THE Copac awareness campaign to unpack the contents of the draft constitution has been hit by apathy in some areas across the country amid reports that some of the meetings were rescheduled to next week due to poor attendance.
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A handful of people attended the Copac meetings in Harare yesterday, while in the Midlands province Zanu PF leaders failed to pitch up for the campaign, raising fears that people from across the political divide were not keen to attend the awareness campaigns.
In Bulawayo, hundreds of people gathered at the Small City Hall yesterday for the Copac awareness campaign amid reports that some of the meetings were rescheduled to next week due to low turnout.
Copac representative Gifford Sibanda said the meetings at Old Nic Hall and Lockview Primary School were held on Monday, but were delayed.
“We had some logistic problems in terms of transporting the draft constitution copies, but the meetings were there,” he said. “We are going to revisit those places next week most probably on Sunday.”
Monday meetings in Matabeleland were marred by confusion as most people did not get the information on time.
During the meeting at the Small City Hall, residents expressed fear that the Gukurahundi atrocities would happen again as the draft constitution did not clarify how they were going to be dealt with.
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“We should have written that constitution with in mind the things that have happened in the past, taking a look at Gukurahundi, 2002 and 2008 elections. They are all bound to come back,” said a resident.
Another one complained: “As long as the constitution does not limit the Executive powers and this (constitution) will depend on who will win the elections and if it’s the wrong person, then people’s rights will be suppressed.”
In Highfield, Harare, the meeting at Zimbabwe Hall, which was attended by just over 200 people, ended prematurely after rowdy suspected Zanu PF activists — in party regalia — grabbed copies of the draft constitution which had been brought by the Copac team and got away with them.
The action was in contrast to laws governing the process, which prohibit those attending the meetings to do so in party regalia. Most people interviewed by NewsDay blamed “political fatigue” for the low turnout saying they were tired of politics.
William Hombarume from Chinhoyi said: “People are tired of politics. Besides, this whole constitution thing has been reduced to a showdown between MDC-T and Zanu PF. At the end of the day the ordinary person would just say ‘well the exercise is for politicians’.”
Chinhoyi Ward 11 councillor Tendai Musonza said the poor attendance was because many viewed the process as a “done deal” as the major political parties — MDCs and Zanu PF — were already in agreement.
