Zimbabwe's feuding political parties are currently involved in 'talks about talks' because of a flawed constitution and the failure by the country's leadership since 1980 to accord its citizens an opportunity to write their own laws.
The laws that have been governing the country are not only elitists and distanced from realities facing ordinary Zimbabweans but most of them are ruthless and promote death than life, underdevelopment than development and progress.
Examples of these pieces of legislations are the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Public Order and Security Act, Broadcasting Services Act which are a clear inheritance from Ian Smith's racist colonial regime.
It is under this background that Zimbabwe finds itself today in a decade long crisis that in the recent past has yet again resulted in a contested legitimacy of President Mugabe's re-election as among others he is accused of infringing with the role of Zimbabwe Election Commission , manipulating the state media and also sponsoring violence with impunity
The National Constitutional Assembly is well aware of inter party 'talks about talks' that are taking place under the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
The two formations of the MDC the smaller faction led by Arthur Mutambara and the bigger faction that won more parliamentary seats in the country led by Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU PF are reported to be involved in talks that will set conditions for genuine dialogue.
The NCA is also aware that the South African government is strongly backing a negotiated settlement that might not at the end reflects the wishes of Zimbabweans as expressed by the elections of 29 March 2008.
After regional, continental and international bodies all agreed that the one man's June 27 run off between MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU PF's Robert Mugabe was illegitimate some sections of leadership are now planning to impose a leader on Zimbabwean people.
The National Constitutional Assembly wants to categorically state that it is not worried about any arrangement that will emerge from the ongoing 'talks about talks' are it a Government of National Unity or a transitional authority but what it is advocating for is the respect for people's wishes.
The NCA also wants to reiterate that as an organisation it is worried by the failure of regional countries to defend democracy and go ahead defending dictatorship and fraudulent elections as expressed by deafening silence in clearly saying the controversial winner of June 27 elections was illegitimate.
The region, South Africa and President Mbeki are faced with a stronger challenge today, to defend democracy and the people of Zimbabwe or to defend dictatorship and further worsen lives of ordinary citizens that might see the situation degenerating into unprecedented levels.
As the NCA we are against any agreement that will ignore what ordinary Zimbabweans expressed on the 29th of March. The NCA will also continue to condemn elitists agreement that endorsed without consultations from the ordinary citizens who have suffered most in the past few months because of this election.
The NCA would like to urge President Mbeki, the African Union special to be appointed and three parties involved in the dialogue to include voices of Zimbabwean citizens in whatever arrangement and also to make broad consultations from the civic movement.
NCA urges the mediators to make sure that a time frame is set for writing a new people driven democratic constitution that will Zimbabwe getting back to normalcy again and that will see the state being de-patronized and demilitarized.
Murdock Chivasa,
National Constitutional Assembly Spokespeson