Mugabe factor haunts drive for new laws

• State media has been ordered to use correct title on leader

HARARE, Sunday

Any initiative that seeks to weaken Zimbabwe’s long serving President Robert Mugabe’s tight grip on power is bound to face stiff resistance from the octegenerian’s complex web of support systems.

It is in this light that Zimbabwe’s seemingly unending hurdles to the drafting of a new constitution must be understood.

According to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that led to the formation of a unity government between Mr Mugabe and his former foes Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara in February last year, the country must have a new constitution by next year.

The new supreme law will replace the one Zimbabwe adopted when it gained its independence from Britain in 1980.

Amended 19 times, the constitution has been cited as the major source of the southern African country’s multifaceted crisis. Critics say the constitution gives too much power to Mr Mugabe, a revered freedom fighter now accused of running down the once prosperous country.

However, the process to draft the new constitution, which appeared back on course after months of delays due to political squabbles, was suspended again last week.

The three governing parties cannot agree on how the outreach programme to gather ordinary people’s views should be carried out.

This was after some of President Mugabe’s hardline supporters’ gate crashed to workshops meant to train the outreach teams.

Zanu PF has also been accused of deploying its militia in rural areas to campaign forcefully for a draft that leaves the 85 year-old ruler’s powers intact.

Analysts say Zimbabwe is too polarised to carry out any meaningful consultations on the new constitution.

They say many Zimbabweans see it as another way of weakening Mr Mugabe’s grip on power.

To be used

The draft questions to be used for public consultations say as much. The parliamentary committee leading the process has come up with questions such as: Who should be head of state?

Should the head of state be head of cabinet, judiciary and the legislature?

The state media, which is still controlled by Zanu PF, was last year ordered to address Mr Mugabe, as the Head of State and government who is also the commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces after the MDC insisted in calling its leader Mr Tsvangirai head of government.