PAUL MANGWANA . . . co-chairperson of the parliamentary committee leading the constitutional reform process

HARARE – A special parliamentary committee leading Zimbabwe's constitutional reform process has postponed to next week deployment of outreach teams to consult citizens on the proposed new constitution after the programme failed to kick-start as scheduled.

One of the committee’s co-chairpersons, Paul Mangwana from President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party, said at the weekend that deployment of outreach teams to gather people's views and ideas they want included in the new constitution that was scheduled for last week was put on hold to allow for other parliamentary business to be completed.

“There are other pressing parliamentary business processes that we are participating in such as the national budget consultations. We are also working on logistical arrangements such as the training of the thematic committees and the outreach teams,” said Mangwana.

Mangwana said the deployment will now start early next week.

“The deployment will start on November 29,” said Mangwana.

The committee’s work had over the past two months stalled due to a lack of funds but the government is understood to have released US$3,5 million to be used to kick-start the outreach programmes.

In addition to funding shortages, sharp differences have also emerged between the political parties over the writing of the new constitution that threaten to derail the reform process.

ZANU PF has said any new constitution should be based on a draft constitution secretly authored by the main political parties on Lake Kariba and known as the Kariba Draft.

However, civic organisations and the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are opposed to it, saying the document leaves largely untouched the wide-sweeping powers that Mugabe continues to enjoy even after formation of a power-sharing government with Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.

Under last year's power-sharing deal the country is supposed to have a new constitution in the next two years to pave way for new elections.

The draft constitution will be put before the electorate in a referendum expected in July next year and if approved by Zimbabweans will then be brought before Parliament for enactment.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing government is expected to call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government elections.

Zimbabweans hope a new constitution will guarantee basic freedoms, strengthen Parliament and limit the President’s immense powers. – ZimOnline