New Constitution process must involve Diaspora Zimbabweans

The Constitution drafts circulated in 2000 were both written by a few individuals, and members of the public only got involved when they were asked to vote for or against the government's version. This is the period when Professor Jonathan Moyo performed one of his most dramatic chameleon shifts morphing from arch Mugabe critic to become the spokesman of the Government backed Constitution draft.The 2000 Constitution process was driven by few wise men and the same format is being followed with the Diaspora input being ignored. There is no visible effort to involve Zimbabweans abroad despite a misdirected effort in attempting to tax Diaspora Zimbabweans.

The 2000 Constitution making process was reduced to no or yes vote when it was clear the process leading up to that constitution was marred by irregularities .The same path is being followed now. One wonders what is the wisdom of expecting to reach a different destination when you use the same road.

The Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) intends to use extracts from various existing drafts and somehow end up with a modern and progressive Constitution. A constitution must take into account the nation’s vision and aspirations.

The Constitutional process is part of a delicate nation building process. As such Zimbabweans across the world must be consulted and their views and aspirations taken into account when drafting a new constitution. It is mischievous to task a Zimbabwean who has never been based in the Diaspora to draft a new constitution on rights of Zimbabweans based abroad without consulting those Zimbabweans. There is a clear need to involve the Zimbabweans abroad in the constitution making process.

Out reach teams need to reach out to the Diaspora. Clearly there is need for Diaspora based Constitutional Commission members who can clarify the needs and views of foreign based ZImbabweans. The current format is based on system of Thematic committees that will present questions to members of the public, and their answers will be gathered into the talking points, which will then be debated. These committees must find their way to consult Zimbabweans based in UK,USA,NZ, Australia, South Africa, Canada and many other countries where significant numbers of Zimbabweans live.

Individuals in thousands of meetings across the country will be able to draw their suggestions from any document they choose - including the Constitutional Commission draft rejected in 2000, the alternative draft put forward at that time by the NCA, or the Kariba draft drawn up by the negotiating teams that produced the Global Political Agreement that brought a bitter post-election struggle to a close in September 2008. Zimbabwe’s Economy is currently in a very weak state mostly due to various policy shifts, laws and regulations which were devised to serve interests of a few individuals. The new constitution must focus a creating various institutional checks and balances that make it difficult if not impossible for those in power to manipulate laws which results in Economic chaos due to a hostile environment created by abusing the laws.


An individual should be allowed two presidential terms of four years each. Limited to 2 terms of 4 years each for the President for each individual. This must be clearly spelt out in the constitution. This will ensure that the country will not be stuck for another 3 decades under the grip of one “wiseman” .Even the wisest of men deserve to reset and give others a chance.

Media Independence must be protected and the abuse of state broadcasting and media infrastructure must be stopped and clearly outlined .The current set up where a ruling party can privatize state media resources is a national threat as politicians monopolize the service and abuse state media .State media should not be a propaganda tool for any ruling party. It must remain objective and serve to inform, entertain and educate the nation without bias towards any political party. These are guidelines which must be clearly spelt out in the new constitution to ensure that the next election is held under an even political field.

Issues such as black empowerment and localization of the economy must be address during the Constitution making process. It is important that such sensitive and important issues be covered under this process to avoid the current situation whereby a law appears to be meant to aid and abet a political patronage network rather than further national goals and vision


Dual Citizenship possibility must be clearly addressed and be part of the Constitution. Zimbabwe stand to lose a significant amount of skilled and experienced personnel if the rules are not changed to encourage Zimbabweans to retain their Citizenship and linkages to the Country. The Constitution must allow dual citizenship as this will act as an incentive for foreign based Zimbabweans to remain engaged in the development of the country. Most progressive nations allow dual citizenship and this is a critical area which requires direct input from Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.

Political Party funding must be proportional based on the number of actual votes gained and not on the number of seats won. This will serve to encourage participation by more political players allowing a more vibrant democracy not hindered or manipulated by lack or availability of resources. The current situation of basing Political Funding on the number of seats won has created a situation which eliminates other hopeful political players to join as they are disqualified fro funding. As an example Mavambo managed to get approximately 10% of the vote. This means Mavambo should at least have qualified for a proportionate funding from the state similar to what MDC-M,MDC-T and ZANU-PF got.

This article appears as courtesy of GMRI Capital ( www.gmricapital.com) prepared for 3MG MEDIA

Gilbert Muponda is a Co-Founder of 3MG Media . He can be reached at;

Email: gilbert@3mgmedia.ca . Skype ID: gilbert.Muponda

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