That Tsvangirai should trample on the legitimate voices of two million people via some inconsequential events and appear saintly is his way to gain legitimacy of a Nobel Peace Prize he so ill deserves.
(This, though, is not to legitimate the prize, whose record speaks for itself.
The point will be that Zimbabwe does not deserve that its name be dragged into that farce via an equally farcical campaign for the prize.)
The Herald
By Tichaona Zindoga
It has become almost customary for commentators, analysts and writers, this one included, to point to the on-off idiosyncrasy of the current constitution-making process, among its other less flattering attributes.
For all the good that has come out of the process, including winning the trust of donors who poured millions into the project and people expressing their views for what has been touted and hoped to become a people-driven outcome, the bad has however, inordinately loomed large.
This has prompted co-chair of Constitution Select Committee Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana to express disappointment over the tendency to dwell on the "negative" aspects of the exercise especially by the media.
Yet the drama just cannot leave the programme, for better or worse.
The biggest story of the past week has arguably been the call by the two MDC formations for a "negotiated settlement" in place of the views gathered from about two million people across the country since the outreach began last June and due to end this month.
The isolated incidents of violence that were encountered at a couple of the 42 meetings in Harare and prompted suspension of the meetings in Harare provided an excuse to try and ditch the whole programme.
Copac clearly stated that the suspension did not affect any other districts countrywide, including Beitbridge, Umguza, Kariba, Gokwe North, Buhera and Rushinga, along with other mop up operations.
But according to MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa, the programme that collected the views of two million people across the country during over 4 000 meetings failed what he called the "legitimacy test".
He said: "Our position as MDC is that the Copac outreach has failed to pass credibility and legitimacy test and to be a people-driven constitution.
"Therefore, relying on this material is a misnomer and misbegotten. The process was done Nicodemously and the environment was not conducive as it was marred by intimidation, coercion and fear," he said.
His party leader, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had already said that as "no party has a two thirds majority in Parliament", "no party will be in a position of imposing its will on constitutional principle".
He said at a function: "It will have to be ultimately a negotiated constitution, but the process of public participation was intended to ensure that no Zimbabwean across the political divide should be prevented from airing their views."
With the other MDC formation led by Deputy Premier Professor Arthur Mutambara spelling out that they have always been for the September 2007 Kariba Draft constitution that was crafted by lawyers of the three parties in the inclusive Government, it is deja vu.
It is the return of a document over which the two MDC formations gathered so much dust over despite having partaken of its coinage, perhaps Nicodemously, as Chamisa would say.
If the document, a supposedly Zanu-PF piece of terror, was so flawed and not people-driven, as the two MDC formations claimed only yesterday, it is just too bad because latter have contrived to conjure it up against people who rejected it and went the Copac way.
The coincidence of the call for the return of the Kariba Draft and suspension of further consultation with the scheduled resumption of meetings in Harare and Chitungwiza and subsequent close of the programme is notable.
Here is where "people" — a glittering generality which the MDCs in particular the one led by Tsvangirai like to exclusively refer to their supporters — were expected to air their views, if they have not done so already.
This suffices to say the people, to whomever they belong were expecting to air their views, like the rest of the country much in to spite the Nicodemously-written Kariba Draft, which the MDCs only now try to bring Nicodemously and resolutely belatedly.
The Nobel legitimacy
The reasons behind the move to foist the Kariba Draft or such other "negotiated settlement" have already been discussed in other platforms, giving little reason for repetition here.
Having moved around some meetings in Harare and witnessed first-hand people showing unreserved consciousness of their revolutionary destiny and role, this writer has an idea why it is convenient for some people to try to gag these heroic voices.
However, it is the coincidence of the latest constitution-making fiasco with the Nobel Peace Prize season, which has reproduced the name of Morgan Tsvangirai as a nominee, that is quite telling.
The fortuitousness, for those that believe the MDC-T did not deliberately foil the process to save its blushes, of the events of which Tsvangirai has tried to play the peacemaker is not hard to miss.
Nor are the incidents of "sponsored" acts of violence that have been ramped up in MDC-T affiliated media organisations.
That Tsvangirai should trample on the legitimate voices of two million people via some inconsequential events and appear saintly is his way to gain legitimacy of a Nobel Peace Prize he so ill deserves.
(This, though, is not to legitimate the prize, whose record speaks for itself.
The point will be that Zimbabwe does not deserve that its name be dragged into that farce via an equally farcical campaign for the prize.)
But the activities of MDC-T-affiliated organisations demonstrate the sequence of trying to bring legitimacy to Tsvangirai.
Take for example that three of Zimbabwe’s "top pro-democracy groups" — the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Peace Project and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights producing a report alleging 2 359 reports of assault, intimidation, suppression of the freedoms of speech and expression among others, during the outreach in August only.
The tripartite Copac did not substantiate these reports.
The weekly Zimbabwe Independent led its recent issue with a story headlined "Army in renewed terror campaign".
Tellingly, the paper cited Tsvangirai as noting "with concern the militarisation of the process, interfering with a purely civilian process".
Tsvangirai alleged that "reports from all over the country show the heavy involvement of the military in the process" without offering to name who produced the reports and to what cause, which Copac in which he is represented failed to do.
He continued: "In rural areas, ordinary people were under siege from similar cases of military meddling. The military and state agents’ involvement must be investigated and the principals must meet immediately to map the way forward." That is the Nobel peacemaker in Tsvangirai.
It will be quite interesting to see him being rewarded for such fiction for which he intends to sacrifice the people’s voices.
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