Post by masilela on Feb 20, 2012 16:27:37 GMT -5
Zimbabwe started reviewing or drafting a new constitution on the 5th of December 2011, a process that was meant to last approximately 35 days. In the current Zimbabwe it seems rather pointless to have a constitution as Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party continue to behave recklessly and do as they please without any regard for the law and current constitution. Police commissioner General Augustine Chihuri’s who has been one of Mugabe’s closest allies for decades and has been involved and responsible for some of the atrocities committed by the Mugabe regime was meant to leave office on the 1st of February 2012, but Mugabe reinstated him with haste and precision despite outcry and from opposition MDC-T leader and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe disregarded Tsvangirai’s pleas and even had one of his stooges Attorney General Johannes Tomana warn the private media and opposition parties. He said calls for Chihuri to leave office were “against the law and constitution of Zimbabwe and those pushing for Chihuri’s departure could end up facing prosecution”.
This is the very same constitution that Mugabe and his government have violated on countless occasions committing all sorts of crimes ranging corruption to genocide. A few years back Mugabe vowed never to swear in the deputy minister Agriculture, Mechanisation and Infrastructure Roy Bennett. Mugabe claimed that Bennett and his party were working with counter revolutionaries to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. Bennett was never sworn in and eventually left the country and is now in exile in Britain. That is just one example of Mugabe abusing his constitutional powers as president but more recently he has refused to acknowledge professor Welshman Ncube as the leader of the smaller faction of the MDC hence making him deputy vice prime minister. Mugabe seems to recognise Arthur Mutambara who was ousted as leader and recently lost his appeal in the High Court of Bulawayo. Ncube has tried to engage in dialogue with Mugabe on several occasions but Mugabe has given him the cold shoulder and up to this very day has still not sworn him in simply because he can and feels like.
Whatever the final constitution looks like will make little or no difference to the people of Zimbabwe as we all know and expect that Mugabe’s government will continue to severely abuse power. The best option would have been to wait until there is a government that will actually respect and abide by whatever constitution is drawn up before drafting it. Perhaps Zimbabwe should have waited for Mugabe’s death but in all honesty a lot of us have been waiting for that for years and he is still here. With the way things currently stand the whole operation has been a waste of money and time and to most Zimbabweans the new constitution will be as useful and valuable to them as the paper that the late Zimbabwean dollar was printed on.
Thembelani Masilela
This is the very same constitution that Mugabe and his government have violated on countless occasions committing all sorts of crimes ranging corruption to genocide. A few years back Mugabe vowed never to swear in the deputy minister Agriculture, Mechanisation and Infrastructure Roy Bennett. Mugabe claimed that Bennett and his party were working with counter revolutionaries to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. Bennett was never sworn in and eventually left the country and is now in exile in Britain. That is just one example of Mugabe abusing his constitutional powers as president but more recently he has refused to acknowledge professor Welshman Ncube as the leader of the smaller faction of the MDC hence making him deputy vice prime minister. Mugabe seems to recognise Arthur Mutambara who was ousted as leader and recently lost his appeal in the High Court of Bulawayo. Ncube has tried to engage in dialogue with Mugabe on several occasions but Mugabe has given him the cold shoulder and up to this very day has still not sworn him in simply because he can and feels like.
Whatever the final constitution looks like will make little or no difference to the people of Zimbabwe as we all know and expect that Mugabe’s government will continue to severely abuse power. The best option would have been to wait until there is a government that will actually respect and abide by whatever constitution is drawn up before drafting it. Perhaps Zimbabwe should have waited for Mugabe’s death but in all honesty a lot of us have been waiting for that for years and he is still here. With the way things currently stand the whole operation has been a waste of money and time and to most Zimbabweans the new constitution will be as useful and valuable to them as the paper that the late Zimbabwean dollar was printed on.
Thembelani Masilela