I recently had the opportunity to interview Rosemary Siyachitema, the Executive Director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe. A few days previously I had seen a headline in Newsday shockingly titled ‘CCZ urges Price Freeze’. Having lived through the pre-dolarisation price controls I couldn’t wait to take Ms Siyachitema to task for being so irresponsible. As it turns out the headline was misleading.

Upenyu: I read an article in Newsday titled CCZ Urges Price Freeze which was an advisory from you about the size of the consumer basket. Zimbabwean still have vivid recollections from price freezing in the past. Is this what you meant to say?

Rosemary Siyachitema: That is not what I was saying at all! I said I saw no reason why prices should increase considering that prices in Zimbabwe are already high. Saying that does not mean that there should be a price freeze. In this environment we see that prices keep increasing yet salaries are not moving at the same pace. I never said anything about price controls; I think there should be some kind of balance in our economy. You can’t keep asking consumers to tighten their belts. My other issue is that what kind of person do we want to create in Zimbabwe? A poor one or somebody who is able to survive? The way we are going we are creating poorer and poorer people. We are not bridging the gap we are creating poverty.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) recently launched their publication titled “Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Drafts – Comparison and Recommendations”. In the foreword ZHLR notes that constitution-making is not a new phenomenon in Zimbabwean history, and that since independence Zimbabwe has had one constitution and three major draft constitutions. During the launch, ZLHR Director, Irene Petras said her organisation hoped that those involved in the COPAC process would use the publication as well as the SADC Protocols as guidelines for the constitutional draft.

The publication reviews key provisions of the three major constitutional drafts and seeks to set out critical issues which should be addressed in any constitution under various thematic areas.

Guest of honour, Human Rights defender Beatrice Mtetwa, also noted that Constitution making has become a habit in Zimbabwe. She deplored the conditions in which the current process was taking place, and said that if a constitution did result it would only serve as a transitional document.

The COPAC process has been marred by reports of violence, intimidation and coaching. These charges are largely levelled at ZANU PF and some factions of war veterans. Despite the appearance of heavily influencing the views included, ZANU PF has increasingly distanced itself from the current process.

A Central Committee report tabled by President Robert Mugabe at the party’s conference in Bulawayo last year, resolved that “ZANU PF reserve[d] the right to dissociate itself from a draft constitution which seeks to undermine the cardinal goals of our national liberation struggle and our national culture and values.” It is likely that this decision was informed by a critique prepared for ZANU PF COPAC Co-Chairperson Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana by Goodwills Masimiremwa and Jacob Mudenda, both of whom are technical experts seconded by ZANU PF to oversee the Constitutional process. The critique was allegedly leaked to an online news publisher. Subsequently the first four chapters of the draft Constitution were leaked and published in the Herald.

The critique alleges that the Constitutional drafters are misdirected, and are drafting a constitution informed by their individual values, characterised by reference to constitutions of other countries they admired. Further, Masimiremwa and Mudenda state that the drafters have not been given the National Report to use as a reference, thus the draft does not accurately reflect the views canvassed during the outreach programme. The issues of contention include the rights given to LGBTI persons, abolishment of the death penalty, expanding citizenship by birth to include citizenship by descent and allowing dual citizenship.

Reading a report by the Research and advocacy unit this morning I came across an interesting fact, the most commonly reported perpetrators of political violence are non state actors. It’s not the first time I’ve read or seen this. A mini-documentary about political violence during the 2008 harmonised elections last year featured eminent political scientists stating the same fact.

Considering the long and emotional debates I’ve had with the war vet I am vexed that it’s taken such a long time to hit home. If the most commonly reported perpetrators are non state actors, why do we equate political violence to state sponsored violence? Clearly these are not the same thing. Knowing this, it is not then possible to consider that the State itself has assumed this indictment and so refuses to prosecute rather than risk the appearance of tacit acknowledgement. The fact of who is perpetrating the violence has been conflated with the state’s complicity by not acting to prevent and deter it. In the public and international mind it is the state, or rather the Mugabe regime half of the state, that perpetrates violence, leaving the actual perpetrators, who exploit political tensions to mask their activities, blameless. How do we deal with violence if at the outset we place the entire burden of responsibility on the wrong party?

I’m in full support of Minister Biti’s ban on second hand underwear. I just don’t support his logic for it. Biti is variously quoted as saying

“I am told we are now even importing women’s underwear in this country. How does that happen? If you are a husband and you see your wife buying underwear from the flea market, you would have failed”

I’m not certain how many men have an intimate knowledge of the details of their partner’s under garments, but I would wager very few. Be it La Senza or Mupedzanhamo, barring stains and large gaping holes, I quite doubt the ability of the average Zimbabwean man to be able to tell the difference. The only time men really seem to notice is when it is unattractive. And how many really care? More importantly, are we as women willing to let them? It seems to me that millions of women all over the world, including Zimbabwe, have struggled for sole custody of their bodies and the right to clothe them as they see fit. In other words, except for the obvious health and safety issues which are the government’s and particularly the Minister of Health’s concern, it is neither the government’s nor the Minister of Finance’s business where women buy their underwear.

ZZICOMP (ZESN, ZPP and ZLHR Independent Constitution Monitoring Project), a collaborative project between ZESN, ZLHR and ZPP, launched their ‘Final Report: Shadowing the Constitution Outreach Process’. ZZICOMP’s goal is to monitor, observe and report on the work of the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC), the public outreach programme, the work of the Thematic Committees and the Drafting Committee, and the final document produced in order to adjudge how democratic and the transparent the constitution making process is and if it accurately reflects the input of broad and diverse popular participation.

420 mobile monitors who were accredited by COPAC observed 4 533 outreach meetings in the 210 constituencies of the country. The monitors and recorded the proceedings including the atmosphere, pre-meeting events and the view expressed by citizens. The observers reported the efforts made by COPAC teams to remain impartial in the process; however they also observed coaching of the public by political parties. The mobile monitors also reported incidence of violence and intimidation especially in the Mashonaland provinces.

Among the findings in the report:
-There was equal participation in the constitution making process by both men and women
-By the end of the programme a cumulative total of 716 340 participants had been recorded with monthly attendances of 7% in June, 21% in July, 28% in August, 42% in September and 2% in October
-Adults accounted for 79% of the total number of participants
-There was a disturbing dearth of information about the outreach programme in most rural communities. The lack of information was worsened by COPACs tendency to rely on urban-based media to communicate to the public
-Political interference in the COPAC process was omnipresent accounting for 28% of the total number of violations. Observers noted the most common techniques being: chanting of political slogans, singing of political songs, bussing in of participants, organising participants along party lines, using opening prayers to express party positions on the constitution.
-State media coverage on the outreach consultations remained heavily partisan and skewed towards one political party, ZANU PF.

In the report’s conclusion ZZICOMP noted that:

the operational framework for constitutional outreach consultations was inhospitable to open debate. At most meetings in both rural and urban areas, debate was generally subdued, with the outreach process under the control of various political parties. Although MDC-T presence was visible at most venues, overall, ZANU PF appeared to be more dominant and even dictated the content of most proposals.

Find out more:

- Zimbabwe ten years on: Results and prospects, Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros
- Fast Track Land Reform and Agricultural Productivity in Zimbabwe, Precious Zikhali
- Zimbabwe’s land reform: A summary of findings, Ian Scoones, Nelson Marongwe, Blasio Mavedzenge, Felix Murimbarimba, Jacob Mahenehene & Chrispen Sukume

Contact African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS)