Hosia Mviringi
On May the 6th in the year 2021, Zimbabwe’s diaspora based Civic Society activists convened what they termed #ResistDictatorship Constitutional e-rally on the Facebook and Zoom platforms, mainly to incite resistance to the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 2 Act of 2021.
The e-rally which was co-hosted by former #ThisFlag activist Pastor Evan Mawarire and Jestina Mukoko of the Zimbabwe Peace Project was being spearheaded, organised and funded by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (Zimrights).
The rally began ominously as the convenor and co-host, one Pastor Evan Mawarire indicated that they were not going to play the Zimbabwean National Anthem but rather would play the old anthem “Ishe Komborera Africa”, on its own a tacit indication and admission that indeed this is not a Zimbabwean project.
Self-denial has become a symbol for sell-outs as they try to peel off their black skin to appease the foreign white sponsors.
It reminds me of one Ugandan born Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who on December 10 2007 trashed his dog collar on live television to show his commitment to the Zimbabwe regime change agenda, much to the appeasement of the white handler regime. Spectacularly pathetic.
The major thrust of the activist e-rally was and is to try and galvanise support for civil defiance to the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 2 Bill before it became law and to mount a resistance campaign through Civil Disobedience once the bill becomes law.
However, it was a little too late. The horses have already bolted.
Without dwelling much on their reasons for resisting this law, one important thing to note is the fact that none of the participants in this rally is a political player who might have vested interests in the legislative process in Zimbabwe or provisions of the Act.
These are purely prepaid activists, most of whom are foreign-based and may not participate in such acts of civil disobedience.
Such spent forces as fugitive Dr Thomas Mapfumo, Ibbotson Mandaza of SAPES Trust, advisor to former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Dr Alex Magaisa, and Peter Mutasa of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, took part in the rally.
The complexion of the panel is enough evidence as to who the force behind the rally is.
Ironic and suspicious is how the participants, who are fronting a failed online petition against the lawful Act, are opposing the running mate clause, yet they are neither in politics nor do they have a candidate whom they preferred to have a running mate?
What betrays their bankruptcy and desperation is how they try to pre-empt and predict what ZANU PF will do next, on its own an admission that ZANU PF will rule Zimbabwe for a much longer time to come.
A hopeless group of opposition activists who have all but lost hope for their preferred party MDC Alliance ever leading this country.
We see here non-political actors involving themselves in political processes.
People like Mawarire refuse to learn, despite his perceived online popularity, he lost in a council election.
The fact that he is trying to apply the same failed method to challenge a constitutional amendment shows the height of his stubbornness and naivety.
When, in the political history of this country, has any political processes, let alone constitutional matters, been reversed by a mere hashtag and an online petition? Isn’t this daydreaming gone wild?
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 2 Bill of 2021 went through the lawful Parliamentary processes until it was passed into law.
In a democracy like ours, there is a separation of roles between the three pillars of government and in this case, Parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, exercised their Constitutional rights and mandate to represent their constituents in law-making processes.
They debated, they voted and the majority prevailed. Such is democracy.
A constitution must never be subjected to negotiations, compromise or bargaining. It must never be subjected to a gamble.
A constitution must just be anchored on the aspirations of the people. Yet these must never be negotiable.
If anything, national values and ethos must guide all processes, and everyone is obligated to consent to them. It’s national duty to uphold those values that bind the nation together.
It is a common cause that modern-day imperialism, expansionism, and conquest are being actualised through foistering of flawed constitutions upon nations.
It must be recognised that democracy is not a one size fits all phenomenon. It’s not a straight jacket. Democracy evolves, grows, and matures as the nation progresses.
Democracy, as is the case with a country’s constitution, must be tailor-made to speak to peculiar needs and circumstances of a nation.
In modern imperialism, conditions are created that relegate national sovereignty to the lowest rungs while elevating expediency and survival as benchmarks for sound negotiations.
In the 2013 Constitution, ZANU PF was forced to negotiate with the devil for its salvation.
It is not a secret that ZANU PF fought imperialism for the country to attain treasured independence.
But in 2013 an unenviable scenario unfolded where the party had to negotiate with the former imperialist power, through proxies and surrogates within the MDC, just because our people had voted under pressure from the unbearable burden of economic sanctions.
Decisions made under pressure can be equated to statutory rape, where one consents to an incestuous relationship, just for the sake of survival.
ZANU PF had to survive for another day. The party had to breathe for another day, re-organise and re-strategise.
Thus, all and any decisions made under duress are subject to contestations at some point in the future.
It is also beyond any doubt that the MDC in all its facets, was establish to entrench the interests of former colonial masters and the Capitalist West.
Return of agricultural land to the former white farmers under the guise of property rights, entrenching and upholding of gay rights, and abandonment of resource nationalism were and are still at the core of the MDC ideology and agenda, as is with him who pays the piper, the US.
Therefore, it is glaringly clear whose interests and agenda the MDC represented since the 2013 constitution-making to date.
It can be argued that ZANU PF acceded to a bad document in 2013 on the back of overwhelming pressure from economic sanctions that saw the people almost abandoning the ruling party as a result of biting economic hardships.
As the then US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker said during Senate hearings on the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act on June 13, 2000 before it was passed into law in 2002,
” To separate the people of Zimbabwe from ZANU PF, we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope that you, Senators have the stomach for what you have to do, and that we will have the wisdom to be discreet, to be low key, and to avoid giving those in power there the excuse that foreigners are out to get them”.
But this, besides it being a bad episode in the history of the relations between the US and Zimbabwe, it serves as an example of how laws are made the world over, including in the United States.
ZIDERA Bill was drafted and brought before the US Senate by lobbyists, foreign lobbyists from Zimbabwe for that matter. It was debated and passed by the US Senate without the need for a referendum. And it was perfectly right, because it is the United States of America. Strange isn’t it?
Maybe it is time for Zimbabwe to reclaim Constitutional Sovereignty.
Yet some academic pundits are touting Section 328 as restricting the President from assenting to such amendments without a referendum, or at least to restrict the implementation of the Act.
Let me hasten to say that this is corrective action in motion.
Many will be shocked to learn that even Section 328 (7) that they are quoting as an impediment to some crucial amendments, is also flawed and not cast in stone as it was a product of the same conditions that got us where we are today.
Regrettably, besides the futile attempts by these bankrupt activists, it is important that we direct our attention where it matters most.
The nation watched in astonishment as seemingly coached activists took turns to present choreographed solidarity messages, all reading from the same script across the length and breath.
Some even struggled to read the script and mispronounced some critical words.
It was embarrassingly clear who the author of the script was.
It is neither a secret nor a surprise that the United States Embassy In Harare is the biggest sponsor of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (Zimrights), and a whole host of other participating CSOs such as Jestina Mukoko’s Zimbabwe Peace Project.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment number 2 Act is a slap in the face of the US as an interested party in Zimbabwean political landscape.
It may be recalled that for a good 20 years the its through it multiple agencies has worked hard and invested millions of dollars in Zimbabwe through its surrogate CSO’s and opposition political parties for regime change purposes.
The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) was put in place specifically to decimate ZANU PF’s political muscle while railroading the MDC into power.
This makes the United States the biggest loser and possibly the most aggrieved by the passage into law of Amendment number 2 Bill of 2021.
The current actions which are calculated to translate into massive demonstrations in Harare are designed to act as the final assault on the ZANU PF government which is deemed to be stubborn by the American foreign policy schemers.
Hopewell Chin’ono has tacitly admitted on his Facebook page, online petitions and e-rallies don’t change laws, neither do they change governments, at least not here in Zimbabwe.
Effective Parliamentary representation makes the whole difference in law-making.
Legislators are elected by the people, and thus the 210 members represent the sum total of the Zimbabwean people’s voice and as such they are empowered to act on their behalf. That’s the essence of democracy.
Once the House of Assembly has voted, it is assumed that a mini referendum has taken place and any decisions there, of become binding and respected as a true expression of people’s views.
This vain attempt to whip people’s emotions and mislead them into civil disobedience will amount to nought.
Once again, it’s homeland or death!
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