Harare Tribune
13 July 2009
Zimbabwean police keep watch on militants of President Robert Mugabe’s party who disrupted proceedings on the first day of the all stakeholders conference on the constitution making process in Harare, Monday, July, 13, 2009. Mugabe’s supporters were chanting party slogans and singing revolutionary songs which brought the programme into disarray.
There are many factions in ZANU-PF fighting for power and influence. Only rarely do these factions pull as one against common enemies. In Harare today, the ZANU-PF factions came together in a show of unity when they successfully broke up the constitutional conference that had been organized to write a new constitution for Zimbabwe.
The All Stakeholders constutittutional conference had been postponed from last week to today following vehement objections by ZANU-PF insiders on the constitutional select committee.
The first All-Stakeholders Conference on the new constitution had been envisaged to be attended by 4 000 delegates from interests groups specifically invited by the Parliamentary Select Committee co-chaired by Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana (ZANU PF), Douglas Mwonzora (MDC T) and David Coltart (MDC M). Today, the Harare Conference Centre was filled to capacity, with over 5000 delagates having arrived for the venue.
Ahead of the conference, an buoyant Mwonzora had enthused that “Everything is on course. Delegates started arriving on Sunday. We don’t forsee any major problems.â€
However, before the conference began, militant backers of Robert Mugabe stormed into the meeting, disrupting what was meant to be a milestone in the nation’s fragile power-sharing deal.
The protesters were led by Mugabe’s nephew, parliamentarian Patrick Zhuwawo, and self-styled leaders of veterans of the liberation war.
As the speaker of parliament Lovemore Moyo gave his opening speech, the protesters began singing in Shona: “Zimbabwe was brought by blood”.
“This country was won by the gun, not a constitution,” yelled one woman from the group as they marched to the podium, grabbed water bottles from tables and splashed lawmakers.
“Nothing is going to take place here,” one protester said through the public address system, as others ripped off table cloths, sending crockery crashing on the floor.
Police were on hand but took no action against the protesters. The meeting eventually collapsed as frustrated ministers and parliamentarians walked out.
Tensions were high even before the opening, as political rivals sang songs denigrating each other.
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had been expected to address the meeting, but neither showed up.
The two bitter rivals formed a unity government in February in a bid to end deadly political violence that erupted after last year’s disputed elections.
Under the power-sharing deal, Zimbabwe is to draft a new constitution that is to be brought to voters for approval in a referendum next year, paving the way to fresh elections.
The new government has halted the economic haemorraging that left the nation impoverished and dependent of foreign food aid after a decade of world-record hyper-inflation.
But so far the Mugabe has proved reluctant to accept major political reforms, maintaining control over security forces while pressing ahead with prosecutions of rights activists.