The all inclusive government has embarked on a vital process to develop a new constitution as a way to achieve sustainable democracy in the country.

Democratisation is related to the process of developing a new constitution and having a framework for national healing and reconciliation. Many countries have gone through the above mentioned process; hence there are a number of good experiences to learn from. According to the set timeframes, the draft constitution should be ready by mid-June this year. It will then be parliament for enactment. Once a new constitution is put in place, the power sharing government is expected to call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government elections.

The Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) organised a two-day High Level Seminar on Elections and Conflict Prevention. The seminar discussed elections and conflict prevention in the Zimbabwean context taking into consideration that future elections should include a focus on conflict prevention. Participants who attend the seminar were drawn from political parties, the inclusive government, church, diplomats, civil society groups, women and youth groups, war veterans, media. The seminar  produce recommendations on how to prevent conflicts in future elections in the country.

Recommendations

16  18 February 2010

We, the participants of the High Level Seminar on Future Elections and Conflict Prevention organized by the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA), held at the Troutbeck Inn, Nyanga on 16-18 February 2010:

Acknowledge the significance of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and its positive impact on the political, social and economic environment in Zimbabwe;

Acknowledge the climate of positive coexistence that exists

Note some fundamental aspects of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which need to be addressed

Recognise that this is a tripartite government and is not inclusive of other political parties

Acknowledge the existence of civil society groups

Recognise the efforts of CPIA to bring on board all stakeholders

Acknowledge the commencement of the constitutional making process

Note however that the process is behind schedule due to lack of sufficient funding and bureaucratic challenges

Concerned with the slow pace of the implementation of the GPA

Note that gender inequality needs to be addressed

Acknowledge that this should not occur and therefore calling upon the three Principals to spearhead campaign against any form of violence

Recognise the systemic and psychological violence that occurred recently in our country and the negative consequences resulting from the violence

Recognise the need for civic education thus being imperative to our education system and to build a culture of peace

Therefore recommends that:

1.      Civic education should be mandatory in our school system

2.      Electoral law reforms has become a priority

3.      Reformation of the electoral management system is imperative

4.       A clear post electoral transitional mechanism should be put in place

5.      Definite year and month of the future election is required

6.      Media reform is overdue

7.      State security agents to carry out their constitutional mandate of protecting every Zimbabwean  without favour at all times

8.      Traditional leadership should be mandated  to monitor and report violent activities in their areas of jurisdiction

9.      The three principals take the lead in denouncing violence

10.  The Principals to  address outstanding issues in the GPA expeditiously

11.  National healing, reconciliation and integration is imperative and should be speeded up

12.   We adopt the CPIA proposed Early Warning System (EWS) attached

PROOSED CPIA CONFLICT PREVENTION EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (EWS)

PURPOSE

¡         An EWS provides indicators on potential election related violence 

¡         Its enables us to prepare for the violence and act accordingly to mitigate against or prevent it.

¡         The EWS enables us to make decision-oriented selections and to check weak areas within the electoral system

¡         The EWS allows us to search for exceptional situations and aids in early detection of undesirable situations.

AIMS OF THE CPIA EWS

The CPIA EWS aims to collect, collate and analyse data in order to detect and identify the signs of potential election related violence before it explodes into uncontrollable violence. It is designed to detect and signal impending election related conflicts for the purpose of making possible, preventive intervention instead of reactive action as has been the case over the years. The strength of this EWS is its ability to trigger rapid reaction to a potential crisis situation.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROPOSED CPIA EWS

Grassroots

This is made up of CPIA Provincial Coordinators, local civil society organizations, Traditional Chiefs, Community Leaders, Local Religious Leaders, Monitoring Committee. These stakeholders will constitute conflict prevention committees in their localities. They operate throughout the year.

CPIA Situation Room

The CPIA situation room is the first information processing centre for all the information collected from the different provinces. The situation room ensures that factual information is separated from rumours and misinformation. This information centre operates daily.

Funding Committee

This committee is composed of individuals and institutions supporting the Early Warning System

Monitoring Committee

This committee is made up of Political Parties, Civil Society, Church Leaders, Trade Union Leaders and other key stakeholders. It meets regularly to consider and act on the information from the CPIA situation room.

Intergovernmental/CPIA Eminent Persons

This committee is made up of CPIA Eminent Persons, Government Representatives, and State Enforcement Agencies. The committee meets when it necessary to do so.

Essential elements for EWS

Ø       Effective Communication

Ø       Fair and accurate media reporting

Ø       Confidence building for all stakeholders

Ø       Capacity building for Implementers

Ø       Sincerity of political parties

Ø       Not a blame game or finger pointing

Ø       Non-partisan civil society

Needs of EWS

The EWS system requires adequate funding for it to function effectively. These requirements range from communication equipment, transport needs, computer and office equipment to human resources. Above all it requires an effective structure.

¡         Civil Society to act as civil society and not as part of government or political opposition

¡         Political parties MUST stop finger pointing

¡         The Media must report fairly and accurately

¡         All political parties should denounce violence

¡         Its high time the business community joins hands with everyone to prevent conflict