of the youth in the country are politically affiliated to any party, there are some who are just concerned about leading normal lives.
Livingston Dzikira admitted that as far as the disbursing of funds was concerned, he had no oversight and control whatsoever. Asked by reporters at the same occasion of his affiliation to Zanu-PF which has raised concerns by the public over how deserving youths benefit from youth empowerment programme Dzikira said he follows orders given to him by Saviour Kasukuwere, the minister of Youth Empowerment Minister who is Zanu-PF.
“I am an employee, who reports to the board and when the body is not present I give reports directly to the responsible Minister and it is impossible for you to separate me from that otherwise I get fired, “he said.
In other words what he was saying is that the youth fund was meant for ZANU PF youths, all he does in his capacity as director is to process finalized suggestions of names from Kasukuwere. Why then did Old mutual and the ministry of youth bother the ordinary youth to apply for the fund when they knew that the fund was meant for ZANU PF youths?
The youths had to scavenge for money to prepare and photocopy the project documents when in actual fact they were not qualified for the fund before they even applied.
One startling fact is that Kasukuwere is deputized by Tongai Matutu from MDC-T, the peoples’ party of excellence”. What is excellent about the MDC when it cannot question such an injustice as far as the disbursing of the youth fund is concerned.
Matutu and his other comrades from the MDC are still obsessed with the luxuries of being in government that come with luxurious cars and bogus allowances while neglecting their role in government? The MDC ministers should not be anyone’s tool in government; they should at least denounce such injustices from within government.
The reality within the Ministry of Youth is depressing; no backbone, no drives towards empowering youth save for those affiliated to ZANU PF.
Most youth organizations that claim to stand for the plight of the youth are just lily-livered opportunists united by money and the anti-Mugabe mantra but who remain mentally and materially beholden to other people who in most cases are politicians.
The real youth that they claim to represent are just imaginary and non-existent. Many of them just play “a watch and see attitude” even whenever they should advocate.
Despite Zimbabwe being a signatory of many international conventions that respect the role of the youth in economic and political issues, Zimbabwean youths remain on the sidelines in as far as issues of governance and their welfare are concerned. The Zimbabwe Peoples Charter section on youth clearly states that;
“Believing that at all given times the youth, both female and male, represent the present and the future of our country and that all those in positions of leadership nationally and locally must remain true to the fact that our country shall be passed on from one generation to the next.
The People state that, in order for each generation to bequeath to the next a country that remains the epitome of hope, democracy and sustainable livelihoods, the following principles for the youth must be adhered to and respected:
The youth shall be guaranteed the right to education at all levels until they acquire their first tertiary qualification.
The youth shall be guaranteed an equal voice in decision-making processes that not only affect them but the country as a whole in all spheres of politics, the national economy and social welfare.
The youth shall be guaranteed access to the right to health.
The youth shall not be subject to political abuse through training regimes that connote political violence or any semblance of propaganda that will compromise their right to determine their future as both individuals and as a collective.
The youth have the right to associate and assemble and express themselves freely of their own prerogative.”
The inclusive government has fallen short in addressing any of the tenets of the people’s charter.
The principles in the peoples’ charter on youth are social welfaristic that harness together all the socio-economic ills that affect youths daily. The inclusive government continues to sideline the youth in issues such constitution reform, tertiary education, social welfare and health.
I am yet to understand what it means to be a youth in Zimbabwe. Does it mean that you must be a member of a political party youth wing that is used to unleash violence against an innocent, exposed and vulnerable electorate and be given trinkets as a form of reward or be a member of a youth organization where you are allowed certain privileges I don’t know.
May the real youth stand up!!
Rawlings Magede writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on rawedge699@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
THE CURSE WITH THE “YES” VOTE
The COPAC led process has been nothing but a circus so blatantly diverted by politicians leaving a lot of questions unanswered for the common man to question whether if the sole responsibility of writing this law of the land is for a few privileged politicians. Zimbabwe is ours too!
Many still question why the constitution has been reduced to a contest of just three political parties namely ZANU PF and MDC formations instead of the whole nation. This poison that has been injected into our nation must be eliminated because the people of Zimbabwean are not as docile as what the politicians take them to me. While this debate of who should write a constitution appears more poignant with each passing day, what lies ahead of us is not only an onerous task but an important choice to be made by the whole nation that will shape the next generation. It is a task that must be executed with caution by every Zimbabwean. It’s high time we get over the politics of thinking that everything in Zimbabwe starts and ends with Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
“Vote Yes” has been the ZANU PF and the two MDC formations war cry and they have been trying so hard to convince the people of Zimbabwe to support their party positions, they have continued to pursue various subterranean devices, they have gone on an offensive preaching green lies to their supporters about how good the constitutional draft is. If this is not a scandal of untold proportions, then nothing is. But what’s key to note here is that their supporters are not unthinking robots as they think, but they are human beings with reason and intellect and capable of making informed decisions not because Morgan or Robert advised them to vote yes. It is just political gibberish and daydreaming not supported by any empirical evidence to believe that any progressive Zimbabwean will hearken to the dictates from the political parties.
Given the foregoing, the political parties have upped their game in their pursuit of the yes vote by sloganeering the yes vote whenever they get the chance, but the question is what exactly are people voting for when they vote yes? In the end who is going to have the last laugh? I was amused by the high levels of ignorance people have towards the constitution draft. Recently I had a discussion with a close friend of mine about the draft. He didn’t know that in the new constitution the President may at any time remove the Attorney-General from office. What this means is that if the incumbent president chooses to protect his supporters or apologists from prosecution, the attorney general will have to comply with the presidents’ directive, and failure to do so will result in dismissal.
Having such a provision in the constitution allows or gives room for the selective application of the law. If we look at the prosecution of human right defenders and opposition supporters in the last decade especially under the current Attorney General,Tomana,results of torture, kidnapping and killing by state agents has been on the prowl and it is sad to note that none of these perpetrators have been brought to book. For how long should the country continue stalking under the heel of oppression in as far as selective application of the law is concened? Time would fail me if I am to talk about executive authority. The COPAC draft falls short in addressing issues that affect us on a day to day basis therefore the people of Zimbabwe should reject it by voting a big “NO”. Many will ask what happens next if we vote no. What means is that the whole process will start all over again. This will send a direct message to the politicians to put people first.
Those in power and the ones aspiring to get into power are seeking to preserve their interests and the price or sacrifice for such a parochial goal is the ordinary Zimbabwean. This writer is aware that it is natural because of sin, for a robber to protect his loot. The murderer has to continue murdering so as to protect his own life and interest but generally there is a hangman, so is the eternal fitness of all human power has an end, today for him, maybe tomorrow for you. Zimbabweans have been taken for granted for many years and if people can be honest with each other for a moment, we will find out that people have been sidelined from the onset. Firstly the politician tempered with people’s views captured in the national report and replaced them with their own. It is also important to note that the additions and subtraction in the national report were effected during “closed meetings,” far away from people. No one knew the contents of the deliberations.
It is true that the glamour of materialism has to a greater degree destroyed the innocence and purity of the national conscience in Zimbabwe given the suffering that people are going through, but, still beyond our politics, beyond our soulless industrialism, generations after us are going to pay for our careless and treasonous negligence if we always at according to the dictates of politicians. Why should the next generation suffer for crimes that we can solve today? Voting yes to such a treasonous draft will perpetuate the politics of patronage which will continue to haunt generations to come. Why should politicians rush people into voting for a draft that has shortcomings so that they protect their interests?
How can COPAC delay publishing the national report that has can people’s views and yet it has come up with a draft that is meant to deceive people into believing that it contains their views captured during the outreach programmes.What lies! The shameful thing about this COPAC process is that the political parties are not even remorseful while doing such a treasonous and poisonous act. Common sense and remorse has suddenly disappeared even from the most parties that shamefully call themselves the “people’s party.”
It is against such a background that the same politicians, who have perpetrated unwarranted suffering on the people through demonic and moronic policies such as the indigenization and empowerment, are coming back to the people begging for a “yes” vote come referendum time to extend their looting schemes, yet when they were adding and subtracting the contents of people’s views, they never cared to consult people.
The choice is yours Zimbabwe.
Rawlings Magede is a rural political enthusiast who writes from Nkayi, Matebeleland North province. He can be contacted on rawedge699@gmail.com
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