Constitutions do matter

An article on the ZBC website posted on the 27^th of March 2012 suggests that ordinary people in Zimbabwe do not think that a new constitution is a priority. They posit that the people are more interested in ‘bread and butter’ issues than in a new constitution. While it is true that a new constitution on its own is not a panacea to our political and socio-economic problems, it is also true that the supreme law governs how we are governed by those we elect to power. In that sense I would argue that a new constitution is a prerequisite if we are to deal with the plethora of problems affecting our motherland.

I am not a legal scholar so I will avoid making legal arguments. However, my understanding of a constitution is that it allows us to increase or reduce the power that we give to the arms of government – the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. A good constitution allows people to put safeguards as well as checks and balances on the people we elect to power. The current constitution allows the President to have unlimited executive powers that mean that he can make judicial appointments after ‘consulting’ the Judicial Services Commission, which he also appoints. Under the current constitution the President appoints the Defence Forces Chiefs, the Commissioner General of Police, the CIO Director, etc without oversight from anyone. Therefore, the people appointed to these posts are answerable to the President rather than the people of Zimbabwe. This is what has created the problems that are bedevilling our country. A new constitution allows us, if we choose, to take these powers from one person and give them to Parliament. It allows us, if we choose, to give parliament oversight over all Presidential appointments. Any Presidential appointments would need to be confirmed by parliament before taking effect. This would mean an extra layer of checks to ensure that the President does not use the resources of the state to reward his cronies.

It would help illuminate this discussion if we knew what question or questions were asked the participants in this survey. It would also help to know how many people were asked the question to establish whether this is a representative sample. More importantly it would be important to establish the gender, education, religion, political views of the participants. However, this will make the discussion complicated. Let us stick to the simple argument put forward by the writer of the ZBC article. Let us examine the premise of the writer’s argument which is that, “Ordinary Zimbabweans say the current constitution making exercise, which has gobbled millions of dollars, is not a priority in a country where the majority of people are concerned with bread and butter issues.” This suggests that the writer/researcher is concerned about the cost of writing a new constitution at a time when that money could be directed to other ‘worthy causes’. If the survey question(s) were framed based on this premise then you would expect anyone living on the fringes of the Zimbabwean economy to say a constitution is not a priority when asked whether the money could be directed to other causes such as the failing water and sanitation in the capital city. But this argument is flawed because it assumes that because writing a new constitution costs a lot of money then we should not invest in it. The same argument could be made about elections. Elections cost millions which could be directed at improving the generation of electricity or to give loans to the new farmers. Following this logic, then elections would not be a priority for ordinary Zimbabweans. That indeed is absurd. There is a case to be made against the process and the end product of this process but that does not make rewriting our constitution a worthless exercise.

An unnamed person is quoted on the ZBC website: “I don’t even know how this constitution is going to benefit me, what I want at the moment is survival and I think government should prioritise hunger alleviation and improving our welfare,” said one Harare resident. The reason we have been reduced to ‘survival’ and ‘welfare’ is because those we entrusted with the levers of power made decisions on our behalf. In our name they made decisions without having to consult us that led to the economy haemorrhaging to death. The powers given to individuals and entities by the Zimbabwean constitution determine how they exercise power over us. It is, therefore, true that our current political and socio-economic situation is a direct result of our constitutional dispensation. The laws that we have in Zimbabwe have been shaped by the interaction between our politics and our constitution. I know some will argue that the constitution has been subverted as well as serially amended by the Zanu PF government but that is exactly the reason why we need to rewrite the constitution. The constitutional amendment that created the overarching Executive Presidency which is now part of our current constitution has allowed the President to wield more power than that of both houses of parliament. An individual can legislate and overrule all our elected representatives because our constitution allows him/her to. This is not about Robert Mugabe but about both the present and the future. If Robert Mugabe loses the next election his successor will still have the absolute monarchist powers that have been largely responsible for the crisis that we are currently going through. So I would want to say to Harare resident and others – Constitutions do matter. If we are going to shape the society that we want then the best way to articulate our values, beliefs, norms, etc is to have a new constitution.

I know that there are a lot of problems facing ordinary people in our country but we need to put the constitutional debate in context. Costs are not everything. We need to look at the Cost-Benefit analysis to get a clearer picture. I think that whatever money we spend on Constitution making or elections is money well spent if this helps to shape the political direction that we want our nation to take. We should not let those who want the preserve the status quo in the constitutional dispensation scare us by quoting the costs out of context. Once we go down this road we will have others arguing that because elections cost money then holding elections regularly is not a priority. I hope that it is only a minority of our people who hold similar views to those of residents quoted in the ZBC report because Constitutions do matter.

Zanu PF politicians protecting their ill-gotten fortune

One has often wondered what drives senior Zanu PF (ZPF) and security people who  are prepared to use violence to keep Robert Mugabe in power. We are constantly reminded of the nationalist credentials of those at the top of the ZPF side of government and at the top of the military machine (police, army, CIO). They often claim that they are protecting the country from those trying to give away the country to the British and American imperialists.

Now these claims have been put to question after Phillip Chiyangwa clearly stated why the ZPF big wigs and top military men are afraid of Mugabe losing power. In an article dated 21st November 2011 he is quoted in the Newsday as saying, “There is no Zanu PF politician or relative of the President with riches who feels safe (if Tsvangirai won) because MDC wants to pounce on us and on our businesses”. This clearly shows how under Mugabe they have been allowed to do their businesses without any oversight. The ‘lootocracy’ that Mugabe and ZPF created in their more than thirty years in government could be under threat if a new government comes to power. Anyone whose business dealings are above board would not fear the coming of a new government but those whose sudden fortunes cannot be explained have a lot to fear from the election of a new government. Men and women who have worked in public service for the last twenty to thirty years now have million dollar business empires that are not commensurate with their earnings in the last thirty years. Where did they get this kind of money?

The violence that we have witnessed in recent elections has nothing to do with ‘protecting the gains of the liberation struggle’; it has nothing to do with the fear that a new government will return the country to whites and imperialists. This is not an attempt to protect Zimbabwe. It is an unashamed attempt to protect the businesses and riches of the Zanu PF politicians or relatives of President Mugabe. The merchants of death and violence sponsoring and authoring violence in cities and villages are motivated by nothing other than selfish interests. The families that have lost homes and family members because they support the opposition MDC haven’t been targeted because they pose a threat to Zimbabwe but to the ‘riches’ of Mugabe’s men. What has been dubbed the Third or Fourth Chimurenga is a war to ensure that ZPF politicians are not asked to account for how they got their ‘riches’.

It is sickening that ZPF is willing to make Zimbabweans suffer in order to protect the riches of the few. The selfishness is staggering. This is how much ZPF politicians and the President’s relatives have lost touch with the ideals of the liberation struggle. Gutsaruzhinji is now Gutsavakuru. Judging by the tone of Chiyangwa’s address we can expect a bloody election campaign as ZPF politicians and their hangers on in the politicised army, police and secret service seek to keep ZPF in power. They will murder, torture and maim Zimbabweans to protect the riches of the ZPF ruling class. God help us all!

Mugabe's Dilemma

These are interesting times in ZANU PF (ZPF) as the party grapples with the fallout from the leaked US diplomatic cables. Wikileaks has finally caught up with ZPF. All the ZPF singers had a field day when the first cables of the conversations between US diplomats and members of the MDC were published. There were enthusiastic calls for people to be charged with treason. One of the loudest proponents of this course of action was Jonathan Moyo, MP. One wonders what he thinks now that it has been revealed that he also spoke to the Americans; even calling for regime change.

For a party that expelled Tracy Mutinhiri because of suspected links to MDC T (a lawfully constituted and registered political party) to not do something to people who dared to speak to the ‘hated’ Americans would be unbelievable. It would be hypocrisy at its highest for ZPF to expel Mutinhiri and yet do nothing to senior leaders who prostituted themselves to the Americans. So what will Mugabe do? Will he expel all the rebels who clearly feel that he has become a liability to the party and to the country?

One of the hawks in ZPF, Didymus Mutasa, is quoted in the media suggesting that those who engaged the US diplomats should be sanctioned. This issue will play right into the feisty succession debate currently engulfing the former ruling party. What must be playing on Mugabe’s mind is the potential of this tearing apart a party that is already fragile from the reported infighting. Chances are that if senior members of the party are suspended or expelled on the basis of the leaked cables then the infighting could potentially become a full on war which leaves the party terminally wounded. ZPF is a sick party and is unlikely to survive the upheaval that faces the party as it seeks to deal decisively with the ‘traitors’ who shared party secrets with US diplomats.

One way to deal with this would be to discredit the leaked cables as untrue and unfounded. This would allow ZPF to move on without having to do anything. However, discrediting the cables means that ZPF cannot then use them against the opposition. The ZPF Attorney General Johannes Tomana’s attempt to charge opposition politicians on the basis of evidence from the cables would automatically fall away. I am reliably informed by people with a greater understanding of Zimbabwe’s criminal law than mine that Tomana’s chances of successfully prosecuting the cases was nonexistent but it didn’t matter as long as it was MDC people being persecuted (prosecuted).

Another problem for Mugabe is that up to now he has maintained the myth that it is people outside ZPF who were calling for his departure. He has always claimed that it is the western ‘puppets’ in the MDC who have been pushing the agenda for regime change. This has now been shown to be the myth it has always been. The recent leaked cables reveal that significant numbers of ZPF officials want him to go. There is a growing consensus in Zimbabwe and in ZPF that Mugabe has become a liability. This is significant because it means that Mugabe can no longer claim that it is only Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders who want him out. It takes away the argument that we have heard ad nauseum from Mugabe and his party. The list of people who are reported to have spoken to the Americans reads like the Who is Who in ZPF and they all want Mugabe. Those of us who have always wanted Mugabe and his party to leave power will feel vindicated that even those closest to him feel that his time is up.

The other thing that has been revealed by these cables is that despite their public protestations people in ZPF want to impress the Americans. This could explain the anger in ZPF over the issue of targeted sanctions. Those in ZPF seem to have been competing for the approval of the mighty USA. The coming weeks and months will be interesting. We will keep watching the space!

A Lybian transitional authority that includes Gaddafi will be a farce

The African Union (AU) has once again shown that it is a club of leaders who are largely out of touch with the aspirations of the African people. In an effort to protect its major benefactor, the Union is now proposing a Kenyan/Zimbabwean-style government of national unity for Lybia. The colonel himself sensing an opportunity has quickly dispatched his spokesperson to tell the world that Gaddafi is ready to negotiate with the rebels. What Gaddafi knows is that if a Kenyan/Zimbabwean-style transitional authority is constituted then he will remain in power. His powers will remain largely unchanged. Where was Gaddafi in the last six months? Why didn’t he offer to negotiate before he was on the run?

The African Union has protected and consolidated the power of those who lost elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The transitional authorities in both Kenya and Zimbabwe were about Kibaki and Mugabe rather than the people of Kenya and Zimbabwe. It will be a farce for Gaddafi to emerge from whatever ‘hole’ he is hiding in to lead Lybia again. I agree with many other commentators who say that the AU is on the wrong side of history. We have seen how the ‘national unity’ government in Zimbabwe has not been able to achieve its intended aims because of Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF. Once he had been saved by his friends in SADC and AU it was business as usual for Robert Mugabe. The GNU gave Mugabe legitimacy and gave him a strong negotiating position which hitherto he did not have.

Lybians should resist this blatant attempt by the AU to give a lifeline to Gaddafi. Only a few days ago Gaddafi was calling the freedom fighters rats and calling for their deaths. Now that he is cornered he is now trying to pretend that he is prepared to negotiate. It is common knowledge that once his attempt to make Lybia an Arab nation had failed Gaddafi embraced the AU and invested huge sums of money in the organisation. The AU budget has relied on the benevolence of the Lybian strong man for many years now. It is, therefore, impossible for the AU to be impartial in this conflict. The AU is not interested in the aspirations of the Lybian people. The organisation owes its very existence to Gaddafi and his vision for a United States of Africa so it will do everything possible to keep him in power.

It is farcical for the AU to suggest that Lybians do not know what is good for their country. Thousands left their homes, jobs, universities and families to join the ‘rebel’ army. Some left the comfort of life in Europe and America to join the freedom fighters because they believed that Gaddafi should be removed from power. They did not join the war in order to allow Gaddafi to return as head of a government of national unity. Mooting a transitional authority for Lybia that includes Muammar Gaddafi is like kicking the people of Lybia in the teeth. Gaddafi has made his own bed and he should be allowed to lie in it. The AU should stay out of Lybia.

Time to reflect on the meaning of Independence

In a few days we will be celebrating 31 years of ‘freedom’ from colonial rule. The word freedom implies that people are free; free to do as they please within the law. Free to participate in the political discourse of their country without the fear of being brutalised. I am not sure that as Zimbabweans we can claim to be free in this sense.

31 years ago Zimbabwe became a state ‘…which governs itself independently of any foreign power’ (Bouvier’s Law Dictionary). This gave us the power ‘…to make laws, to execute and to apply them: to impose and collect taxes, and, levy, contributions; to make war or peace; to form treaties of alliance or of commerce with foreign nations….’ A new state with a majority government was born. We set out on a journey to the future.

I vividly remember the euphoria that engulfed the nation when ZANU PF came to power in 1980. Everyone was flapping their arms like a cockerel to show their joy that Jongwe had won. For the first time the majority black Zimbabweans had a say in how they were governed. As a grade 1 pupil I didn’t understand what this meant but I clearly understood that the people were happy. My teacher then, Miss Muganhu (later Mrs Kadhani) walked into class that day flapping her arm and with a huge smile. As I grew up I was to always associate that smile with the joy that people felt at gaining independence.

The euphoria translated into delivery as in the first decade of independence Robert Mugabe led a government that declared a policy of reconciliation, built more schools, funded universal primary education, and implemented many other policies that changed people’s lives. There was hope. I am a product of the heavy investment in education. Those of us who went to school and university after 1980 suddenly found ourselves with opportunities that had been closed to non-whites during the colonial period. The work of ZIPRA and ZANLA in the liberation struggle was paying off. Zimbabwe was prospering.

So 31 years on what is there for those who took advantage of the opportunities presented to them by independence? What is there for our children? ZANU PF gave us an education; they made us aware of the power of one man one vote. ZAPU and ZANU introduced us to democracy through the 1980 elections. It is ironic therefore, that both ZAPU and ZANU have collaborated to take away the power of our vote. In the post 1987 era ZANU and ZAPU became ZANU PF and they have systematically taken back the powers that we wildly celebrated in 1980. Now the country that started with great promise is a shadow of its former self. Many of those who went round flapping their ‘wings’ in 1980 are in their fifties and sixties. They should be looking forward to peaceful retirement but instead they are being kept awake by two things; the prospect of extreme poverty in retirement and the fear of being branded a member of the opposition. Those of us who are younger are kept awake by the fact that while those able to vote in 1980 got a chance to change the way they were governed and who governed them we cannot do that now because a cabal of ZANU and ZAPU leaders have conspired to take away this right from us. They gave us an education but their policies have taken away the jobs. They introduced democracy to our parents who in turn inculcated it in us but now they are taking away our votes.

It is this light that we have to reflect on the 31 years of independence. The joy we felt in 1980 has dissipated. We feel cheated. We are effectively under a new colonialism authored and finished in 1987 by ZAPU and ZANU. Those who freed us from the chains of colonialism have now chained us to a rogue nationalist agenda that forces us to support ZANU PF or die. The power of our vote has been removed as those tasked with adjudicating the electoral contests are not impartial. Your vote has full value or double value if you vote for ZANU PF but it has half or no value if you vote for the opposition. 31 years on millions of the born free generation are living in foreign lands running away from the economic and political meltdown presided over by the liberation parties. 31 years on the born free generation watches in horror as those who promised a land of milk and honey are enriching themselves while the masses are languishing in poverty. This is the legacy that ZANU PF has bequeathed us. 31 years of ‘liberation’ have no meaning for most young people. While much was achieved in the early years of independence the last ten years have been largely forgettable.