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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