Presented by the NCA Chairperson Professor Lovemore Madhuku at Bumbiro/Isisekelo
House today, 20 MARCH, 2013
1.
The
conduct of the referendum was neither credible nor satisfactory. This
arises from the following facts, among others:
·
The notice period given was inadequate and displayed
lack of respect for the people. It was extreme arrogance for the President to
admit this fact on the day he was casting his vote when he had deployed all
state resources to resist attempts by some citizens to delay the vote.
·
Copies of the Draft constitution were not
available in reasonable numbers.
·
State and donor resources were only available
for the “Yes” campaign.
·
The “Yes” campaign used hate speech. For
example the Prime Minister described the No campaign as being made up of “nhinhi”[Sunningdale] and those
intending to vote “No” as having mamhepo(evil
spirits)[Bulawayo].
·
The police disrupted many “NO” campaign
meetings and the atmosphere was not conducive to public meetings by the “NO”
campaign to the extent that many voters had no access to the “No” message.
·
ZEC was not independent. For example, it failed
to play its role in terms of electoral law to monitor media coverage.
·
The judiciary was not independent. The courts
dismissed, on suspicious grounds, every application meant to make the referendum
more democratic.
2.
The NCA does not accept that the YES vote means
an endorsement by the people of Zimbabwe of a new constitution. The draft
Constitution is undemocratic and will remain undemocratic and unacceptable when
it becomes the constitution of Zimbabwe. An undemocratic constitution does not
become democratic merely on account of voters being misled by political
leaders into a ritual of just voting
“YES”.
3.
A constitution-making process does not become
“people-driven” merely on account of people being taken through rituals where
they attend meetings and say what they have been told to say nor is this
achieved by taking the people through the rituals of a referendum where they
are told to vote “Yes”.
4.
In this regard, the NCA wishes to be very categoric
and unambiguous: we reject in
toto the notion that Zimbabweans have spoken and have accepted the
Draft Constitution. We hold that the
“Yes” vote is illegitimate. The referendum result is therefore illegitimate and
not acceptable to us. This is because:
·
95% of the “Yes” voters had neither seen nor
read the Draft constitution.
·
95% of
the “Yes” voters knew nothing about the contents of the Draft Constitution.
·
The “Yes” voters, by their own admission, said
they were voting “Yes” because they were following orders from political
leaders to do so.
·
The voters had not been afforded an opportunity
to hear and/or listen to the points of view of the “No” campaign. The “No”
campaign was systematically denied access to the public media while messages of
the “Yes” vote were the order of the day. The only time a “Yes” will mean a
“Yes” to a Draft Constitution is when voters have been exposed to the contents,
have heard opposing views and have genuinely voted “Yes”. Where voters are
prevented by self-serving politicians from accessing alternative views, a “Yes”
is invalid.
·
The 179 489 voters who rejected the Draft
Constitution knew what they were doing: they had all been subjected to a “Yes”
campaign but rejected it. Many of them had considered the arguments for the “No”
campaign and embraced them.
·
The 56 627 rejected votes voted “NO” either by writing it or spoiling the ballot
in other ways.
·
There are over 7,5 million Zimbabweans with
National IDs and this is the eligible voter population. The reported 3,3
million who voted is just 44%. What is the view of 56%? This is clearly voter
apathy. In any event, the claim that 3,3 million people voted is a fraud by ZEC. To claim that there
was close to a million more voters in the referendum than in the March 2008
harmonised elections is to take the public for fools.
·
In matters such as the constitution, the focus
must not be just on eligible voters but on the entire population. There are
about 13 million Zimbabweans. The 95% of
the 3 million Zimbabweans who took the irresponsible decision of voting “Yes”
to a document that they had neither seen nor read cannot bind the conscience of
the rest and future generations. Those who are not eligible to vote should have
been afforded the opportunity to read the Draft Constitution and contribute to
debate, thereby influencing the formation of a genuine national opinion. This
did not happen principally because the current political leaders were pushing a
narrow, self-serving and partisan agenda.
·
As soon as more people get to read the draft
Constitution (or Constitution, when it gets enacted) they will realise the
folly of the “Yes” vote and will join those rejecting it. That point will be
reached soon and it will be apparent to the generality of the people that our
country does not have a democratic constitution, notwithstanding the referendum
of 16 March, 2013.
·
ZEC aided the “Yes” vote. First, by
misinterpreting the intentions of thousands of voters in rural areas,
particularly Mash East, Mash Central and Masvingo who indicated that they
wanted their vote to be put on “President Mugabe”. These voters should have
been turned away but ZEC officials interpreted this as a “Yes” vote when we all
know that the President`s vote is his secret. Secondly, ZEC did not turn away
thousands of voters who asked, on arrival, what the voting was all about. ZEC
officials in rural areas responded that it was all about voting “YES”.
5.
Just as Zimbabwe has been under the
undemocratic Lancaster House Constitution,
henceforth it shall be under an undemocratic GPA constitution. The Yes
vote merely means a change from Lancaster and does not mean a change to a
democratic constitutional order. For instance, there is no way Zimbabweans can
be said to have said “Yes” to:
·
retaining a powerful President with unlimited
powers and who appoints every state official including Ministers, judges,
ambassadors, permanent secretaries, Commissions and so on.
·
a huge and expensive government with over
350MPS, given the state of our economy.
·
not electing a new President whenever the
office of President becomes vacant in the next 10 years and leaving this
crucial decision to a political party.
·
A Bill of Rights merely listing rights without
effective mechanisms for their enforcement.
6.
From the foregoing, there can only be one
answer: the crusade for a new, democratic and people-driven constitution has to
continue. The NCA will intensify its efforts for a rejection of the so-called
new Constitution just as it has, for over 14 years, campaigned for the
rejection of the Lancaster House Constitution. Given its experience and its
growing base, the NCA believes that it will take less time for the people of
Zimbabwe to be convinced to throw away the so-called new Constitution and
introduce a truly democratic and people-driven constitution.
7.
The NCA dismisses, with the contempt it
deserves, utterances by the political leadership which indicate the 16 March,
2013 vote as historic. It was not. It was a dark page in our history as it
demonstrated the continuing sickness of our society where people are taken for
granted by politicians. The two leaders, the President and the Prime Minister,
exhibited lack of principled and moral leadership: they know so well that the
“YES” vote had nothing to do with the constitution but they have the temerity
to proclaim it as historic. It is this kind of leadership which has brought our
country down. If the two of them genuinely believe that the “YES” vote was on
the constitution, then their heads must be examined! We believe they are not
genuine!
8.
The NCA will, in the next few months, convene meetings of its membership, including
its Congress, to review its strategies and map the way forward. In this regard,
the NCA is conscious of the fact that the purported “Yes” vote of 16 March,
2013 has a fundamental bearing on the future strategies of the NCA.
Accordingly, the NCA membership will decide whether or not the current NCA
framework is suitable for the big battle that lies ahead. The battle will be
confrontational because we realise that a ZANU(PF) joined by the MDC in
hoodwinking the general public is a formidable enemy of our quest for a new,
democratic, open, prosperous, just and caring society. The two political
formations have no monopoly in determining the destiny of our country. From the
credible base built over the years, the NCA will double its efforts to win the
hearts and minds of the people of Zimbabwe. One immediate practical step is
that this Press Statement will be printed as a flier, translated into all main
languages and distributed throughout the country. We will not rely solely on
Press coverage. In addition, the NCA “NO VOTE” campaign flier will be edited
merely to remove the words “VOTE NO” and printed again and distributed. Our
campaign against the so called New Constitution will be permanent and will only
stop when our country adopts a truly democratic and people-driven constitution.
The new NCA strategies will be finalised by the time a new government takes
office in July and will be announced publicly within a month of the taking of
office of that government.
9.
We reject as nonsensical the claim by some MDC
leaders that what remains now is to
build a culture of constitutionalism.
Constitutionalism cannot be built on the base of an undemocratic
constitution. More seriously, does constitutionalism not start with a credible
constitution-making process? Once we start with the culture of not respecting
the people by asking them to vote “Yes” to a document they have not seen, are
we not undermining constitutionalism from the start?
10.
The NCA experience shows that it does not work
to rely on others to push for what one believes in. The NCA shall rely on
itself to do everything possible to ensure that one day we celebrate the
adoption of a truly democratic and people-driven constitution.
11.
We urge the people of Zimbabwe, including those
who voted “YES” to take time to read the so called new Constitution and
thereafter take further time to consider
our arguments against the Draft Constitution. This will enhance democratic
growth and ensure that the next referendum on a Draft Constitution will be
legitimate.
12.
We accept that the country must now move to the
election and urge Zimbabweans to vote peacefully.
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