SEVERAL organisations from labour, lawyers, academics and churches under the National Convergence Platform banner have resolved to unite citizens in a non-partisan manner to end the country’s worsening economic and political crises.
BY MOSES MATENGA
In a communiqué released after the National Convergence Platform Summit held on Africa Day, the organisations said there was need for unity of purpose for Zimbabweans to speak with one voice in the wake of a multifaceted crises characterised by cash shortages, high unemployment rate and hyperinflation.
“There was consensus that the nation is gripped by an interconnected set of challenges that have now been exposed and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the broken relationships, economic meltdown, failure to entrench constitutionalism, international isolation and the humanitarian crises characterised by severe food insecurity, human insecurity, and broken health system,” the communiqué read in part.
“The participants agreed on the value of a citizen-driven process, hence the need to further refine the details of the proposed comprehensive national settlement framework on the basis of a broad national consultation.”
Among the organisations were the Election Resource Centre, Habakkuk Trust, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Dumiso Dabengwa Foundation, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, residents associations and Women in Law Society Africa, among others.
The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, Zimbabwe Christian Alliance and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network also formed part of the organisations working towards a “broad national consensus on what should constitute the agenda towards a comprehensive national settlement”.
“The objectives are also committing to a multiple-track national dialogue process leading to a comprehensive national settlement and agreeing on the form, structure and design of such an inclusive national dialogue,” the communiqué further read.
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“The NCP is constituted on the belief that Zimbabwean problems will only be resolved when Zimbabweans commit themselves to a united front to resolve them.
“Thematic technical committees reported on their pre-summit meetings and made submissions addressing the overview of their respective committees in terms of importance in addressing the national question, content, guiding principles and the envisaged process leading to a clear articulation of the five areas of the national question.”
The summit agreed that there was need for a broad-based and evidence-based national humanitarian and emergency response to address food insecurity, education, healthcare and social service delivery crises and a new social contract on the basis of an inclusive national economic vision and a broadly agreed reform process towards constitutionalism.”
The summit also agreed to have a “mutually acceptable closure of the long past and recent human rights abuses, restore and normalise regional, continental, and global relations”.
