Lessons and challenges from the coalition government of Zimbabwe and Kenya brought together civil society representatives from the two nations under the weeklong Utetezi exchange visit in Zimbabwe. Kenya’s civil society members are in Zimbabwe to share experiences particularly in areas of national healing and reconciliation, governments of national unity and the constitution making process. The similarities between the two nations are just too many to ignore as the social, political and economic challenges experienced by both nations depict a similar picture. The two nations were once colonised by Britain and they both inherited badly written constitutions, which failed to address marginalization and injustices perpetrated during the pre and post-colonial era. The failed promises of independence saw further marginalisation of people and alienation of fertile land as the political elite amended and manipulated the constitution for personal gain.

Political power is now being used as a gateway to riches as the majority continue to wallow in poverty.

One can easily describe these coalition governments currently running both nations as initiatives brought about not out of good faith, but out of frustration. Zimbabwe, just like Kenya shares the same history of rejected constitutions. In  2000 Zimbabwe passed a “NO” vote over a constitution, which they regarded as not people driven and the same happened in Kenya in 2005 when President Mwai Kibaki tried to fast track a constitution, which had no input from the people. The same debatable issue around executive powers of the president, land, devolution of power, accountability, the re-structuring of the political system, the rule of law characterise the constitution making history of the two nations.

The exchange visit also focused on the role of civil society in shaping political discourse. The recent crack down of dissenting voices in Zimbabwe, particularly the politicisation of the work of civil society indicates the growing concern over the urgent need for reforms. Zimbabwe’s civil society was urged not to lie dormant but take its rightful place in society.

The journey to national healing and reconciliation resulted in the formation of the Organ on National Healing in Zimbabwe and the adoption of the Human Rights Commission, which recently came under fire for lack of independence and capacity. One speaker said that “change is not an activity but a process”, the current transitional period, which Zimbabwe is currently going through, could be compared to the situation where Kenya was ten to fifteen years ago. A constitution can remain a piece of paper unless it is put to use to solve the social, political and economic problems facing the nation. And if the nation is to progress political leaders need to drop self-aspirations and question the status quo.

Pocket sized printed versions of the Constitution are distributed in Kenya.

As the summer of 2012 continues to be windy and dry almost everyone is now wondering what the Gods have in store for Zimbabwe this season. In the midst of jostling for political power and dishing out of farm inputs not much attention is being given to the weather patterns. The Meteorological Department Services recently indicated that the country is likely to face yet another dry season characterized by erratic rains. These predictions are slowly proving to be true as we are almost reaching midway of the summer season and very little rainfall has been recorded countrywide. March 2013 has been set as the month for holding the next elections in Zimbabwe. March is a month familiar with elections. During the month of March in 2008 the country experience food shortages, violence and hyperinflation. Elections in Zimbabwe bring nightmares to many, even worse when the rains have been erratic. Election fear and hunger will characterize the 2013 ballot. My spiritual fear leads me to think that maybe drought is a curse bestowed on elections in this country.

I have been bugging over the past few days, imagining and re-imagining the olive leaf Tsvangirai says he will extend to Zanu PF “moderates” when he assumes power. It appears to be a given that he will saunter into State House in the coming polls, never mind the doomsayers in the form of Freedom House.

But then Zanu PF does not think it is about to hand over the keys to anyone: Mugabe and his curious motley of Afro-optimists who nevertheless many say double as inveterate political misanthropes are firmly convinced Zanu PF will win.

It strikes me as kowtowing to the politics of meaningless appeasement when Tsvangirai says he will not hesitate to co-opt favoured Zanu PF officials into his perceived government. What is he saying about the men and women within the MDC-T who have dedicated their lives to unseating Zanu PF?  Are they less skilled in “statecraft,” to borrow from his own secretary general? And he would still have to be answerable to Zimbabweans who sprung him to power having these Zanuoids in his cabinet, that is if his own lieutenants allow it to happen.

If MT is surely sincere about this thing, I call it a thing because that’s what it is, he only pays into the hands of critics who say, he along with his top officials, remain Zanu PF at heart despite all pretence to the contrary, and we know such critics only have to point to what they see as his fabulous spending habits that only seeks to keep up with Zanu PF profligacy.

There is no one to appease in Zanu PF period. The only appeasing is the one he mentioned about appeasing the gods over the blood of pro-democracy activists!

The masses trust the MDC-T with their vote because of the promise of re-birth, of restoring Zimbabwe’s UDI economic juggernaut the same MDC-T policy czars love referring to but was decimated by Zanu PF.

Come on, this is politics, appointing Zanu PF officials into an MDC government is not only political folly of the highest order considering the fact that we know how the same people have plundered state resources to finance their political party activities, but we already know Zanu PF will never respond in like magnanimity in the event Mugabe beats Tsvangirai!

This is African politics for fuck’s sake where there has been cyclical abysmal failure to transplant “the US model of democracy” on the continent despite all evidence of parallel governments being run by the frivolous coalitions that defeat the whole concept of a truly bipartisan regime.

Perhaps MT has been misquoted, perhaps like Gabriel Shumba on the formation of his political party a few years ago, he was only joking, but this ain’t no laughing matter as he seems too eager to win over some Zanu PF folks, perhaps as his own political strategy that if he has them on their side, the military and other Zanu PF spoilers are kept in check?

Perhaps he needs to re-read the history of African politics and he will find that this fantasy will turn out to be a petard that will blow up on his already perforated face.

Conclusions from the Youth Agenda’s First Time Voters Training Camp.

1. The young people of Zimbabwe will tirelessly work towards resisting any machinations by the state machinery to subvert the will of the youths and the broader Zimbabwean society through the state sponsored technical and political frustration of young people to register as eligible voters. A declaration was made that with immediate effect youths will go back to their provinces and forthwith engage in a mass identification, recruitment and mobilisation of young voters in endeavors to chat a democratic dispensation for the country

2. Youths are fully aware of the political risks they will be exposed to as they execute their constitutional mandate of encouraging the broader societies to proclaim their right to vote and choose political leaders through popular participation and a democratic process. Youth Agenda Trust was mandated to set up networks with relevant institutions that offer social solidarity, legal aid, medical aid and psychosocial counseling to affected young people.

3. The state media remains partisan, unprofessional and irrelevant in disseminating crucial information to young people on the voting process. It was noted that the state media continues to be the epicentre of hate speech, indoctrination, intolerance and the instigation of political violence amongst young Zimbabweans. The youths resolved to set up a parallel political information programme that will flood the social media, mobile networks, print media, electronic media and community information centres that will act as the hub of informing and educating Zimbabweans on the electoral process and peaceful conduct during and after elections.

4. The camp resolved that young people will participate in the forthcoming elections  as candidates, election observers, to monitor the tabulation and transmission of election results and to mobilize Zimbabweans to a  peaceful action program that rejects any 2013 electoral outcome that is against the democratic will of Zimbabweans as expressed through the electoral process.

I was watching Hardtalk the other night. Stephen Sackur was interviewing William Ruto one of the presidential candidates in Kenya’s next election. Ruto and one other candidate are both currently facing charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague regarding alleged fanning of election violence in 2008. The next Kenyan election is March 2013 and many people are anticipating that it will be very violent. Which got me thinking that Mugabe’s decision to call an election in March in Zimbabwe is fairly cunning. Comparisons are odious but the violence that rocked Kenya’s last election made Zimbabwe’s look pretty peaceful. All eyes will be on the Kenyan election which will mean Zanu PF will have a lot of room to exercise their creative interpretation of the polling process.

Trouble Brewing in Zimbabwe – Constitution-Making in Crisis

Everyone knew that the constitution-making process in Zimbabwe would be fraught with tension as the two MDC formations and ZANU-PF battle out the terms of the country’s new Constitution. Much has been said about the futility of this process since ZANU-PF repeatedly indicated its eagerness to go into elections under its current Constitution. But much can be said for the clever shenanigans of the ZANU-PF negotiating team which appears ‘hell bent’ on creating a deadlock in the process.

Below are some of the less well-known aspects of ZANU-PF’s constitutional-drafting endeavours that came to light this week.

Some background first – in July 2012, the official constitution-drafting body, COPAC, published the second draft Constitution – something that can best be described as a negotiated settlement between the key parties after a politically motivated community consultation process. The draft Constitution did not bode well for the interests of ZANU-PF officials, so with a good dose of confidence, they rewrote the document to their liking and presented it with fanfare to COPAC and the nation. Of course this flouted the entire purpose of democratic constitution-drafting and lead to the MDC formations declaring a deadlock – thereby strengthening ZANU-PF’s argument for the need to go into elections under the current constitution, exactly what they wanted.

ZANU-PF‘s constitutional drafting is an absolutely fascinating read, revealing much of the inner psyche and paranoia of the party, and also their political skill and determination to hold on to power.

The first strategy of the Party focused on amending the draft Constitution to afford more power to the President – essentially, the amendments limits executive power to the President allowing him to do anything he wants without the need for consultation or accountability. According to ZANU-PF, Vice-Presidents should not be elected, but appointed by the President and they should be accountable to the President and not parliament. The amendments have removed any purpose in having a Cabinet or Speaker of Parliament. If ZANU-PF had their way, the President would also effectively be able to veto all Bills which they do not agree with. And when the President dies, or becomes incapacitated, his party can decide which of the Vice-Presidents should take over.

Giving the President more power is in direct contrast to the previously discussed proposal of devolution of power to lower structures and communities. This concept was widely supported by communities during the constitution-drafting process and included in the draft Constitution. Needless to say, devolution of power is not supported by ZANU-PF and was accordingly not included in their amended draft version of the Constitution.

The second strategy seems a calculated move to show their benevolence. ZANU-PF has inserted deliberate points aimed at appeasing communities who might be upset by the increased authoritarianism of ZANU-PF’s draft Constitution, for example:
• A new section has been inserted providing for the economic empowerment of war veterans;
• Youth between the ages of 15 and 35 are entitled to various rights in the amended version, including education and training (in addition to the rights already provided for children up the 18 years of age) and a separate right to sport and recreation has also been added to the Constitution;
• ZANU-PF’s amendments reduce the age of elderly from 70 years to 65 years and include access to free health care for the elderly.

The third strategy appears to be to limit international influence over ZANU-PF’s vision of an autocratic state. ZANU-PF has sought to delete, or ‘water down’ provisions aimed at applying international law to Zimbabwe. They deleted the provision providing for domestication of international instruments. To ensure that constitutional provisions cannot be given a broad interpretation, the party removed every phrase in the draft Constitution which referred to an “open, just and democratic society”. ZANU-PF also included a phrase allowing rights to be restricted based on “national security”.

The fourth strategy looks like typical electioneering politics, trying to appease conservative, traditional and religious sectors, and force the opposition to come out in support of minority groups. If ZANU-PF had their way, freedom to demonstrate and broadcast would be restricted to citizens and permanent residents. Dual citizenship is prohibited, and a foreigner married to a Zimbabwean can only obtain permanent residency after ten years, as opposed to the current requirement of five. The broad right to make decisions on reproduction included in the draft Constitution has been deliberately limited in ZANU-PF’s amended version to decisions on contraceptives, child-spacing and family-size. From the right to privacy, ZANU-PF has deleted the right not to have one’s health condition disclosed. Similarly, from freedom of the press, they have removed the protection of confidentiality of journalists’ sources. Finally, the status of traditional leaders is further strengthened. Specifically, ZANU-PF’s amendments remove the clause in the draft Constitution which prohibited traditional leaders from acting in a partisan manner, participating in political parties or violating the fundamental rights of persons.

As part of their fourth strategy, to present themselves as a ‘morally pure’ party, ZANU-PF has gone on an all-out attack on gays and lesbians. The organisation Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has been experiencing increased harassment for the past two weeks, with disruption of their meetings, assaults on their members, repeated arrests of members and staff, and raids on their offices. As part of this move, ZANU-PF’s draft amendments to the Constitution explicitly ban same-sex marriage and prohibit “homosexuality, gays and lesbian practices”. Whatever this unwieldy clause might mean, it suggests a full onslaught on people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity in the run-up to the elections.

As everyone holds their breath to see what will happen, the deadlock is an ominous sign of a party in crisis, holding on to their power with determination.

Written by Anneke Meerkotter, lawyer at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre
www.southernafricalawcenter.org