Yesterday, I helped shape Zimbabwe’s future. Or I like to think so anyway. I went to a COPAC (still don’t know what it stands for, but something like the Parliamentary Select Committee on the constitution; whatevs) outreach meeting, which is supposed to be the forum where the good citizens of this wonderful country get to have their say on what the (new) constitution should be like. Very nice in theory. First of all, no one seemed to have any idea about times or venues for these things. They may very well have been advertised in some form or fashion in newspapers or on the radio- but hardly anyone reads the paper anymore, and no one seems to listen to radio. I knew because my uncle is some functionary in the MDC, and he had a programme.

Anyway, my mother and I made our way on Saturday morning to the Small City Hall, the venue for our ward. We arrived at about 9 am, as any self-respecting African would, for an 8 o’clock meeting. There were of course only ten bodies present in the whole building, and none to tell us where everyone else was. No notices either. Well, we decided to sit and wait. Following are my initial notes (yes, I’m your local journalist):



9:00 am 10 people present. No one from COPAC
9:47 am 70-80 people inside venue. A minute or two later, arrival of approximately 5 COPAC delegates. Delegate gets up to announce that we are waiting for equipment to arrive.
10:13 am Still waiting….. Approximately 150 people present.
10:27 am Asked to stand up. All present sing the national anthem in IsiNdebele. Strangely moving, and I feel the stirrings of patriotism. Also feel amazed that I remember even a word of the anthem, let alone in IsiNdebele. Prayer follows (and the man who volunteers to pray is strangely eloquent- did he practice for such a time as this?)
10:34 am Introduction of dignitaries present and introduction to the process. There have been 19 amendments to the present constitution! Hm. There is also a preponderance of men in the audience, perhaps 80-90 %; wonder where all the women are this morning?

After that, we were told that we would be going through the questions under the headings below:
1. Preamble
2. Founding Principles
3. Citizenship
4. Bill of Rights
5. Women and Gender Issues
6. Youth
7. The Disabled
8. Media
9. War Veterans
10. Land
11. Empowerment
12. Environment
13. Natural Resources
14. Labour
15. Religion
16. Systems of Government
17. Arms of the State
18. Electoral Systems
19. Independent Public Offices
20. Independent Commissions
21. Executive Commissions
22. Public Finance
23. Central Bank
24. Traditional Leaders
25. Languages, Arts and Culture
26. Transitional Mechanisms

I will say right here that I nearly made it through the whole meeting; I faltered at number 17. Things started off fairly well, but as we progressed, it became apparent that there were people who had come to make a stand against the previous Government, as well as a small but extremely loud group of young people who had come to make a point for a certain party. An example: when time came for discussion of Arms of the State, most people thought there should be just one “head” of state, namely the President, with one Vice-President. Said group wanted things to remain as they are. When it came to terms, most people agreed that five years was long enough, with two terms only. Said group made strident calls for “20 years, or for as long as the people want him” (ahem). Anyway, during the discussion of that part of the constitution, things grew very, very heated, and since I was wrecked anyway at that point, we left, and left a piece of paper with the scribes (record keepers) where I had written down anything else I wanted that I had not had a chance to say.

The process got me thinking a lot though. Firstly, and obviously, in this part of the country, politics is not as polarised as in other parts, simply because this seems to have become a stronghold of the opposition, one way or the other (that is, either the MDC or any other party, as long as the cause of the people of this region is advanced). Secondly, abeSiNdebeleni want a much bigger role in shaping their own destinies, and the destiny of the country. They have been feeling marginalized, and are now determined to make a stand (-more on that in a future post). Thirdly, although the group of young people (for some reason I keep wanting to say “Green Bombers”) was vocal to the point of being obnoxious, they were very obviously in the minority, and were mostly booed every time they got up to speak. In fact, at some point the chair of the meeting, and one other delegate, pointed out that people present had to be sure to make themselves heard, as there were elements there who obviously had a hidden agenda. He even addressed them directly about this, saying he knew why they’d come. Fourthly, the turnout in most parts of Bulawayo was apparently quite high, even though in some (many?) areas, people had to wait for the COPAC teams, and in some places meetings failed to happen. (Yes, about that- I wonder what on earth is going on within COPAC).

This, in short, was my experience of the process. I have not gone into detail about the individual points of the constitution mainly because it would take too long, and it’s Sunday night :) Feel free to ask me though.

Update: Apparently even though we were a little worried about violence in Bulawayo, according to Studio 7 (VOA News), there was actual violence in parts of Harare, including Mbare, Budiriro and Epworth. Obviously these are reports I cannot verify; please check news channels etc to confirm.