Continued violence gives credence to reports that President Robert Mugabe is no longer in control

A Chivi, Masvingo, District Administrator, his head of the District Development Fund (DDF) Ernest Temba and an official in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, have all been threatened by Zanu (PF) and and CIO officials for taking positions that are not supported by Zanu (PF) in the Constitutional meetings.

The DA, Bernard Hadzirabwi, has been forced into hiding and has not been seen at work, while his DDF head, Ernest Temba, was summoned by the the Zanu (PF) District Co-ordinating Committee chair Sandaers Magwizi to explain why he was expressing his views which contradicted those of Zanu (PF).

Soldiers are reported to be threatening villagers in Mwenezi with death if they do not support the so-called Kariba Draft and Zanu PF youths youths are reported to have organised a demonstration against Hadzirambi in Chivi.

This gives credence to reports that President Robert Mugabe is no longer in control of what is going on because he said at the launch of the Constitution outreach that all Zimbabweans were free to express themselves and should be allowed to do so.

A Press report this week said he and the Cabinet ordered the ZBC to stop playing these jingles which undermine the inclusive government, but the ZBC has continued playing them - presumably because they are under orders to do so by the Minister of Media. This would be the first case of Mugabe's order being defied.

One of the jingles audaciously admits, "we took Zimbabwe under cover of night", thus clearly saying they will not give it up since it is stolen, or taken by night.

Hadzirabwi has gone into hiding fearing for his life for suggesting in his contribution that the Prime Minister should have executive powers. Zanu (PF) supporters and CIO agents demonstrated against him and threatened the security guards at his offices for "protecting a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporter."

In Mwenezi East A Colonel Hungwe of Ngundu Halt, A Major Neshuro and the Zanu PF chairperson of Mwenezi District Coordinating Committee, Justice Sithole, last week Friday forced villagers of Chingamhi Ward 5 and threatened them with death if they did not support the discredited Kariba draft.

NGO's observing the constitutional process under the umbrella NGO, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) Independent Constitution Monitoring Project (ZZZICOMP), noted that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development officer, one Mugarajira, had received violent threats for "being a sell-out".

ZZZICOMP's own monitors are also being targeted, with one detained for more than three hours on Friday last week following a COPAC outreach meeting in Mutasa North, Ward 4 at Dumba Business Centre.

John Ziyera (29), who was observing the proceedings under ZZZICOMP was detained after Zanu PF supporters accused him of being a stranger adding that he should not be part of the meeting, despite having introduced himself. He was apparently saved by the local MP and Copac team leader, David Chimhini, who handed him over to the police for protection, but then Mutare Law and Order Police interrogated throughout his stay at the police station, though he was not told of the charges he was facing.

Upon his release on Friday around 9PM he was told to report back at the police station the next morning. The following day they only recorded his profile and told him that they would call him if they found a case against him - an obvious case of intimidation. It could also well be that the JOC who are now said to be in control, are preparing to crack down in civic activists in their local communities.

Although ZZZICOMP observers have now been accredited by Copac to there were earlier attempts to stop them which could have made the who process an opaque farce. Their latest report "some positive developments" in their observers being allowed access, even though this would have been expected in any people-driven constitutional process that claims to be democratic.

Few meetings were reportedly conducted in an atmosphere in which people were generally free to express their views, including those in Chivi South at Maringire Business Centre, Masasa Business Centre, and Kushinga Secondary School.

Some Copac meetings even ejected suspected intelligence operatives from outreach meeting and a total of of 347 have so far been held, of which 18.2% [63] were held in Matebeleland North, 17.6 % [61] in Mashonaland East, 15.9 % [51] in Masvingo, 11.8 % [41] in Mashonaland Central, 11.5% [40] in Midlands, 6.6% [23] in Manicaland, 7.5% [26] in the province of Mashonaland West and 11%[38] in the province of Matebeleland South.

More than half the meetings were well attended - more than 100 people in a ward of approximately 500-1000 people,

An environment that enables Zimbabweans to freely participate in the constitution-making process without fear of reprisals failed to be created, leaving people visibly polarized along party lines, politically insecure and less inclined to express their political feelings in public.

People were generally reluctant to make contributions at outreach meetings out of fear that video- and voice-recorded contributions will be used by perpetrators of violence to trace those who would have departed from set constitutional positions being pushed by their political party hierarchy.

A total of 201 cases of political interference and 153 cases of intimidation/harassment were recorded during the reporting period - among them incidents in which members of the public were reportedly threatened with retribution if they departed from given constitutional positions in their contributions; party supporters were seen writing the names of those contributing at outreach meetings; people attended outreach meetings donning party regalia; and where the presence of suspected party youths, soldiers and central intelligence operatives (CIOs) at outreach venues intimidated people from expressing their own views.

Examples: At Xanadu Farm, Marondera East, observers noted that the venue was manned by youths donning ZANU PF regalia - this was despite the banning of such regalia at outreach meetings.

At Nyamande School, of Goromonzi West, ZANU PF members on 7 July reportedly threatened people with a repeat of the 2008 reprisals after the World Cup.

Incidents of “coaching” were the most commonly cited malpractices, with 191 coaching cases recorded were people are seen reading from prepared scripts, or when people simply rehearse party constitutional positions that are sometimes irrelevant to questions being asked by COPAC Teams, or when people make a contribution which they themselves clearly do not understand, or when very few people make contributions even where the meeting is highly attended.

ZZZICOMP monitors witnessed coaching incidents including one on 4 July at Denda Business Centre, Goromonzi West, Chihwino Primary School, and Crowhill Primary School in Ward 3 where they heard ZANU PF local leaders instructing their supporters to speak with one voice in support of the party’s constitutional position on the Kariba

At Thrums Primary School, Bindura North on 1 July the ZANU PF Chairperson of the area [name withheld] reportedly made it clear to the people that what he was reading to them was what they were expected to say to the COPAC team.

ZZZICOMP observers also reported that they spotted two ZANU PF members writing down the names of those who were attending the outreach meeting at St Jude’s Primary in Ward 4 or the same Constituency.

At Pote Clinic in Ward 5 in Goromonzi South, a Nissan T35 truck was used to transport ZANU PF supporters to the venue - a development that resulted in the ensuing debates being dominated by that party and ZZZICOMP observers witnessed some ZANU PF supporters writing down the names of people who were making contributions at this meeting.

Cancellation and Rescheduling of Outreach Meetings

Scheduled meetings continued to be either cancelled or rescheduled, in some cases by people who are not members of the COPAC Team.

At Avoca Primary School in Ward 7 in Bindura North constituency in Mashonaland Central, a meeting that was scheduled for 1 July was reportedly cancelled after only 8 people (who, as reported by ZZZICOMP monitors, included suspected members of the CIO] had turned up.

In Shamva South constituency in the same province, meetings that were scheduled for Chikuri Primary School in Ward 1 on 3 July and Thrums Primary School in Ward 1 on 9 July were reportedly cancelled when people failed to turn up after being misinformed that meetings had been postponed to some future dates.

On 10 July at Matibi Mission Hospital in Ward 3 in Mwenezi East in Masvingo province, ZZZICOMP observers reported that COPAC was forced to cancel the meeting when less than 10 people attended. At Mt. Makomwe Primary School in Ward 10 in Mutare West constituency in Manicaland, a COPAC meeting was reportedly disrupted by the local Chief [name withheld] allegedly claiming that the meeting was not well publicized while at Lalapanzi clinic in Ward 17 in Chirumanzu constituency in the Midlands province, a war veteran [name withheld] reportedly changed the meeting without the consent of COPAC members.

COPAC Teams failing to turn up for scheduled meetings

Equally of concern to ZZZICOMP are continued reports of incidents in which COPAC Teams reportedly fail to turn up at scheduled venues, in some cases with no explanation, leaving people who would have in some cases turned up in large numbers disappointed. In Mashonaland East province, COPAC Teams reportedly failed to turn up at a meeting that was scheduled for 4 July at Crowhill Primary School in Ward 6 of Goromonzi South. In Mashonaland Central, more than 200 people who had turned up for the meeting in Ward 3 of Shamva North on 6 July, were reportedly left disappointed when COPAC teams failed to turn up with no explanation given.

This was also the case at Rhodes Store in Ward 3 in Goromonzi South constituency in Mashonaland East province where the COPAC team reportedly failed to pitch up for the scheduled meeting. Implied in these experiences is that COPAC administrative and logistical hitches are not yet over, and effective communication networks are not available to the public, or are not being utilized.

Clandestine barring of ZZZICOMP observers from outreach meetings

Although ZZZICOMP monitors have been officially accredited and their activities formally recognized by COPAC, reports of their being clandestinely barred from attending outreach meetings on grounds that they are not residents of those wards, are still being received. For instance, on 10 July the ZZZICOMP office in Harare received a report that one of its observers [name withheld] had been denied access to a meeting at Shayamavhudzi in Ward 4 of Mwenezi West constituency in Masvingo province by the local political leadership on grounds that he was not a resident of that ward. The decision was reportedly taken despite pleas from COPAC members.

The same technicality was used to bar ZZZICOMP monitors from attending outreach meetings that were held on 8 July at Tsatse High School Ward 3 and Amatsa Primary School in Ward 8 in Goromonzi South constituency in Mashonaland East province. In Mashonaland Central province, cases of this nature were experienced on 7 July at Thrums Primary School in Ward 21 in Bindura North.

Skewed and partisan State Media Coverage

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and Zimpapers, as publicly-owned media, have an obligation to inform the public about the COPAC outreach process. However, these unreformed, state-controlled entities continue to fail in this regard. While ZBC is quick to report on COPAC administrative and logistical hitches in both its print and electronic press, it has been visibly silent on providing public service information relating to meetings, as well as in relation to incidents of coaching, political interference and other forms of intimidation.

The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) Report No. 18-2010 notes that ZBC news stories on constitutional reforms remain heavily skewed towards ZANU PF and that in the few cases where the MDC T is quoted, reports tend to be disparaging. This skewed coverage is also manifest in relation to the COPAC team, with ZANU PF co-chair, Paul Mangwana, reportedly the most quoted in the State media.

In private radio stations and Online News Agencies, the MDC T is generally the most heard political party followed by ZANU PF.

Low Attendance at Outreach Meetings

Citizen participation is the hallmark of any democratic constitution-making process. It ensures that the diverse and usually conflicting interests of members of society are taken on board. Against this background, ZZZICOMP notes with concern that while 347 meetings may have been recorded as “successfully held meetings”, the extent to which these meetings may have provided a democratic, transparent and inclusive platform for gathering citizen views, remains suspect.

It is even more suspect given that, of the 347 meetings held in the period under review, 156 [49.2%] were low attendance cases with a visible spread in five provinces that include the Midlands province with 30.13% [47] cases, Matebeleland North province with 22.4% [35] cases, Mashonaland East province with 15.4% [24] cases, Masvingo province with 14.1% [22] cases and Matebeleland South province with 12.8% [20] cases. In this report, a low attendance case is where less than 100 people in a ward attended an outreach meeting.

The prospects are even most suspect, given reports of cases where meetings reportedly went ahead even where less than 20 people were in attendance. In Shamva North constituency in Mashonaland Central province, ZZZICOMP reports refer to a meeting at Nyamaropa in Ward 8 on 7 July which reportedly went ahead when only six [6] people were in attendance, while at Mapfuridze Secondary School in Ward 10 in same the province and constituency, the meeting reportedly went ahead on 6 July when only eleven people [11] were in attendance. Below are some of the low attendance cases sampled from the provinces of Matebeleland South, Matebeleland North, and Mashonaland Central.

See the Full report and its recommendations here.