HARARE – Zimbabwe’s constitutional reforms were on Monday plunged deeper into confusion with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party rejecting reports that the governing coalition had finally agreed not to base the new supreme law on the controversial Kariba draft constitution.

Mugabe’s party dismissed as “nonsensical” claims by Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga earlier in the day that coalition leaders agreed at a meeting last week to drop the Kariba draft that has caused sharp divisions among the three governing political parties, threatening to derail the constitutional reforms.

In a statement that appeared to suggest welcome attempts to quicken constitutional reforms that have to date moved at a snail’s pace, Matinenga said Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara met last Thursday and agreed to drop the Kariba document because of the polarisation it had caused within the ruling coalition. 

Zimbabwe’s principal political leaders also agreed to grant autonomy to a special parliamentary committee set up to lead the constitution reforms, according to Matinenga, who is from Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party that has opposed the Kariba draft.     

He said: “Due to the unfortunate polarisation brought about by reference to the Kariba draft neither party to the inter-party agreement should seek to promote the draft at the expense of other constitutional material it being accepted that the draft will be open to study and scrutiny just like any other constitutional material available.”

But Masawi told ZimOnline that ZANU PF had not shifted from its position that the Kariba draft that was secretly authored by Mugabe’s party and the MDC in 2007 should form the basis for the new governance charter, adding that this was what the three coalition parties agreed in the global political agreement that gave birth to the power-sharing government. 

“ZANU PF made a decision on how the constitution-making process should proceed and as far as we are concerned that decision has not been changed,” Masawi said. “The Kariba draft remains the reference document and it is nonsensical for anyone to suggest that that position has been reserved.”

Masawi accused the MDC of back tracking on the Kariba draft in a bid to appease its civic society allies who are opposed to the document.

The issue of whether to use the Kariba draft as the reference document for constitutional reforms is fast emerging as the biggest threat to Zimbabwe’s unity government that is in its seventh month in office.

Civic organisations and the MDC have criticised the Kariba draft constitution that they say leaves largely untouched the wide-sweeping powers that Mugabe continues to enjoy even after formation of a power-sharing government.

But Mugabe has promised to instruct ZANU PF parliamentarians to block any draft constitution that is not based on the Kariba document.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara’s MDC parties cannot enact a new constitution without backing from ZANU PF and in any case, any proposed constitution would require Mugabe’s signature to become effective law.   

Failure to enact a new and democratic constitution would be disastrous for the coalition government whose most important task besides reviving the economy is to write a new constitution to replace the existing one that was drafted by Zimbabwe’s former colonial power, Britain.

The draft constitution will be put before the electorate in a referendum expected in July next year and if approved by Zimbabweans will then be brought before Parliament for enactment.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing government is expected to call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government elections.

By Zimonline