NCA Independence Day Statement

Statement on Zimbabwe’s National Independence Day

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) today pays tribute to the gallant sons and daughters of this great country who fought fearlessly for the independence of this country. It is in the same spirit that we register our deep concerns over the way the ZANU-PF government has destroyed the national fabric of this great country.

As we celebrate these thirty two years of self rule we are disappointed that today the culture of ZANU-PF has become so endemic in our society. It is ironic that the state apparatus that are meant to protect the people of Zimbabwe and foster an environment of peace (the army and the police) have become the chief perpetrators of violence and chief violators of human rights. The skewed judiciary system is a total derailment of the gains of the liberation struggle. Those opposed to ZANU PF, are being treated unfairly in our courts of law. 32 years after our independence, the laws governing the land, reminiscent the colonial times were the infamous LOMA was arbitrarily used to crash dissenting voices.

We deplore in the strongest terms the abuse of state machinery by ZANU-PF for political gains.

The national Independence is coming right at a time when Zimbabwe is at the crossroads regarding the writing of a new constitution for the country. As all of you are aware that the Select Committee of Parliament known as ‘COPAC,’ has failed to produce a draft constitution despite all the time and the resources they got from donors.

As the NCA, we passed a vote of NO confidence in COPAC, since the day it was incepted, after a careful analysis that the model as articulated by Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), was far from what the people of Zimbabwe envisaged as a process that can yield a truly democratic constitution for Zimbabwe.

Now we are eagerly waiting for the failed COPAC group to officially release their negotiated draft to be tabled for the referendum. Our campaign will be intensified in our villages, townships and farm meetings. As NCA we remain fully committed to the same National Working Peoples Convention resolutions and its commitment to democracy as well as social and economic justice. In the twelve or so years since the NWPC and the formation of the MDC, we have also steadfastly maintained that true democratic change can only be arrived at via a people driven constitution making process and this is reaffirmed in the Zimbabwe’s People’s Charter.

As we celebrate our independence we remain dedicated to our Take Charge campaign for a ‘NO’ vote in the pending constitutional referendum. In campaigning for a NO VOTE in the referendum the NCA is just re-affirming that Zimbabwe needs a home grown, people driven and democratic constitution.

A “NO” vote does not mean that people want to be governed by the current Lancaster House Constitution. It does not mean that we want future elections to be held under the current Lancaster House Constitution. It simply means that we want a good constitution and we are rejecting a bad one.

In opposing the COPAC process, we are not opposing this moral demand. We are fulfilling it. Our argument is that the mistakes of 1979 cannot be repeated. And neither should we settle principle for political expediency. Constitution making is in itself a continuation of a political struggle for democracy. It is the fight for a democratic constitution, we are qualifying the dream of a Zimbabwe we want.

This we cannot allow and we are convinced politicians will realise that Zimbabweans are clear on what they want and the Zimbabwe they want to build. We cannot have the process be driven by those whose power society seeks to limit! It has to be an independent commission – independent from this over-arching hand of politicians! We urge you all to be resolute and steady fast in this front line walk of advancement towards egalitarianism. Let us join hands, take charge and complete this change which is imminent.

Issued by
Madock Chivasa
NCA National Spokesperson
+263 775 614 471

Campaign empowering female activists and the democracy movement

One year after the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) embarked on the campaign on mobilisation, education and protection of female activists at grassroots level, it is time to take a moment to look back at what we have achieved so far.

The ACT NOW Against Political Violence, Torture and Rape campaign has gained momentum, in particular in terms of mobilisation of female activists, who have been beaten down from years of repression.

 “Women are strong and believe we need to continue the struggle for democracy. Activism is within us and we will never move backwards. We will continue the fight until we have a people driven constitution in Zimbabwe” says a leading female activists in NCA.

NCA National Spokesperson, Madock Chivasa, speaking about the ACT NOW Against Political Violence Campaign

Mobilisation and education of women

In the past year, the NCA has embarked on a national outreach programme to encourage an open dialogue about the risks and challenges facing women and provide a platform for women to share their personal stories about the physical, mental and social attacks by the law enforcement agencies, militia and youth gangs.

Around the country women and men has gathered in small groups to break the silence and talk about the trauma resulting from being targeted by the state in response to their call for a people driven constitution. This has contributed to building women’s self-esteem as individuals and as active participants in the movement for a genuine democratisation of Zimbabwe’s repressive regime.

Responses to police brutality

In spite of the courage and unity of the democracy movement, activists are still putting their lives on the line when they take up the fight against repression. Many female activists have been faced with police brutality, and women who choose to become active in NCA are acutely aware of the risks of physical assaults, arrest and torture. By teaching women about their rights they have become better prepared for how to react, when the police interrupt demonstrations and NCA meetings.

“Women now stand firm against the police. We tell them that we will not run away, so they can just go ahead and arrest us all. If one of us is arrested we stand together as a group and tell the police men to arrest us all. The police will leave us alone because we stand firm” says one of the women, who has educated grassroots women.

Protection and support to female activists

No matter how firm the women stand, the effects of the medical and psychological trauma from political violence cannot be underestimated. In the past year, NCA has scaled up the efforts to provide counselling, medical and legal support for women, who have been subjected to political violence. No woman should be left alone with the physical, mental and social wounds from violence, rape and torture. Therefore NCA has put a system in place, where women can report any incidences of political violence to the local offices, who will then refer them to medical, counselling and legal support.

Unfortunately the Zimbabwean police and court systems are under Robert Mugabe’s control, and it is not possible to report cases to the police or take the perpetrators to court. The police routinely refuse to investigate any cases of political violence against civic activists, who are perceived as being affiliated with Mugabe’s political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Prosecution of perpetrators of political violence is therefore rare, and in the few court cases, the political elite has sought to threaten or pay the judges to rule in favour of the perpetrator. However, human rights lawyers and doctors still document all the cases, and are preparing to take them to court as soon as the political control of the court system is reduced. Attempts have also been made to prosecute perpetrators in other countries.

International lobbying

The women of Zimbabwe are not alone in their fight against repression. Throughout the past year, NCA and Africa Contact have put pressure on policy makers in Southern Africa and Europe to push for an end to political violence in Zimbabwe.

NCA has held a series of demonstrations around the campaign in Johannesburg. When the Southern Africa Development Community held an extraordinary summit in Johannesburg in June 2011, NCA handed in a petition calling on SADC to pressure Zimbabwe to put an end to political violence.

NCA Activists on their way to hand in petition to SADC

NCA Chairman Lovemore Madhuku and International Coordinator Munjodzi Mutandiri visited Copenhagen in December to mobilise support for the campaign. Civil society arranged a conference to address the issue of women’s political participation, and the Danish Government opened the doors to discuss the current political situation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs took note of NCA’s analysis of the Government of National Unity’s failure to provide stability and security for Zimbabweans, and NCA stressed that there is an urgent need to ensure that all Zimbabweans are free to choose their leader and contribute to building the future of the country.

In February, NCA’s partner Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), went to Geneva to engage the United Nations in the fight against political violence. During Zimbabwe’s review by the Committee on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), RAU successfully lobbied the Committee to condemn the systematic use of political violence against women. The CEDAW Report called on the Zimbabwean Government to end political violence.

International Solidarity

On the International Women’s Day and May Day, activists from Africa Contact took to the streets to urge Danish citizens and policy makers to show their solidarity with the women of Zimbabwe. More than 500 Danes showed their support by having their picture taken for a virtual petition on Facebook.

Danes calling for an end to political violence against women in Zimbabwe

The events caught the attention of Danish policymakers and the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Lene Espersen said: “I think we should fight all attempts at trying to misuse women for political purposes. So let’s speak up and speak up loud for the Zimbabwean women”, when she had her picture taken for the petition.

Strengthening the movement for a democratic Zimbabwe

The campaign has not only contributed to improving the situation for female activists. It has also strengthened NCA as a movement. The fear and consequences of political violence is something that is present in the lives of all activists. By initiating discussions about political violence at all levels of the organisation, NCA has become even more relevant for its grassroots supporters, because the organisation acknowledges and seeks to assist the physical and psychological risks the membership face.

“The campaign against political violence is the first of its nature in NCA. We have always campaigned for a people driven constitution, and our members were positively surprised to see us talk about political violence. It has helped us mobilise our grassroots, especially women“, says a member of NCA’s Task Force.

But the struggle does not end here. Political violence, especially against women, has become integral to Zimbabwe’s political battleground as is still used as a tool to silence critical voices. It is expected that Zimbabwe will have a referendum on a new constitution this year and elections next year. Mugabe is not expected to give up power without a fight and is likely to launch a new campaign of intimidation and violence against the democracy movement. We need to prepare ourselves to protect women and provide support for the victims of political violence – and speak out to the international community on the continued human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Danish civil society meets to discuss women’s political participation

On the International Women’s Day, Africa Contact launched the report “Countries in Transition: Options for Women’s Political Participation” with our partners Gendernet, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy and KVINFO.

Last year we went on the streets in Copenhagen in a solidarity event to raise awareness about political violence against women in Zimbabwe, and this year we went into the meeting room to address Danish civil society and mobilise support  to continue fighting for women’s right to participate in decision-making and public life.

NCA Chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, speaking at the conference on 8. December 2011

The report presents NCA Chairperson Lovemore Madhuku’s analysis of political violence in the context of women’s role in the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe. It also includes NCA International Coordinator Munjodzi Mutandiri’s presentation of NCA’s strategies of mobilising and protecting activist women, who live in fear for becoming targets of physical attacks, abductions, torture, rape and psychological violence.

 At the launch an activist from Africa Contact stressed the importance to continue our work with inclusion of marginalised groups, such as women, in political processes and decision-making. Africa Contact remain deeply committed to the fight for Zimbabwean women to continue the struggle for democracy without fear of political violence.

 In Zimbabwe and around the world, women face a range of different problems when they become politically active, such as economic and cultural barriers for their active participation. Director of the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD), Bjørn Førde,  stressed that the issue of women’s political participation cannot be addressed as an isolated problem.

Director of DIPD, Bjørn Førde, speaking at the launch

The roots causes of unequal access to power and influence are closely interlinked with economic, social and cultural power, and in many societies the loss of power equals a loss of economic benefits, social status and power in other spheres of life. A genuine process of democratisation therefore need to address the issue of separating political power from social and economic power.

As the International Women’s Day is coming to an end, we left the launch with new inspiration to continue our struggle for women’s opportunities to contribute to defining the future of their countries.

NCA Statement on International Women’s Day 2012

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), today joins the rest of the world in commemorating International Women’ Day, being held under the theme  “Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty.”

 We take this opportunity to salute millions of women of our country and use this day to pay tribute to women and the role they have played in the struggle for national liberation, reconstruction and transformation of our country.

As we celebrate let’s look beyond celebrations and take stock of how far we have come and how far we have to go. The matters that concerned women during the colonial era are the same issues that concern women of today – housing, food prices, unemployment, domestic violence, child abuse, HIV/AIDS, poverty, and gender discrimination. Freedom for women will never bereal or complete while we suffer from mass unemployment, poverty and inequality, and women remain disproportionately affected by all of these.

 Though they have been talking about the empowerment of women,  women remain mostly affected by soaring prices of food, fuel, electricity, education and many other essentials. The commodification of education and health services affects women the most and it is in this regard that we call for efficient and accessible public health and education systems.

 For the fifteen years that the NCA has been in existence, the female constituency has been the most active in our protracted struggle for a new democratic and people driven constitution for Zimbabwe.  Also acknowledging that  women constitute a greater percentage of the overall membership of the NCA, and for that they were subjected to various forms of abuse  ranging from arrests, beatings while in the trenches.

 In that regard the NCA, embarked on a campaign ‘Act against Political Violence Targeting Women’ in 2010 to address the scourge of political violence by raising awareness, building support structures, name and shame perpetrators as well as capacitating women and communities at large to deal with the scourge.  The campaign included  demonstrations, community workshops, rallies in the SADC region notably South Africa as a means of spreading the gospel against violence targeting women.

 More importantly, as we commemorate this special day we wish to re-affirm our commitment to Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Peoples Charter, adopted on the 9th of February 2008, and which the NCA is signatory to: And it is our hope that when finally Zimbabwe embarks on a genuine constitution reform exercise that is peopledriven and democratic such values contained in the Peoples Charter should be contained.

 Zimbabwe Peoples Charter Section 6.

Gender.

6.1 We hold that all humanbeings are created equal, must live and be respected equally with equitable access to all resources that our society offers regardless of their gender.

Gender equality is the responsibility of women and men equally. We also hold and recognise the role that our mothers and sisters played in the liberation of our country from colonialism and their subsequent leading role in all struggles for democracy and social justice. And that this fundamental principle must be observed and upheld at all levels of the People’s Charter both on paper and in practice where decisions are made over and about the following;

i. Our national budget and economy

ii. Our legislative and government processes in order to allow representative quota systems.

iii. Provision by the state of all heath care and all sanitary requirements of women

iv. An understanding that women bear the brunt of any decline in social welfare security, economic and political systems

 NCA Gender Desk

Silencing women’s and community voices

Promotion and protection of women’s political participation is in itself important, but it also has a broader purpose of developing a participatory democracy, where all citizens are free to contribute to shaping the future of their country.

Zimbabwean women are powerful, resilient and determined to have their voice heard and exercise their right to vote. The regime has realised the powerful force of women in the democracy movement, and therefore they specifically target women, says Lovemore Madhuku, Chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA).

He is speaking about political violence against women at the international conference Countries in Transition: Options for Women’s Political Participation in Copenhagen, initiated by the NCA and the Danish organisation Africa Contact.

Zimbabwean women have always been a main driving force for change. They were at the frontline in the liberation struggle against the white minority rule in the 1970s and more recently in the pro-democracy movement against Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian regime.

Women have therefore also suffered some of the heaviest violations by the regime, including violence, torture and rape. This has left communities in a state of fear and apathy, and many Zimbabweans have withdrawn from the political arena or fled to neighbouring countries.

This issue is not just about women, but about families and communities. One of the most evil forms of violence we have witnessed is when youth militia force family members to have sex with each other. It breaks down communities, and no one will be willing to participate after,  Munjodzi Mutandiri, International Coordinator of the NCA explains at the conference.

At the moment Zimbabwe’s future is in the making as the country prepares for a constitutional referendum and elections. To secure a genuine transition towards democracy political violence, especially violence targeting women, needs to come to an end and the perpetrators must be held accountable for their actions.

Ballots or bullets

Political violence is a serious problem in itself, but at the same time it is also a symptom of a deeper problem, resulting from the nature and history of Zimbabwe’s political power struggle.

Today NCA’s Chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku and International Coordinator, Munjodzi Mutandiri spoke at a seminar at Centre for African Studies in Copenhagen. First Madhuku took the audience back to the liberation war, where today’s leaders of Zimbabwe were groomed. At independence in 1980, many of the political leaders came straight from the battlefield.

As new generations have grown up and started to claim their space in the political arena, the ageing leaders from the liberation struggle have continuously, loudly and violently claimed that their authority cannot be challenged, because they won Zimbabwe’s freedom 31 years ago.

Alternative voices gained weight as Zimbabweans came together in the 1990s and started pushing for a new agenda for a people oriented and participatory democracy, where power should be won in free and fair elections. But as Madhuku put it:

They believe the legitimacy comes from the bullets and not from the ballots. They won black majority rule. Now we must fight to win the respect for the electoral vote

The struggle in the past decade has been a competition between ideologies, where the ideology of violence is challenged by an ideology of democracy where power should not be won in a battle but given by the people in regular elections.

Political violence has become an integral part of this battle when the political elite use the military, police and militant militia to beat people into compliance with their political agenda.

The machine of violence has not been dismantled since 2008. It has been oiled and can be reactivated anytime. There is a need for communities to unite and say no to the violence, Mutandiri said at the seminar.

While many would like to believe that the Government of National Unity has bridged the gap between the political parties, a compromise between the ideological differences cannot be reached.