The Constitution is not about Regime Change
We can no longer deny that the hopes and aspirations of the Zimbabwean people have been usurped by politicians. Neither ZANU PF nor MDC may claim innocence in illegally seizing what was supposed to be a ‘people driven’ constitution making process and manipulating it for their own political ends. In truth neither party has the people’s wishes at heart.
In Pambazuka, Maxwell V Madzikanga writes that the process has become a ‘tokenistic exercise for the rich corrupt and powerful’:
A national constitution is not a political and partisan document and thus all political and non-political actors in Zimbabwe were expected to unite around this very noble cause. This did not happen as politicians from the major political parties selfishly and parochially promoted their partisan position at the expense of national virtues, ethos, rationality and reason.
The constitution is not about regime change. The constitution-making phase was not supposed to be a stone-throwing, political space expansion exercise, sovereignty-induced visitations to the rural areas. The forums were supposed to be focus group reflections, listening tours and detailed discussions of fundamental, all and cross-generational ethos, virtues, values and thinking. The consultations were supposed to dialogical, discursive, give and take clinics and memorable encounters in the life and history of a republic in general and all stakeholders in particular. Sadly, this was not the case. A process that could have been harnessed to promote national unity and reconciliation ended up being hijacked by political heavy weights that stubbornly postured and arrogantly promoted their partisan agendas.
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