ZANU PF already rigging the next election

In a recent newspaper article entitled “Zanu PF wants retention of old executive order” Zimbabwe’s former ruling party ZANU-PF is proposing various ideas for the new constitution. On citizenship and bill of rights, only children born in the Diaspora would be allowed dual citizenship. This immediately creates two Citizenship classes in one family. Legal family division starts and is imposed by the state. This is not progressive and is just designed to excluded exiled Zimbabweans from voting and participating in National affairs and Nation building.
Clearly Zimbabwe’s former ruling party – ZANU-PF is already trying to rig the next election by excluding all non-resident Zimbabweans from participating in the new constitution and from voting. Some statistics indicate more than 30 % of Zimbabwe’s population lives outside the country in countries such as Botswana, South Africa, UK,USA, NZ, Canada etc. This means any election which doesn’t allow non resident Zimbabweans to vote is clearly a manipulated election which does not represent the views of a majority of Zimbabweans.
There is a disturbing trend that seems to suggest that one is less of a Zimbabwean just by not being based in Zimbabwe. This idea is being promoted by politicians who feel exiled Zimbabweans may not be supportive of certain policies and ideas. Exiled Zimbabweans have played a critical role in keeping Zimbabwe from total collapse through remittance of millions of dollars every month. This is the money that keep the country going when there was not International Bank or Institution prepared to lend money to the nation. And the Diaspora is being stripped of voting rights and Citizenship as a thank you for keeping the country going?
The attempt to allow children born in the Diaspora dual Citizenship whilst forbidding their parents is a well calculated election rigging scheme by ZANU PF. Firstly the calculation is that these children born in the Diaspora are mostly still too young to vote. And secondly even if when they are old enough most of them are unlikely to be too keen to involve themselves in the politics of Zimbabwe, a country they will hardly know as most will not grow up in the Country. Thirdly these children may not have a correct perspective of Zimbabwe’s history for them to be able to take positions which their parents may see as more informed.
Zimbabwe loses nothing by allowing multiple citizenship. Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements.
Many progressive countries consider multiple citizenship desirable because it increases opportunities for their citizens to compete and build contacts globally, and/or have taken active steps towards permitting multiple citizenship in recent years (e.g., Australia since April , 2002). India, has introduced a form of overseas citizenship
In order for the New Constitutional consultation process to be successful or at least gather pace, there is need for a UN involvement which will make funding flow much more easily as donor longer trust Harare administrators.

In some cases, multiple citizenship can create additional tax liability for the exiles. Countries that impose tax will generally use a combination of three factors when determining if a person is subject to taxation. This is an area that the New constitution must carefully considered before trying to strip Diaspora Zimbabweans of the voting and citizenship rights.

Residency - a country may tax the income of anyone who lives there, regardless of citizenship or whether the income was earned in that country or abroad
Source - a country may tax any income generated there, regardless of whether the earner is a citizen, resident, or non-resident; or
Citizenship - a country may tax the worldwide income of their citizens, regardless of whether they reside in that country or not.
Investment – The Diaspora has been investing seriously in Zimbabwe’s real estate by buying investment and rental properties. Zimbabwe is desperate need for investment and it is not progressive or wise to seek to strip voting and citizenship rights from people who have shown so much commitment to their country.
Even for the elections, there is need to involve more accountable and respected Institutions such as the United Nations in the confirmation of the electoral roll, constituency boundaries and the actual monitoring of voting.

The 2008 election only showed that Zimbabwe can be Democratic and the people’s will can be and will be respected. One thing is for sure the toothpaste that cannot be squeezed back into the tube. There is a general trend for Zimbabweans to move with the times and not be divided by ethnicity or social class. The current attempts to grant different citizenship class between parents and children born in the diaspora must be exposed then resisted at all costs. This is not Nation building but rather a self serving scheme for politicians to exclude anyone who they feel may not subscribe to their policies.
Of late Zimbabwe’s history is one of persecution and forced migration, and as such the only thing that you can be sure to bring with you up when you're forced out of your home or country is your brain, effort to be recognized and power to network and work as a group with a common purpose. This is what Zimbabwe’s Diaspora desperately needs to work on and avoid being excluded from National affairs under various excuses.
This article appears as courtesy of GMRI Capital ( www.gmricapital.com) prepared for 3MG MEDIA

Gilbert Muponda is a Co-Founder of 3MG Media . He can be reached at;

Email: gilbert@3mgmedia.ca . Skype ID: gilbert.Muponda

Twitter ; http://twitter.com/gmricapital

Phone: 1-416-841-5542

New Constitution process must involve Diaspora Zimbabweans

The Constitution drafts circulated in 2000 were both written by a few individuals, and members of the public only got involved when they were asked to vote for or against the government's version. This is the period when Professor Jonathan Moyo performed one of his most dramatic chameleon shifts morphing from arch Mugabe critic to become the spokesman of the Government backed Constitution draft.The 2000 Constitution process was driven by few wise men and the same format is being followed with the Diaspora input being ignored. There is no visible effort to involve Zimbabweans abroad despite a misdirected effort in attempting to tax Diaspora Zimbabweans.

The 2000 Constitution making process was reduced to no or yes vote when it was clear the process leading up to that constitution was marred by irregularities .The same path is being followed now. One wonders what is the wisdom of expecting to reach a different destination when you use the same road.

The Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) intends to use extracts from various existing drafts and somehow end up with a modern and progressive Constitution. A constitution must take into account the nation’s vision and aspirations.

The Constitutional process is part of a delicate nation building process. As such Zimbabweans across the world must be consulted and their views and aspirations taken into account when drafting a new constitution. It is mischievous to task a Zimbabwean who has never been based in the Diaspora to draft a new constitution on rights of Zimbabweans based abroad without consulting those Zimbabweans. There is a clear need to involve the Zimbabweans abroad in the constitution making process.

Out reach teams need to reach out to the Diaspora. Clearly there is need for Diaspora based Constitutional Commission members who can clarify the needs and views of foreign based ZImbabweans. The current format is based on system of Thematic committees that will present questions to members of the public, and their answers will be gathered into the talking points, which will then be debated. These committees must find their way to consult Zimbabweans based in UK,USA,NZ, Australia, South Africa, Canada and many other countries where significant numbers of Zimbabweans live.

Individuals in thousands of meetings across the country will be able to draw their suggestions from any document they choose - including the Constitutional Commission draft rejected in 2000, the alternative draft put forward at that time by the NCA, or the Kariba draft drawn up by the negotiating teams that produced the Global Political Agreement that brought a bitter post-election struggle to a close in September 2008. Zimbabwe’s Economy is currently in a very weak state mostly due to various policy shifts, laws and regulations which were devised to serve interests of a few individuals. The new constitution must focus a creating various institutional checks and balances that make it difficult if not impossible for those in power to manipulate laws which results in Economic chaos due to a hostile environment created by abusing the laws.


An individual should be allowed two presidential terms of four years each. Limited to 2 terms of 4 years each for the President for each individual. This must be clearly spelt out in the constitution. This will ensure that the country will not be stuck for another 3 decades under the grip of one “wiseman” .Even the wisest of men deserve to reset and give others a chance.

Media Independence must be protected and the abuse of state broadcasting and media infrastructure must be stopped and clearly outlined .The current set up where a ruling party can privatize state media resources is a national threat as politicians monopolize the service and abuse state media .State media should not be a propaganda tool for any ruling party. It must remain objective and serve to inform, entertain and educate the nation without bias towards any political party. These are guidelines which must be clearly spelt out in the new constitution to ensure that the next election is held under an even political field.

Issues such as black empowerment and localization of the economy must be address during the Constitution making process. It is important that such sensitive and important issues be covered under this process to avoid the current situation whereby a law appears to be meant to aid and abet a political patronage network rather than further national goals and vision


Dual Citizenship possibility must be clearly addressed and be part of the Constitution. Zimbabwe stand to lose a significant amount of skilled and experienced personnel if the rules are not changed to encourage Zimbabweans to retain their Citizenship and linkages to the Country. The Constitution must allow dual citizenship as this will act as an incentive for foreign based Zimbabweans to remain engaged in the development of the country. Most progressive nations allow dual citizenship and this is a critical area which requires direct input from Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.

Political Party funding must be proportional based on the number of actual votes gained and not on the number of seats won. This will serve to encourage participation by more political players allowing a more vibrant democracy not hindered or manipulated by lack or availability of resources. The current situation of basing Political Funding on the number of seats won has created a situation which eliminates other hopeful political players to join as they are disqualified fro funding. As an example Mavambo managed to get approximately 10% of the vote. This means Mavambo should at least have qualified for a proportionate funding from the state similar to what MDC-M,MDC-T and ZANU-PF got.

This article appears as courtesy of GMRI Capital ( www.gmricapital.com) prepared for 3MG MEDIA

Gilbert Muponda is a Co-Founder of 3MG Media . He can be reached at;

Email: gilbert@3mgmedia.ca . Skype ID: gilbert.Muponda

Twitter ; http://twitter.com/gmricapital

Phone: 1-416-841-5542