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(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC-T stalling constitutional exercise: Zanu-PF

MDC-T stalling constitutional exercise: Zanu-PF
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Friday, April 8, 2011 4:59 am

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party says the MDC-T in deliberately derailing the progress of the constitution-making process for reasons best known to that party. The completion of the constitution making process is expected to pave way for elections as was agreed in the Global Political Agreement in September 2008.

The Constitution Parliamentary Committee (Copac) has indicated that elections are possible in September as there had been an injection of cash enough to help complete the exercise.

Copac has about US$9 million in their coffers, but the constitution-making process is said to be failing to move into the thematic committees’ stage due to excuses mainly from the MDC-T co-chairperson, Douglas Mwonzora.

Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Rugare Gumbo said they are disappointed with the reports they are getting from Copac.

Gumbo said they had been briefed that the uploading stage had been completed and workshops to train thematic committees’ rapportuers were supposed to have begun on Monday the 4th of April, but still nothing has taken off.

Last week in Livingstone, Zambia, the SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and Security stated that the inclusive Government should complete all the steps necessary for the holding of elections, including the finalisation of the constitutional amendment and the holding of a referendum.

Reports suggest that the MDC-T is stalling the process because the party is broke and cannot mount a nationwide campaign against Zanu-PF. Its funding has dwindled and its souvenir shop at Harvest House in Harare is not generating enough funds to mount an election campaign.

Because of the economic downturn, many MDC-T members are also not paying their membership fees.

MDC-T tresurer general Roy Bennett has moved from South Africa to Britain to fundraise for the party.

The MDC-T is also planning to hold a so-called "Free Zimbabwe" concert in South Africa to raise election funds.

Labels: CONSTITUTION, MDC, ZANU-PF

posted by MrK @ 1:14 AM