The chaos created in the drafting of the new constitution is a unilateral attempt by Zanu PF to stop drafters from proceeding with their work after making available the first four preliminary draft chapters to Copac co-chairpersons, MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said yesterday.
Mwonzora alleged his counterpart Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana of Zanu PF was being used to create confusion to stall the constitution-making process. He said Zanu PF was attempting to derail the constitution-making process so Zimbabwe goes to elections without a new constitution.
“The MDC in particular was accused of trying hard to suppress the views of the people of Zimbabwe, but we wish to assure Zimbabweans views of the people were never suppressed and will not be lost,” he said.
“We wish to demonstrate that the drafters never exceeded the mandate specifically given to them by the co-chairpersons.”
But, Mangwana denied allegations and claimed the problem was that drafters were reportedly ignoring people’s views in the national report.
The war of words comes in the wake of attacks on the three new constitution drafters — Justice Moses Chinhengo, lawyers Priscilla Madzonga and Brian Grozier — by Zanu PF members.
On Tuesday, Zanu PF-aligned political analyst Jonathan Kadzura attacked the constitution drafters saying they distorted the issue of land rights, among other issues, in the four chapters they had so far drafted.
Kadzura said the manner in which the land issue was tackled would result in former white land owners coming back to claim land parcelled out to blacks under the fasttrack land reform programme.
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“There is nothing in the first four chapters of the draft that talks of land and yet the constitution should protect Zimbabwean land. What these drafters are saying is acquisition of land can now be exploited by people who are not Zimbabweans,” Kadzura said.
War veteran leader Jabulani Sibanda also attacked the drafters on the land issue.
“In the founding principles, 84% of the people said land and natural resources are our heritage, yet this was totally left out,” Sibanda claimed.
However, Copac co-chairperson, Edward Mkhosi (MDC) dismissed both Sibanda and Kadzura’s allegations as untrue.
“Copac has not yet availed the draft to anyone and these people want to eat the meat before it is dished out,” Mkhosi said.
