SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
The Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), which was created to monitor the implementation of reforms under the coalition government and watch over potential abuses, is now exploring ways to continue doing its work under the new ZANU PF led government. A creation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which expired when the new constitution came into force on 9th September, JOMIC ceased to exist on that date as well, and officials have been ordered to return vehicles and other JOMIC assets to the state by 20th September. This is turning out to be a problem for some, including JOMIC co-chairperson Elton Mangoma, who represented the MDC-T and co-chaired JOMIC along with Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga of the MDC-N and Nicholas Goche of ZANU PF. Mangoma does not believe that the state should take control of the assets owned by JOMIC, and he told SW Radio Africa that there needs to be accountability and transparency when you wind down any organisation. “My position is that this should not happen at all because the state is not the successor to JOMIC. We should be able to have a say, as political parties, what we believe should happen to JOMIC and consequently their assets,” Mangoma explained. Mangoma suggested that JOMIC might decide to give their assets to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for example, as a way to make use of them without handing them over to one political party. He added: “In law nothing says the state should get it. And we have to make sure that particularly the donors, who were the major contributors to those assets, are also happy with the decisions that are taken.” As to what will happen to the organisation itself, Mangoma said the JOMIC co-chairpersons have been exploring ways to continue the work that was being done by the committee, especially given the fact that incidents of political abuse continue to be reported countrywide. “It is unfortunate that those incidents continue to happen and that JOMIC will not be able to actually monitor them and give a very clear and non-partisan view of the events. So it will be important for the country to have another institution that will look after this,” Mangoma said. He explained that three options are being explored, which include continuing JOMIC on a voluntary basis by the political parties, changing it into a non-partisan peace-building organisation or making it the “nucleus” of the already existing Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, some observers have suggested doing away with JOMIC completely, saying that the committee did not serve much of a purpose before, as it had no mandate to act on or penalize perpetrators of violence. JOMIC has also been criticized for not doing enough to pressure ZANU PF to implement the reforms that were agreed to by the political parties, when they all signed the GPA. Some critics have said it would be pointless to continue under a government dominated by ZANU PF, when the coalition was unable to make a difference.