It was the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) and not Covid-19 that caused the removal of soldiers from the streets of Zimbabwe, Lovemore Madhuku, National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) President and member of POLAD has said.
By Chipo Chabarwa
Addressing a press conference at the Media Centre in Harare, Madhuku said it was because of pressure from POLAD that President Emmerson Mnangagwa removed soldiers from streets and roadblocks. The presence of soldiers had become a permanent feature following the coup of November 2017 and this was a concern among human rights organizations and members of the international community. “It was on a POLAD platform that we told the president to remove the army and soldiers from the streets. It is only because of Covid did the army come back to be in the streets’, Madhuku said.
The NCA President said POLAD also successfully stopped the government from enacting the Constitution of Zimbabwe Number 2 Amendment Bill. “While some are saying that the constitutional amendment process stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the truth is that it is us at POLAD who successfully argued that the amendment of the constitution can not proceed without factoring views from other stakeholders”, claimed Madhuku.
Madhuku said some of the positive economic policies being affected by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe originated from an economic summit convened by POLAD.
Claiming that POLAD is doing a lot to influence both economic and political reforms, the NCA President said POLAD has initiated a draft Electoral and Political Parties Bill that is set to address concerns raised by political parties and other stakeholders on the manner in which elections are held in Zimbabwe.
“It’s a slow process. But if you give another year, you will see much more than what is coming out”, Madhuku said of the economic and political reform engagements between POLAD and the government of Zimbabwe.
Conveyed condolences to families that have lost relatives and beloved ones to the Covid-19 pandemic, Madhuku said current lockdown measures are a positive step, which must now be relaxed. He implored the government to come up with a clear roadmap for the rolling out of the Covid-19 vaccine, suggesting that Doctors, nurses and teachers must be vaccinated first.
On the dissemination of Coviud-19 information, Madhuku said: “As NCA, we are not convinced that the government information framework is adequate in terms of statistics. We call upon the government to be more open and trustworthy in that regard.”
He added that the NCA is disappointed with the country’s Grade Seven results situation in which there was a paltry 37.11% pass rate.
“This is a tip of the iceberg showing that things are not right. We would rightly describe it as a national disaster in which Zimbabweans, especially those in underprivileged communities are bearing consequences of fallen educational standards”, Madhuku stated.
