Still waiting for the Constitution!

So Tari being Tari, when I stumble upon interesting information I have to share it. For the last couple of weeks I have been blessed to have a certain powerful sister in my life and she has just simplified an aspect I always dread to talk about or even hear about it, but I guess eventually I will have to tackle it and as I go ahead with my discussion you will understand why the issue of the constitution has become quite important to me!
A lot of us have been very ignorant about a lot of things regarding our country and the way it is run and particularly what our roles as citizens are. I happened to have stumbled across a conference for Women in Politics and was amazed at how MDC and ZANU PF officials could sit next to each other, share jokes and even dance to Dudu Manhenga’s live performance! And yet out there we are still fighting amongst each other about which party you belong to! But that is beside the point right now! Even the points raised in that conference just made me keep asking, if all this is happening behind closed doors, why is there no progress? Is there progress? What is progress in the Zimbabwean context? An issue that got my attention was a statute of the Global Political Agreement (Article VI to be precise, and I bet none of you have even touched that document- don’t worry I just got it yesterday as well!)
“Acknowledging that it is the fundamental right and duty of the Zimbabwean people to make a constitution by themselves for themselves. Aware that the process of making this constitution must be owned and driven by the people and must be inclusive and democratic”
Don’t you just love these terms! So there you have it, this thing is supposed to be for us by us and it only made sense that I have to be involved in the process. But how? So when I realized that the new constitution does not cater for the welfare of the artists; now that got my attention. Because I wish to make money from my art and live off it in the long run, so that is definitely an issue of concern for me. The voice of the artist is louder than the average person, we do contribute (no facts though) to the GDP of this country, and we are the best people to bring awareness about this constitution, so how are we not included (or rather why are we grouped in the media section like our needs are uniform).So Cde Paul Mangwana (I hope I addressed him appropriately) tells us at a 2 day conference run by the Culture Fund (to address this issue of the artists’ voices in the constitution) that the authorities should not be worrying about us but we should make a stand to exercise our rights and be heard. Instead we should be bugging them because it is our “fundamental right”. It’s funny how Zimbabweans do not know their rights at all and that is why it is easy for us to get manipulated by the legal system and those in authority, because we simply don’t know our rights. So this brings me to another point. If we do not even regard the constitution at the moment, what guarantee do we have that putting a new one in place will make sure that people will adhere to it? Will this not make people avoid taking part because they will know that the authorities can easily manipulate the legal system to suit them so giving time to constitutional reform will be a complete waste of time? Having a constitution is no guarantee that we can enjoy the things stated in that constitution. Regardless of these factors, I will still be a part of the constitutional reform because this is a document that will determine my future. Most importantly, as an artist, I am not represented. My job as an artist is to educate, inform, capacitate, mobilize, engage and critically advocate. How then can I take up this role if my welfare is not catered for in the new constitution? There is also the general mentality that once an artist takes part in a political process, they suddenly lose a sect of their fans. This is not political! This is my right as a Zimbabwean citizen to participate in the constitution making process. Who knows when things are right one day I could probably look back and say hey, I was a part of that. For interest’s sake, artists are currently engaging the authorities responsible for constitutional reform to be included in the new constitution. Thumbs up to this initiative! If there is a way that Zimbabwean artists are going to be seen as more than merely entertainers, then I am definitely in!!