News / Press Release
Resolutions to The MDC-T National Council
17 Dec 2011 at 11:34hrs | Views
AWARE that the entire Zimbabwean population and all other democratic forces look to the MDC as the central engine of Real Change in Zimbabwe, the National Council hereby makes the following resolutions.
1. THE ROADMAP AND ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE
1. COGNISANT of the insincerity of ZANU PF, the lack of paradigm shift and its insatiable appetite for power manifested by its decisive power retention agenda bordering on creating an atmosphere of pandemonium, panic and uncertainty in the body politik of our country,
2. RECALLING the humourless Zanu PF Congress resolution calling for elections in 2012 regardless of the enactment of a new Constitution and the actualisation of the Roadmap to a free, fair, credible and legitimate election,
3. The Party reaffirms its earlier resolutions that elections in Zimbabwe cannot and will not be called for unilaterally by one person or one party and that the election in Zimbabwe will not be date driven but process driven.
4. The Party restates that the date of the next election will only be determined after the fulfilment of all the conditions precedence defined in the roadmap including;
a. The completion of the constitution making process and the referendum
b. The completion of the drafting of a new voters roll.
c. The completion of media reform.
d. The completion of the legislative reform.
e. The conclusion of outstanding issues at the dialogue table on security sector realignment and staffing of ZEC.
f. The compliance by Zimbabwe of the SADC electoral guidelines on free and fair elections.
g. The putting in place of mechanisms to ensure that violence will not be a factor in the said election.
5. The Party notes that any election which does not meet the above conditions will be a sham election and the party will not have anything to do with a sham election.
2. VIOLENCE AND CLOSURE OF DEMOCRATIC SPACE
1. DISTURBED by the continued closure of democratic space in Zimbabwe characterised by the blocking and disruption of MDC meetings and rallies by police, the wanton attacks, prosecution and persecution of journalists, civil society organisations,
2. DEEPLY WORRIED by the continued unlawful and politically motivated incarceration of the MDC Youth Assembly Chairperson Solomon Madzore, Pheneas Nhatarikwa, Councillor Tungamirai Madzokera, Yvonne Musarurwa, Rebecca Mafukeni, Lazarus Maengahama, Stanford Maengahama and Stanford Mangwiro,
3. The Party notes with irony that while no stone has been left unturned with regards to the arrests and harassment of MDC activists including Solomon Madzore, the perpetrators of the June violence, never mind the perpetrators of Gukurahundi have not been prosecuted,
4. In addition, the Party notes that between January and now over 402 people have either been arrested, assaulted and severely harassed by Zanu PF and its complicity criminal justice system,
5. The Party condemns the above actions and unequivocally calls upon Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and the Attorney General to take immediate action and to apply the law evenly and equally,
6. The Party therefore demands the immediate release of arrested cadres and in any event demands the expeditious due process with regards to those that have been arrested.
3. ZANU PF ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY THE ECONOMY
1. AWARE of Zanu PF machinations of asset stripping, looting, patronage, clientelism, corruption and self aggrandizement euphemistically referred to as indigenisation
2. ALSO AWARE of Zanu PF's intentions of raping and destroying the economy through the return of the Zimbabwe dollar,
3. The Party restates that Zanu PF's programme does not comply with its own laws and is based on patronage and clientelism, is not demand driven and in any event is based on a narrow model of transferring shares to a few black elite that can afford them and does not amount to genuine wealth creation and distribution.
4. The Party therefore calls for the starting afresh of the whole programme and the development of a genuine broad based upliftment programme which balances the need to attract investment, grow the economy and create jobs.
5. Furthermore the Party calls on Government to maintain the multi-currency system, maintain the Medium Term Plan (MTP) and categorically states that there will be no return of the Zimbabwe dollar in the short to medium term.
6. The Party calls for all income from Chiadzwa to be accounted for transparently to the State to enable the same to attend to capital and recurrent expenditure and in particular the adequate remuneration of civil servants.
4. SADC AND DIALOGUE IN ZIMBABWE
1. APPRECIATING the role of all SADC leaders in finding sustainable solutions to the Zimbabwe crisis particularly President Zuma and his Facilitation Team for remaining engaged with the crisis in Zimbabwe.
2. TAKING NOTE of SADC important resolutions on Zimbabwe reached in Maputo, Livingstone, Sandton and Luanda.
3. However, the Party notes the slow pace of movement and urges Sadc to urgently appoint the three person committee from the SADC Organ Troika to work with Jomic and also to ensure that dialogue on the roadmap is concluded.
4. The Party expresses its disappointment with the slow and the non-implementation of the GPA, the post Maputo agreement and agreed portions of the roadmap and the Review Document and urges the urgent creation of an implementation and oversight mechanism, inside government and within SADC.
5. THE CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS
1. RECOGNIZING that the Constitution is the supreme document of the land and the foundation upon which democracy and good governance should be built on.
2. RECALLING Article 6 of the GPA which prescribes the constitution making process
3. AWARE that the constitution making process is at the drafting stage.
4. The Party calls on Copac to remain impartial and for the constitution making process to remain peaceful.
5. The Party restates its commitment to certain fundamental constitutional canons. These include;
i. The issue of multiple or dual citizenship.
ii. Guarantees and respect the fundamental principle of devolution within a unitary State.
iii. The issues of a strong and protected Bill of Rights that includes;
d. The protection of the right to life and no to capital punishment.
e. Gender equality and protection of women's reproductive rights.
f. A strong provision that outlaws all forms of discrimination.
g. Provisions guaranteeing the right of every Zimbabwean to participate in politics to regular elections and the right of all Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote.
iv. Provision of defined limited terms of office for the country's top leadership.
v. The establishment of an Independent Prosecuting Authority.
vi. The establishment of Parliamentary appointed oversight and Executive Commissions.
6. PEACE BUILDING AND NATIONAL HEALING
1. The MDC notes and appreciates the importance of peace building and nation building and in this regard appreciates the work of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration.
2. The MDC appreciates and applauds the peace meeting held on the 11th of November 2011 and adopts the 10 principles agreed at that meeting which are;
a. An unequivocal declaration against violence and the embracement of peace.
b. An acceptance that there should be tolerance amongst all political parties and groupings in Zimbabwe.
c. An undertaking that all parties in the GPA must be sincere and must walk the talk.
d. We are all Zimbabweans. A declaration that there is a superior groundnorm which unites us all in respect on which we ought to protect despite of an in spite of our differences.
e. An embracement of the notion that leadership, the ability to drive and to take bold decisions in important in state and nation building.
f. An acknowledgement that we need to have a common uniting vision that transcends all our political parties and differences.
g. Accepting and embracing the fundamental right of choice. That people have a right to make decisions of their choice including the choice to choose their own government without coercion or force.
h. An embracement of the fact that state institutions and state organs must be impartial and must serve the people. The police must be a people police. The army must be a people's army. The CIO must be a people's CIO.
i. An embracement that this nation is spiritual and believes in God despite the fact the we worship the same through different means, traditional, Christianity and Hindu.
j. Undertaking and embracing the fact that the peace programme must be cascaded to the lowest structures in the ground.
3. The MDC urges the expeditious cascading of the peace meetings to the Provinces.
4. In this regard and taking note of the resolution on spiritualities, the MDC resolves that a National Day of Prayer be held as soon as possible.
7. BROADCASTING LICENCES
1. The MDC notes the recent issuance of Broadcasting Licences by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.
2. The MDC resolves that forthwith the current Board of Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe be dissolved and a new one be appointed consistent with the agreement of the Principals.
3. That all licences so far issued be cancelled forthwith.
8. LOCAL AUTHORITIES
1. The Party observes and acknowledges the existence of its presence in Local Authorities with 786 Councillors.
2. The Party observes with concern the corruption, lack of delivery and chaos resulting from Ministerial interference in some of these Councils and Local Authorities.
3. The Party resolves that;
a. It will set up Committees to investigate and audit each of the Councillors and Councils that will consider issues of good governance, accountability and policy consistence.
b. That the National Council proscribes and bar any guilty Councillor from holding any office in the Party.
9. AIR ZIMBABWE
1. The Party notes the chaos, mismanagement and incompetence at Air Zimbabwe.
2. The Party observes that the collapse and decay at Air Zimbabwe is reflective of the general state of most parastatals.
3. The Party resolves that Air Zimbabwe Private Limited as it is defined right now should be shut down and closed immediately.
4. That a new Zimbabwe airline that partners with a foreign investor should be formed that will take over the whole staff at Air Zimbabwe.
5. The tax payers' money should not be used to fund any corrupt and unsustainable parastatals.
10. DISTRIBUTION OF FARMING INPUTS
1. The MDC recognises the existence of vulnerable farming groups in the country in particular communal farmers and therefore accepts that Government must support these vulnerable farmers.
2. CONCERNED by the skewed and politically biased distribution of farming inputs such as seed and fertilizer and the use of inputs and food as a campaign tool by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain Marketing Board which borders on vote buying.
3. The party calls on the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain Marketing Board to distribute farming inputs in a transparent manner.
1. THE ROADMAP AND ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE
1. COGNISANT of the insincerity of ZANU PF, the lack of paradigm shift and its insatiable appetite for power manifested by its decisive power retention agenda bordering on creating an atmosphere of pandemonium, panic and uncertainty in the body politik of our country,
2. RECALLING the humourless Zanu PF Congress resolution calling for elections in 2012 regardless of the enactment of a new Constitution and the actualisation of the Roadmap to a free, fair, credible and legitimate election,
3. The Party reaffirms its earlier resolutions that elections in Zimbabwe cannot and will not be called for unilaterally by one person or one party and that the election in Zimbabwe will not be date driven but process driven.
4. The Party restates that the date of the next election will only be determined after the fulfilment of all the conditions precedence defined in the roadmap including;
a. The completion of the constitution making process and the referendum
b. The completion of the drafting of a new voters roll.
c. The completion of media reform.
d. The completion of the legislative reform.
e. The conclusion of outstanding issues at the dialogue table on security sector realignment and staffing of ZEC.
f. The compliance by Zimbabwe of the SADC electoral guidelines on free and fair elections.
g. The putting in place of mechanisms to ensure that violence will not be a factor in the said election.
5. The Party notes that any election which does not meet the above conditions will be a sham election and the party will not have anything to do with a sham election.
2. VIOLENCE AND CLOSURE OF DEMOCRATIC SPACE
1. DISTURBED by the continued closure of democratic space in Zimbabwe characterised by the blocking and disruption of MDC meetings and rallies by police, the wanton attacks, prosecution and persecution of journalists, civil society organisations,
2. DEEPLY WORRIED by the continued unlawful and politically motivated incarceration of the MDC Youth Assembly Chairperson Solomon Madzore, Pheneas Nhatarikwa, Councillor Tungamirai Madzokera, Yvonne Musarurwa, Rebecca Mafukeni, Lazarus Maengahama, Stanford Maengahama and Stanford Mangwiro,
3. The Party notes with irony that while no stone has been left unturned with regards to the arrests and harassment of MDC activists including Solomon Madzore, the perpetrators of the June violence, never mind the perpetrators of Gukurahundi have not been prosecuted,
4. In addition, the Party notes that between January and now over 402 people have either been arrested, assaulted and severely harassed by Zanu PF and its complicity criminal justice system,
5. The Party condemns the above actions and unequivocally calls upon Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and the Attorney General to take immediate action and to apply the law evenly and equally,
6. The Party therefore demands the immediate release of arrested cadres and in any event demands the expeditious due process with regards to those that have been arrested.
3. ZANU PF ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY THE ECONOMY
1. AWARE of Zanu PF machinations of asset stripping, looting, patronage, clientelism, corruption and self aggrandizement euphemistically referred to as indigenisation
2. ALSO AWARE of Zanu PF's intentions of raping and destroying the economy through the return of the Zimbabwe dollar,
3. The Party restates that Zanu PF's programme does not comply with its own laws and is based on patronage and clientelism, is not demand driven and in any event is based on a narrow model of transferring shares to a few black elite that can afford them and does not amount to genuine wealth creation and distribution.
4. The Party therefore calls for the starting afresh of the whole programme and the development of a genuine broad based upliftment programme which balances the need to attract investment, grow the economy and create jobs.
5. Furthermore the Party calls on Government to maintain the multi-currency system, maintain the Medium Term Plan (MTP) and categorically states that there will be no return of the Zimbabwe dollar in the short to medium term.
6. The Party calls for all income from Chiadzwa to be accounted for transparently to the State to enable the same to attend to capital and recurrent expenditure and in particular the adequate remuneration of civil servants.
4. SADC AND DIALOGUE IN ZIMBABWE
1. APPRECIATING the role of all SADC leaders in finding sustainable solutions to the Zimbabwe crisis particularly President Zuma and his Facilitation Team for remaining engaged with the crisis in Zimbabwe.
2. TAKING NOTE of SADC important resolutions on Zimbabwe reached in Maputo, Livingstone, Sandton and Luanda.
3. However, the Party notes the slow pace of movement and urges Sadc to urgently appoint the three person committee from the SADC Organ Troika to work with Jomic and also to ensure that dialogue on the roadmap is concluded.
4. The Party expresses its disappointment with the slow and the non-implementation of the GPA, the post Maputo agreement and agreed portions of the roadmap and the Review Document and urges the urgent creation of an implementation and oversight mechanism, inside government and within SADC.
5. THE CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS
1. RECOGNIZING that the Constitution is the supreme document of the land and the foundation upon which democracy and good governance should be built on.
2. RECALLING Article 6 of the GPA which prescribes the constitution making process
3. AWARE that the constitution making process is at the drafting stage.
4. The Party calls on Copac to remain impartial and for the constitution making process to remain peaceful.
5. The Party restates its commitment to certain fundamental constitutional canons. These include;
i. The issue of multiple or dual citizenship.
ii. Guarantees and respect the fundamental principle of devolution within a unitary State.
iii. The issues of a strong and protected Bill of Rights that includes;
d. The protection of the right to life and no to capital punishment.
e. Gender equality and protection of women's reproductive rights.
f. A strong provision that outlaws all forms of discrimination.
g. Provisions guaranteeing the right of every Zimbabwean to participate in politics to regular elections and the right of all Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote.
iv. Provision of defined limited terms of office for the country's top leadership.
v. The establishment of an Independent Prosecuting Authority.
vi. The establishment of Parliamentary appointed oversight and Executive Commissions.
6. PEACE BUILDING AND NATIONAL HEALING
1. The MDC notes and appreciates the importance of peace building and nation building and in this regard appreciates the work of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration.
2. The MDC appreciates and applauds the peace meeting held on the 11th of November 2011 and adopts the 10 principles agreed at that meeting which are;
a. An unequivocal declaration against violence and the embracement of peace.
b. An acceptance that there should be tolerance amongst all political parties and groupings in Zimbabwe.
c. An undertaking that all parties in the GPA must be sincere and must walk the talk.
d. We are all Zimbabweans. A declaration that there is a superior groundnorm which unites us all in respect on which we ought to protect despite of an in spite of our differences.
e. An embracement of the notion that leadership, the ability to drive and to take bold decisions in important in state and nation building.
f. An acknowledgement that we need to have a common uniting vision that transcends all our political parties and differences.
g. Accepting and embracing the fundamental right of choice. That people have a right to make decisions of their choice including the choice to choose their own government without coercion or force.
h. An embracement of the fact that state institutions and state organs must be impartial and must serve the people. The police must be a people police. The army must be a people's army. The CIO must be a people's CIO.
i. An embracement that this nation is spiritual and believes in God despite the fact the we worship the same through different means, traditional, Christianity and Hindu.
j. Undertaking and embracing the fact that the peace programme must be cascaded to the lowest structures in the ground.
3. The MDC urges the expeditious cascading of the peace meetings to the Provinces.
4. In this regard and taking note of the resolution on spiritualities, the MDC resolves that a National Day of Prayer be held as soon as possible.
7. BROADCASTING LICENCES
1. The MDC notes the recent issuance of Broadcasting Licences by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.
2. The MDC resolves that forthwith the current Board of Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe be dissolved and a new one be appointed consistent with the agreement of the Principals.
3. That all licences so far issued be cancelled forthwith.
8. LOCAL AUTHORITIES
1. The Party observes and acknowledges the existence of its presence in Local Authorities with 786 Councillors.
2. The Party observes with concern the corruption, lack of delivery and chaos resulting from Ministerial interference in some of these Councils and Local Authorities.
3. The Party resolves that;
a. It will set up Committees to investigate and audit each of the Councillors and Councils that will consider issues of good governance, accountability and policy consistence.
b. That the National Council proscribes and bar any guilty Councillor from holding any office in the Party.
9. AIR ZIMBABWE
1. The Party notes the chaos, mismanagement and incompetence at Air Zimbabwe.
2. The Party observes that the collapse and decay at Air Zimbabwe is reflective of the general state of most parastatals.
3. The Party resolves that Air Zimbabwe Private Limited as it is defined right now should be shut down and closed immediately.
4. That a new Zimbabwe airline that partners with a foreign investor should be formed that will take over the whole staff at Air Zimbabwe.
5. The tax payers' money should not be used to fund any corrupt and unsustainable parastatals.
10. DISTRIBUTION OF FARMING INPUTS
1. The MDC recognises the existence of vulnerable farming groups in the country in particular communal farmers and therefore accepts that Government must support these vulnerable farmers.
2. CONCERNED by the skewed and politically biased distribution of farming inputs such as seed and fertilizer and the use of inputs and food as a campaign tool by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain Marketing Board which borders on vote buying.
3. The party calls on the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain Marketing Board to distribute farming inputs in a transparent manner.
Source - MDC-T
