We must look to a democratic constitution for free elections not to "constitutionalism". By P Garamatunhu

“It is false hope to think that anyone who takes over by any means under Zanu patronage will respect constitutional and supervise the demise of Zanu PF,” wrote Andrew M Manyevere. See Bulawayo 24 opinion “Zimbabwe free election not feasible except after transition government setting succeeded”

What people like Manyevere have failed to understand is that if Joice Mujuru or Morgan Tsvangirai were elected President (God forbid, knowing as we already do that the two are corrupt and incompetent), they too will establish a similar patronage system to secure their hold on power. The point is the constitution as it stands grants the State President sweeping dictatorial powers to appoint party loyalists who will put her/his selfish interests above public nation interest. Anyone who think Mujuru or Tsvangirai will not take advantage of these dictatorial powers then they are naïve!

People like Morgan Tsvangirai and Manyevere keep wittering about the need to re-align the existing electoral laws to the new constitution, this NERA business, as if that will deliver free and fair elections at long last. It is all nonsense because no re-alignment of the existing laws can take away the sweeping dictatorial powers the constitution has granted to the State President.

No law respectful of the constitution can make an already weak and feeble constitution strong.

Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had the golden opportunity during the GNU to implement far reaching democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF patronage system Manyevere is talking about and to draft a new democratic constitution. They failed to implement even one reform and to cover up for their failure presented the nation with weak and feeble constitution lying it will deliver free and fair elections.

By noon of the 31 July 2013 polling day Tsvangirai acknowledged to the world that the elections were rigged!

Instead of admitting MDC should have implemented the reforms and that the new constitution is weak and feeble Tsvangirai, his MDC friends and the more gullible members of the public have been hiding behind their fingers maintaining the new constitution is strong. All that is needed for free and fair elections is for someone to realignment of the existing laws to the new constitution. The last three years since the rigged July 2013 elections have been wasted chasing this NERA mirage!

Even Manyevere, without admitting it out right has acknowledge that NERA reforms will be inadequate.

“Only under the Transitional Government can we talk of transiting through to a free and fair election in Zimbabwe,” suggested Manyevere.

“The Police forces, the security forces and intelligence forces need reorientation from partisan demagogues to being a team of professionals who uphold the rule of law than take side with a regime to enforce corruption practices.” His first of four suggestions.

If he had been paying any before the GNU, during the GNU and after the GNU then he would have realized that security sector reforms were one of the key democratic reforms demanded throughout. He should be dismissing NERA reforms as a waste of time because no re-alignment of the law alone with no constitutional amendment will ever deliver the above security sector reforms!

It is disappointing that, even with the benefit of hindsight of the failed GNU, many articulate Zimbabweans like Andrew M Manyevere still allow themselves to be led by the nose by corrupt and incompetent leaders like Tsvangirai into believing NERA reform will deliver the democratic Zimbabwe we are all dying for.

Whilst the international community would like to help Zimbabwe out of this hell-on-earth President Mugabe has landed the nation; no one, especially SADC after the GNU debacle would help if we Zimbabweans cannot see something as glaring obvious as that the new constitution is rubbish. If Zimbabweans are foolish enough trying to make an unworkable constitution work, it is their choice but they must not expect others join in that folly!

Manyevere, it is utterly pointless to talk about what kind transition government we need when we cannot agree on what democratic reforms we want to implemented; especially when the last GNU was a waste of time. Tsvangirai and his MDC friends did not have a clue what reforms we wanted and even to this day they still have no clue. The last thing we want is another GNU led by village idiots looking for the proverbial black cat in a dark room that it not there!

The Zimbabwe constitution grants the State President dictatorial powers it is folly to then pray that he/she will never take advantage of those powers in the name of constitutionalism. If we do not want a dictator we must stop messing about and write a democratic constitution, as other nations have done, that will stop a would-be dictator dead in his tracks.