HARARE - Every person in spite of their political affiliation, religious beliefs, creed or background, should attend the constitution outreach meetings to be held in their wards, an MDC leader has said.

Speaking at a rally in Dotito, Mt Darwin West over the weekend, MDC deputy Treasurer General, Elton Mangoma said his party was in support of a people-driven process and valued public participation.
“This document can only be formulated if you come out and air your views,” he said, before castigating ‘rogue elements in society’ who were intimidating people.
“They are ignorant. They are not aware that they are eating their own future. They are forgetting that the future is theirs and they are sabotaging their opportunity to make this nation work again. Our young people need to be made aware that the process they intend to block is the same process that will liberate them for ever,” Mangoma said.
Sunningdale MP Margaret Matienga encouraged women to participate in large numbers to ensure constitutional protection for women.
“Women are the worst affected in any crisis. We need to ensure that our rights are enshrined in the supreme law of the country so that we are legally protected. Women are rape victims, they are at the brunt of any economic meltdown,” she said.
In Mushumbi pools, Glen Norah MP, Gift Dzirutwe encouraged the people to express their views and opinions freely so that these are captured in the constitution.
“As the outreach begins, you must feel free to say what you want to see in the new constitution. It is your right as citizens of this country to write the constitution at such an opportune time,” Dzirutwe said.
Addressing thousands of MDC supporters at Dojani business centre in Zhombe, Midlands North province, the provincial Vice chairperson Rogers Chisi said:
“We can rebuild our nation by contributing to the writing of the supreme law of the land that guarantees necessary freedoms to the people. This document will ensure that the leadership they select represents the people’s needs.”
MDC deputy spokesperson Thabitha Khumalo told a rally in Lobengula that the MDC wanted to see the rule of law being applied in the country. She said there remained outstanding issues in the GPA because there was no respect for human life or the nation.
“The Constitution is finally coming to the people to pave way for a democratic nation. Go and meet the Copac teams and talk of empowerment, equality, land and systems of government. The new constitution should force the police to reform, fulfill the outstanding issues of the GPA and ensure an environment that brings to book all perpetrators of violence,” said Khumalo, who is also MP for Bulawayo East.
Addressing a rally in his constituency, MP for Njube /Lobengula Sipepa Nkomo said:
“We are tired of 30 years of maladministration, disasters and murders in the country. A new beginning has neared and the next elections should determine one leader for Zimbabwe.”
In Matebeleland South province, the MDC National Chairman, Lovemore Moyo, addressed two rallies in Matobo South in Marko and Slebuko wards where he told villagers to refuse to be spoken for but to take the opportunity of a lifetime to correct the wrongs they have experienced in the 30 years of Independence under the rule of Mugabe.

By The Zimbabwean