Public hearings on constitutional amendments are a charade – just give Zimbabweans a referendum

Tendai Ruben Mbofana

The recent announcement by the Parliament of Zimbabwe regarding the public hearings for the Constitutional Amendment (No. 3) Bill is not just a disappointment but a profound insult to the intelligence of every Zimbabwean.

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According to reports in the state-controlled media, the nation has been granted a mere four-day window, from March 30 to April 2, to participate in an exercise that seeks to fundamentally alter the bedrock of our republic.

For a Bill that proposes to change how we elect our President and seeks to extend the presidential term from five to seven years, four days is a laughable and pathetic timeframe.

This is undoubtedly very little time to capture the people’s views across the entire country.

It is a calculated attempt to bypass the will of the people while pretending to consult them.

This is not democracy in action but a theatrical performance designed to sanitize what can only be described as a constitutional coup.

​The logistical framework of these hearings is clearly designed to exclude rather than include.

While the government has listed various venues, the schedule remains a deliberate barrier for the vast majority.

We must look back at the history of our constitutional processes to understand how far we have fallen.

This is unlike previous constitutional public hearings.

During the proposed 2000 new constitution, we had meetings in nearly every corner of the country.

Most of us only had to walk a few hundred meters.

For instance, as a Redcliff resident, I remember attending a meeting at the local Zisco Club.

Back then, the process felt like it belonged to the people.

Today, even with a handful of venues scattered across a province, many citizens will still be left behind due to the sheer cost and difficulty of reaching even a “local” center on such short notice.

Surely how can a mere eight venues in a province as huge as the Midlands, for instance, be regarded as representative?

This restriction of access is a transparent strategy to control the narrative.

We have seen this performance numerous times before.

When the government wants to push through unpopular laws, they do not seek the broad consensus of the public.

Instead, they bus in selected supporters who are promised free takeaways and small stipends to flood the available venues.

These individuals are coached to deliver choreographed presentations that mirror the government’s talking points.

Their role is not to debate but to drown out dissent.

Any citizen who dares to present an alternative view is often met with disruption, verbal abuse, or physical threats from these organized mobs.

It is a stage-managed exercise intended to create a deceptive picture of a nation in agreement, when in truth, the nation is in distress.

Perhaps that is why there are so few venues over such a short period, as busing in and feeding these hired thugs is an expensive business.

​The environment leading up to these hearings has already been poisoned by state-sponsored intimidation and violence.

We have already witnessed in horror prominent activists against these constitutional amendments, such as constitutional lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku and his NCA members, brutally attacked in their offices while conducting a private meeting.

We have read allegations of leading legal mind and opposition activist Tendai Biti and his CDF members also being physically attacked.

Several public meetings to openly discuss and debate these constitutional amendments have been shut down by the police.

Most recently, we had a so-called professor filing a lawsuit with the High Court seeking to bar several leading legal and opposition minds, such as Madhuku, Biti, Job Sikhala, and Fadzayi Mahere, from openly campaigning against the constitutional amendments – going as far as labeling such campaigns as “terrorism”.

​How then is that man in Dotito, hearing all these attacks on all those opposed to the constitutional changes, going to pluck up the courage not only to attend the parliamentary public hearings but even speak his mind?

In other words, this whole parliamentary public hearings program is a sham and simply a facade to portray a deceptive picture of democracy at work – when the truth is exactly the opposite.

This is just a stage-managed exercise, carefully designed to sanitize a highly unpopular and despised constitutional coup.

​We have said this a million times before.

If these constitutional amendments are supported and even pushed by the people – as has been disingenuously claimed by some quarters – then, instead of this expensive charade, just give Zimbabweans a national referendum to openly express their views via a secret ballot.

What is the government afraid of?

Besides, this will not be a favor, but something demanded by the constitution itself, especially when it comes to any amendment whose “effect” or outcome or end result will be to “extend the length of time that a person may hold or occupy any public office”.

This does not apply in relation to any person who held or occupied that office – which the incumbent may not benefit from – and will require a national referendum to change this prohibition.

​We have a right to a referendum.

Anything else is simply a charade.

The people of Zimbabwe are not children to be fed choreographed lies and intimidated into silence.

We are a sovereign people who deserve a constitution that protects us, not one that is manipulated to serve the interests of those in power.

If the government is confident in its proposals, it should stop the busing, stop the beatings, and stop the theatrical hearings.

Put the question to the people.

Give us a referendum and let the secret ballot speak the truth that the public hearings are designed to hide.

Anything else is a betrayal of the liberation struggle and a total mockery of the democracy we have sacrificed so much to build.

• Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08