NCA STATEMENT ON THE 31 JULY 2013 HARMONISED ELECTIONS

1.     

 The NCA notes with satisfaction the peaceful atmosphere that characterised the period before, during and after the elections. All Zimbabweans have a responsibility to nurture this peaceful environment and desist from any actions which may directly or indirectly 

interfere with the peace prevailing in the country.

2.      The election results have been announced. There are winners and losers. Every election has its winners and losers. Given the peaceful nature of these elections and the compelling need to move our country forward, the NCA urges the losers to concede defeat and take the country out of the “permanent election mode” it has been for several years now.

3.      In urging the losers to concede defeat and let the country move on, the NCA is not losing sight of the continuing desire by the people of Zimbabwe to have democratic and genuinely free and fair elections. The history and record of the NCA speaks for itself. One of the key reasons why the NCA campaigned for a NO vote in the March 2013 referendum was the clear point that the proposed Constitution provided an insufficient framework for fair, transparent and credible elections. It is well known that the political parties in the inclusive government united in their campaign for a YES vote and hoodwinked the public.

4.      It is the NCA`s firm view that the complaints raised against the 31 July 2013 poll by the losers do not raise anything new and cannot be used as a basis for rejecting the results of an election in which they participated voluntarily. It is not desirable to encourage a state of affairs in our country where political parties participate in an election with only two scenarios: either they win or they dispute the result. Losing must always be one of the scenarios. In the circumstances of this particular election, the complaints must be taken into account for the next elections and for the reform agenda which remains very much incomplete.

5.      The NCA, on its part, is convinced that the votes cast on 31 July 2013 were the votes counted and announced. The NCA does not know the reasons for that pattern of voting. The essence of an electoral system based on a secret, one- person-one-vote is that each of the voters can only be sure about the vote he/she has cast. Provided that the votes have been cast freely, the result is binding. The way forward is to focus on moving the country forward while preparing for the next elections.

6.      The interests of this country require that we all move forward focussing on building the economy of country, deepening its democratic systems, promoting peace and unity and encouraging all of us to participate in the public affairs of our country. We should put the election behind us and take lessons for the future.

7.      The NCA wishes to commend ZEC for discharging its responsibilities diligently despite the severe constraints it faced.

                               Lovemore Madhuku, NCA Chairperson 5 August, 2013

NCA STATEMENT ON THE 2013 HARMONISED ELECTIONS

As Zimbabwe goes for polls on Wednesday 31 July 2013, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) takes this opportunity to encourage all eligible voters to exercise their democratic right and vote for their preferred candidates.

We bear in mind that this right to vote, was necessitated by the thousands of our brave sons and daughters who fought in the liberation struggle. It was a fight for One Man One vote.

The harmonised elections bring to an end the Coalition Government made up of the three main political parties, and incepted in February 2009. We do take note of the strides made by all the parties to create minimum conditions for the holding of credible elections.

We take note of the new constitution, authored by the three political parties, which we in the NCA campaigned for its rejection, the re-constitution of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) supported by all parties and the amendments of the Electoral Act by cabinet (which is made up of all political parties)and promulgated into law through the Executive Presidential Powers.

As the NCA, we are however disappointed by recent statements by some of the participating parties who are citing vote rigging by ZEC, a commission they set-up as the inclusive government.

The peace that is prevailing during the run up to these elections must be commended and we do hope that it will prevail in the post-election period. The assessment we have done so far indicate the conditions these elections are being held under are conducive for an election and do hope that the will of the people will be respected when the results are announced.

We encourage all participants to this election to accept the will of the people by accepting the election results.

We also encourage those with genuine queries with regards to the election results to approach the electoral court. This is well elaborated by the electoral laws of this country.

The NCA will observe elections under ZESN.  We have deployed elections observers who will give the organization a clear indication of what will be happening in different areas. As NCA we will continue to be neutral in our quest to promote a Zimbabwe that is just and democratic.

Issued By

Madock Chivasa

(NCA National Spokesperson)

+263 775 614 471 +263772904492  +263773022456

NCA response to the Daily News on Sunday article and Editorial

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), has noted with disgust  reports in the edition of the Daily News on Sunday and on social media alleging that the NCA Chairperson was part of the ZANU PF list of advisors at the just ended extra-ordinary session of the SADC summit in Maputo, Mozambique.

The paper alleges on page 2 and the editorial comment on page 8, “At least 67 names for the ‘ZANU PF delegation’ were listed at the Accreditation Centre, and included Lovemore Madhuku, National Constitutional Assembly Chairperson, who was listed as a ‘legal expert,’ the article reads.”

The NCA wishes to make it categorical that Professor Lovemore Madhuku was not in Maputo and never planned to go there. We also wish to tell all Zimbabweans and solidarity comrades across the globe who seeks the truth that the NCA has no inclination whatsoever with ZANU-PF. Any suggestions to the contrary are fictitious and imaginations which unfortunately seem to have become a day to day experience in our media

The articles are part of a series of lies being peddled by some faceless online editions who cannot stomach the NCA positions being articulated by its Chairperson Professor Lovemore Madhuku and the entire leadership.

 The article and the comment are themselves proof that the standards of journalism have gone to the dogs in our beloved country where people are allowed to publish hallucinations and dreams as facts. It is not only morally wrong to misinform the readership, but smacks of total disregard of the people’s right to correct and unbiased information.

The NCA calls on all Zimbabweans to remain vigilant to the idea of a truly democratic country where debates are civil, we call on the media to be vigilant in defending the ‘fourth estate’ by being professional and checking facts and not to reduce themselves to party activists. Theirs is a noble profession that society must trust.

We are unapologetic in the position we made before the summit that elections must happen now, a position which has not yet changed. The position which seems to have peeved those who wish to have their egos massaged and invited attacks and vitriol for the NCA.

As the NCA we uphold and respect the courts and that their decisions are binding until the decisions have been reversed. The supremacy of our courts over anything outside the boundaries of this country is a pillar that should not be traded for anything.

It is in this spirit that we continue to respect the 31 July date set by the courts and complied with by the President. Moving forward the country must work now for the spirit of that judgement which is that the election must be free and fair.

As the NCA we reiterated that we an independent entity, we are neither ZANU PF nor either of the MDC formations as suggested by some elements in the media and sections in the civil society.

We will be however lodging a complaint with the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe with regards to this issue.

No Retreat No Surrender!! Asijiki!

Blessing Vava

Director of Information

Bumbiro/Isisekelo House

348 Hebert Chitepo Avenue

Harare

Zimbabwe

+263 773022456,+263 715273786

NCA Statement on Workers Day

NCA Statement on Workers Day

30 April 2013

The National Constitutional Assembly joins the working class people the world over in commemorating Workers Day on the 1st of May

Every year on May 1st, workers around the world celebrate their victories, remember their fallen heroes and recommit themselves to the fight for a better life. May Day is a day to remind the world that the worker’s labour is the wheel around which our world revolves and the basis upon which the world re-generates itself.

 

It is a day to take stock of the gains made by workers and how far we have come in fighting for workers’ rights and economic justice.

 

While celebrations are noted once a year workers still need to mobilise on 1st May and beyond to confront the many challenges they still face and increase the tempo of the struggle for a just and equitable society and international system.

 

The day comes at critical time in the lives of the working class in Zimbabwe as workers are relegated to 3rd class citizens in the national economy and political processes. The national government has failed to address class inequalities on the ownership of the means of production. 

 

It does not make sense to speak of the right to food when a minority ruling elites have a monopoly over land ownership in our country. We also take note of the new constitution’s restriction to the right to strike for workers, whilst it bars civil servants from collective bargaining a scenario which betrays the earlier labor freedoms of independence.

 

Despite the conception of the inclusive government and a new constitution, workers continue to face the blunt of the ever increasing cost of living which is ‘matched’ with stagnated salaries and wages. In the same vein the constitution’s bill of rights is cosmetic as we cannot speak of freedom of movement when fuel and transport costs rise higher than the working class wage.

 

We cannot speak of the right to health care when only a rich minority benefits from a state of the arts health system whilst many of us languish in the public health care system with long queues, shortage of equipment and supplies and filthy wards.

 

We cannot speak of the right to life when so many mothers die whilst giving birth and so many children die at the hands of our public health system.

 

 We cannot speak of the right to education when many working class children learn in an unsafe, filthy and dilapidated environment.

 

We celebrate this May Day amidst continued working class suffering. The ruling class in this country has immensely benefited from our hard won democracy. We are faced with a situation where our rights are at a risk of becoming meaningless due to the privatization of wealth in the hands of a minority.

 

We also call on the working class to mount a struggle against selfish politicians who have turned Zimbabwe into their own republic – looking out solely for their interests. The crisis of unemployment must also inspire us to intensify our struggle against greed and destructive market fundamentalism. With unemployment rate of 70% when using the more realistic expanded definition - creating jobs, eradicating poverty and reducing inequality has to be the top priority for government, business and labour.

 

Similarly young people in this country are at the coalface of the social malaise that confronts us. They are without meaningful employment, are denied quality education, and languish in many of our prisons or simply die of the HIV/AIDs pandemic.

 The working class is still faced with housing challenges that is still persistent. The colonial spatial environment is still untransformed and low income houses are still built on the periphery of cities and far away from our factories. Our public transport system is still inefficient and unsafe.

 

We are deeply worried by the working conditions in workplaces especially in the mines, farms and factories were workers do not have such a luxury called ‘free time’ or leisure time. This is despite the rich and employers in this country have all the time to play golf and take overseas holidays. Basic Services continue to be commodified and citizens have become clients of the neoliberal state. This is why we should not be surprised when communities take to the streets in demand of better services.

 

 On this International workers day we pay solidarity to the workers in Swaziland who are under attack from the Tinkudla regime of Mswati.

 

 Many of our rights have become paper tigers due to the lack of transformation of our economy.

 

The levels of unemployment and income inequality are unacceptable. Corruption is a scourge. State power is important and we must use it – progressively, democratically.

 

  For workers and the poor – without state schools, without public hospitals, without transport subsidized by the state, without a public broadcaster, or a civic centre, or a public library – there is no chance of education, there is no chance of health-care, there often is no chance of moving from one place to another, there is no chance of listening to radio of your own choice.

 

We call upon political parties to stop meddling in union affairs and call for one robust labour body to confront the challenges faced by the working class every day.

We hereby reaffirm our commitment to Section 4 of the Zimbabwe’s Peoples Charter which says…

4.     National Economy and Social Welfare  

Holding in relation to the national economy and social welfare that because the colonial and post-colonial periods resulted in massive growth in social inequality and marginalization of women, youths, peasants, informal traders, workers, the disabled, professionals and the ordinary people in general, we hereby make it known that our national economy belongs to the people of Zimbabwe and must serve as a mechanism through which everyone shall be equally guaranteed the rights to dignity, economic and social justice which shall be guided by the following principles:

h) Free and quality public health care including free drugs, treatment, care and support for those living with HIV and AIDS.

 

i) A living pension and social security allowances for all retirees, elderly, disabled, orphans, unemployed and ex-combatants and ex-detainees.

 

j)  Decent work, employment and the right to earn a living. · Affordable, quality and decent public funded transport.

 

k)  Food security and the availability of basic commodities at affordable prices, where necessary, to ensure universal access. ·

 

l) Free and quality public education from crèche to college and university levels. ·

 

m) Decent and affordable public funded housing.

 

n) Fair labour standards including:  A tax-free minimum wage linked to inflation and the poverty datum line and pay equity for women, youth and casual workers, safe working places and adequate state and employer funded compensation for injury or death from accidents at work, protection from unfair dismissal, measures to ensure gender equity in the workplace, including equal pay for work of equal worth, full and paid maternity and paternity leave.

Asijiki!!

No Retreat No Surrender

Shinga Mushandi Shinga

INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

National Constitutional Assembly

NCA Statement on Zimbabwe’s Independence Day

 

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), calls upon all its members and every Zimbabwean to join the celebrations of Independence Day on 18 April. On 18 April 1980, after decades of colonial and white supremacy rule, we proved to ourselves and the world that Zimbabwe was now a democracy.

 

We must however always remember, as we celebrate our freedom, that it was not won without struggle and sacrifice. Thousands of members of the liberation movement were arrested, jailed, tortured, exiled or even sacrificed their lives to help free our nation from racist tyranny.

 

In particular we dip our flags in honour of two of our greatest leaders, Josiah Magama Tongogara and Hebert Chitepo ,who both passed away on the eve of our independence and thus narrowly missed the chance to witness the democratic breakthrough that they did more than most to bring about.

 

While we have much to commemorate we also have a lot still to achieve before we can say that all Zimbabweans are really free. We cannot ignore the millions of Zimbabweans who live in poverty who cannot benefit from political freedom, as they face a daily struggle to survive.

 

Millions of our people cannot find work and the millions still living in squatter camps fully celebrate their 'freedom' as they struggle to find ways to earn a decent living and live in a proper house?

 

We also have to shrink the massive levels of inequality which have made Zimbabwe the most unequal society in the world. Such inequality mocks our struggle to build a free, fair and equitable society. Neither can we celebrate freedom when our society is scarred by such high levels of crime and corruption.

Gross inequalities in wealth distribution, health and education remain defined along political lines just similar to the time it was done along racial lines. The fault lines of the colonial economy remain largely intact.

 

In the main it is the children of the poor, the working class whose educational experience is marked by poor learning infrastructure, high tuition fees, classroom overcrowding, high dropout rates and unsafe schools. There are equally glaring discrepancies in the quality of health care, with a first-world service for the wealthy in government and the private sector and a third-world service for the poor in the public sector.

 

 The highest levels of poverty and underdevelopment are also still concentrated in our townships and rural areas.

 

Also denied the full fruits of our freedom are the millions who suffer from HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases - many of them diseases caused by poverty. The millions who suffer from HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases, many of which are diseases of poverty, are also not truly free. Many of these diseases would have disappeared if people could afford quality food and had access to the medicines they need, including antiretrovirals for people living with HIV/AIDS. We urge all our members to get themselves tested.

33 years after a protracted war, the nation will finally adopt a new constitution, a constitution which the leaders of the land imposed on the people. The fruits of freedom cannot be enjoyed if you have no job, no money, no food on the table, nothing to pay your children's school fees or no proper health care for your family.  This new constitution will never guarantee our freedom. It retains power on one person, a big legislature and it does not compel the state to allocate a specified minimum percentage of the nation’s revenue to deal with the needs of the poor.

The only way for the people of Zimbabwe, our families and our communities to win real and total freedom is for us to get organised in strong, fighting trade unions, a strong alliances and civil society formations and fight for a genuine people driven constitution and the realisation of the  Peoples Charter.

We will forever remain indebted by the revolutionary and progressive step made by the 179 849 brave Zimbabweans who voted NO in the referendum, not only did they voted wisely, but it was in honour and in defence of our independence.

 

We must recruit and organise all in colleges, in factories, churches, and all sectors. We must drastically improve our own civic organisations, so that they recruit more `members as we prepare to fight bigger struggles ahead.

 

Information and Publicity Department