By Alex Bell
28 June 2010
There have been more reports of disruptions continuing to mar the constitutional outreach exercise, already overshadowed by violence and intimidation.
The process of public hearings to establish a new constitution has stumbled slowly forward after its chaotic launch last week. In places like Masvingo and Bulawayo some of the members from the outreach teams were forced to either loiter on the streets or sleep in their cars last week, because of various administrative issues. The Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC), spearheading the outreach programme, has battled to sort out hotel accommodation for all its members, while some members last week didn’t arrive for the outreach meetings. On Monday it was reported that outreach teams were stranded in Hwange as they did not have fuel and financial allowances to travel to the meeting points. They reportedly said that they are still waiting for “resources,” which include cameras and voice recorders, to arrive from Bulawayo.
At the same time, SW Radio Africa has been inundated with reports of soldiers roaming towns and districts intimidating people to force them to support ZANU PF’s preferred constitutional model, the Kariba draft. There have been reports of armed and uniformed soldiers threatening and intimidating villagers in many districts of Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. On Thursday 200 uniformed soldiers marched in the Chikangwe and Chiedza suburbs of Karoi, Mashonaland West province. The soldiers were said to be chanting ZANU PF slogans and ‘threatening to bring war to the doorsteps of those who will give different views to those of ZANU PF in the constitution consultation meetings’.
In Bindura the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition reports that outreach meetings continue to be marred by chaos and incidences of politically motivated violence. Last Thursday at Matepatepa Country Club and Number One Play Center in Bindura ‘ZANU PF participants were seen reading from prepared scripts allegedly written by their political party during the proceedings. Both meetings were characterized by high levels of tension between opposing party members.’
Community members in Mashonaland West meanwhile have also reportedly chased COPAC outreach teams away, arguing that they must come in the company of police officers for “security reasons.” It is understood that many community members felt that the presence of police officers would reduce incidences of violence during the consultation, as the province has a history of violence dating back to the election period in 2008.
Sydney Chisi, the spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, told SW Radio Africa on Monday that ZANU PF’s “deliberate campaign of violence and intimidation,” is having a visible effect on participation in the outreach process. He explained that in areas like Lower Gweru, there has been a deliberate effort to undermine COPAC, with individuals driving around districts and telling different community members that the outreach meetings have been postponed.
“COPAC teams have then had no participation from community members, and this is true of many areas,” Chisi explained. “We are beginning to see the effects of all kinds of ZANU PF intimidation.”
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