The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) is a non-government organisation formed in 1997 that includes "Zimbabwean citizens and civic organisations including, labour movements, student and youth groups, women groups, churches, business groups and human rights organisations", as well as political parties, according to .
It campaigns for constitutional reform, arguing that Zimbabwe's "political, social and economic problems" can only be "resolved through a new and democratic constitution". The NCA struggles for "a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and united country founded on human dignity and social justice".
NCA chairperson Lovemore Madhuku commented on the current social and political crisis facing Zimbabwe in a November 19 statement: "In the past, the NCA has staged a number of street protests across the country. Once again we make a call to the people of Zimbabwe to protest regularly and consistently (every week) until a resolution to the political crisis engulfing our country is found and implemented."
Madhuku explained: "The protests are to call for a transitional authority, not a government, whose mandate is to see the immediate [redress] of the humanitarian crisis and facilitating the writing by the people of a democratic constitution.
"With a democratic constitution in place, elections should be held freely and fairly to elect the country's political leadership under the terms of that constitution."
Madhuku argued that this position "is opposite to that being touted by the September 11/15th Agreement reached by the country's main political parties. The deal, reached through trickery and forgery, is aimed at throwing away the people's victory", in the March 29 general elections.
"It is meant to sanitize [President Robert Mugabe's] Zanu PF regime, whilst reducing to a fool, the MDC, the winners of the election."
Madhuku stated that the Southern African Development Community, which brings together regional governments, "has become complicit in this as well as other 'political leaders' whose message is more contemptuous of the masses who voted than it is of those who rob the masses daily of their dreams".
"The deal allows Robert Mugabe to retain all his powers", Madhuku explained, "including that of Head of State and Head of Government. [MDC leader Morgan] Tsvangirai is to become Prime Minister in a Cabinet chaired for him by Mugabe ... Major appointments are still the preserve of the Mugabe, who only needs to 'consult' with the Prime Minister."
"The list of what is bad about the deal is as long as the deal itself" Madhuku declared.
Madhuku was placed under "preventative detention" during protests the previous week, "with the police hoping that my absence from leading the protests would deter the many activists pressing for change".
"But the protests went ahead, placing once again on the tables of those who so seek to suggest that 'the deal is the only hope we have', that there are other ways to the solution besides capitulation."
He stated that several activists were detained and assaulted during the protests.
Madhuku argued: "Democracy will sure not come tomorrow, and perhaps any time sooner, but it certainly will never come until and unless we fight for it."
Below is an abridged November 11 statement from Madhuku that called for ongoing protests.
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From November 11, the NCA will be staging a number of protests across the country to register concern about the need for an urgent resolution to the country's political crisis.
The tragedies that we are facing as a people have reached disaster proportions, threatening to submerge the entire nation.
The economic and social ramifications of this human-made disaster are dire: millions of our children have been denied the right to learn; we are all being denied basic sanitation — with clean water becoming a luxury.
Sewerage flows in the streets and preventable diseases such as cholera are ravaging thousands.
We all share in common shame the unfortunate story of our country's regress from being a jewel, born filled with promise, to what it has become now: a sad spectacle, an example for others on what never to follow.
The economy has virtually collapsed: industry has shrunk 60% and all Zimbabweans have been left either unemployed or under-employed. Our mining sector is a breeding ground for corruption and plunder, uniting a cartel of local elite and rogue international corporations.
For long a time the incumbent holders of political authority have used the state as an instrument for expropriation, with resources meant for national development being siphoned off and turned into personal fortunes.
As the nation bleeds, they fatten.
To deal with dissent to this misrule and abuse, the incumbents resort to violence and all manner of oppression.
This is the rot that we seek to stop, that we have spent the past years fighting against.
At the centre of the resolution to our problems is the urgency of restoring democracy and freedoms to all our people. This requires the crafting, by all Zimbabweans, of a democratic constitution that will guide and define the character of national life.
No longer can we afford to surrender ourselves to the whims and caprices of our leaders. Those who are privileged to lead society and its institutions must be no more powerful than those who they lead.
The advancement of human dignity should be at the centre of all national aspiration. The status of women in our society should be improved and equalised to that of men.
We have tried over the past years to advance a democratic society. The past few months have seen the nation's hopes being pinned on compromising these virtues with an unrepentant dictatorship.
These negotiations continue, but the more the talks go on, the more our hopes for a just order diminish.
We have already seen the contents of the September 11-15 Agreement and how it fails to represent the quest for national renewal and transformation. The agreement subordinates the whole nation to the same people who have brought us misery.
The constitution-making process envisaged in the deal, for instance, is dominated by the political elite to the exclusion of all other citizens.
We have long rested our fortunes on the international community and their support has been mixed. In some circles our cause has been well received, with tremendous support being given to our country. During this long season of despair, the only food for the hungry and medication for the sick has come from overseas aid.
Others, however, have sought to find a way of intellectualising our misery, finding all manner of theories to explain how our misfortunes are unavoidable.
Solidarity has been given to those who oppress the weak, either actively or through the mere lack of moral courage to stand for what is right and act in defence of the vulnerable.
As a nation, we have to come to terms with the fact that no amount of international support to our struggle will come to bear without local pressure. As citizens we must take back what we have resignedly out-sourced: the right to save our country from the jaws of the brutal regime that has dominated us for far too long.
This is something we should do with pride, knowing that we are doing that which is just, that which history and future generations will remember as a leap that made us citizens and not prisoners in our land.
Each citizen can play a role from whatever their vantage point.
There are those of us who will march in the streets; there are many who will refuse to pay rates to municipalities that have not reciprocated what they loot from citizens by failing to provide services; and there are many who will withhold paying royalties and taxes to an unaccountable regime.
We need to organise and mobilise in ways we have never done before. The tools are vast and we will depend on our shared creativity.
This is a national cause. All Zimbabweans, across our political, religious and social lines must realise we have more to benefit by being free and having enforceable rights.
We need to be governed by an accountable government whose mandate is to advance the dignity and welfare of all.
Zimbabweans, the start might not be encouraging but victory is certain. All momentous struggles have been won by recording and valuing the sum efforts of every battle fought. We should take pride in knowing that we are on the right side of history and victory is certain.
Let's join hands and reclaim the country we love so much.