Zimbabwe: A scrutiny of the Kariba Draft constitution

The lives of these poor little Zimbabwean school children who at present are relying on donor handouts have the hope of changing for the better if Zimbabwe comes up with a new democratic constitution that all Zimbabwean citizens participate in drafting.







The Kariba Draft constitution has attracted a lot of controversy in Zimbabwe with most people being against it. I decided to scrutinise the content of the Kariba Draft Constitution with my constitutional law layman's mind, (which happens to represent the way an ordinary Zimbabwean might view it if he/she bothers to do so but unfortunately most prefer to believe what the media says about it without reading it for themselves) and find out for myself its good and bad parts. I refused to join the bandwagon of opposing it just by judging from what the media is saying about it, without reading it for myself because I don't know whose interest the media would be trying to serve. The media has been known to be sometimes infiltrated by power hungry people or agents whose motive is to demonise and destroy so I have learnt not to trust it unless I know for myself the truth of the matter. However my scrutiny revealed that the media that is shouting against the Kariba Draft of the constitution is justified because it has some parts which are very undemocratic and if Zimbabweans allow it to be passed as law without those parts being modified they will be throwing themselves into fire, especially if the person who is elected President turns out to be a dictator like the present incumbent. It is full of loopholes that devious political minds can manipulate to oppress the people. Read the Kariba Draft yourself by going to the link below if Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer because it is in the PDF format.
http://www.kubatana.net/docs/demgg/kariba_draft_constitution_070930.pdf

Let me save you from reading my constitutional law layman's scrutiny of the Kariba Draft and instead refer you to a trusted link that scrutinised it the way I did but with full knowledge of constitutional law. This link is
http://www.radiovop.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6716&Itemid=758
Go to this link and read through it and you will see for yourself how Tsvangirai and his MDC-T as well as Mutambara and his MDC would be making a very big mistake if they allow this Kariba Draft to go into Parliament (without being democratically modified by all Zimbabwean citizens) and a bill is passed to enact it as the constitution of Zimbabwe. Zanu-PF is notorious for crafting undemocratic bills and passing them as law like they did with POSA and AIPPA but this time round they shouldn't be allowed to have their way and the onus is on Tsvangirai, Mutambara, MDC-T and MDC parliamentarians to stop them.

If not, civil society especially the NCA should mobilise people to peaceful mass action to demonstrate against using the Kariba Draft as the basis for coming up with a new constitution. All Zimbabweans should be given a chance to participate in coming up with a draft of the new constitution and then vote on whether they want the final draft to be passed as law or not and if not state clearly the parts that they want modified. There should be no short cuts when it comes to the constitution making process because the constitution is what makes a country, it is very important for the proper running of a country and its making should be treated with the importance that it deserves. The excuse that the Zimbabwean GNU government is giving for wanting to make shortcuts to the constitution making process by not allowing the full participation of Zimbabwean citizens is that they don't have the money to sponsor the full process. That to me is pure nonsense, a ploy meant to hoodwink Tsvangirai and Mutambara into agreeing to making the shortcuts. True, Zimbabwe has got money problems but that should not be an excuse for something of paramount importance as the making of a constituition because it should be given priority above all else. Need I repeat that a country is defined by its constitution so that you completely understand how important it is and why its making should be given first priority when allocating funds.

Let me digress a bit.
I am happy that Dr. Simba Makoni has finally launched the Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) political party. I was there in the crowd that gathered to see the breaking of the new political dawn in Zimbabwe and as I listened to him giving a speech I could see a vision of a great political leader who has the potential to dish the Zimbabwean dream to all Zimbabwean citizens. A great leader who can not be hoodwinked into making shortcuts in the constitution making process like how Tsvangirai and Mutambara are being hoodwinked. A democratic leader with all the presidential leadership qualities that I mentioned in a recent article about presidential leadership qualities that Zimbabwe needs in its President for it to be able to rise up to its former glory and splendour.