Recently there has been a lot of controversy, even drawing in our neighbour South Africa, over whether elections should be held before or after a new constitution is in place.
The constitution is not the key problem. The key problem is changing the political mentality of entitlement. As long as the politicians feel that they are entitled to luxury at the taxpayer's expense we are always going to have problems.
You can take any wonderful recipe, as long as you prepare it with rotten ingridients it won't taste nice. No matter what constitution you have, as long as your politicians are corrupt and dishonest, the country will suffer and decline. At the moment, the entire Zimbabwean political fabric is rotten.
Specimens of honest, diligent and truthful politicians on the Zimbabwean landscape have virtually suffered the same fate as the quagga. Extinct. Zimbabwe could take the Bible and use it as a constitution word for word but with the amount of dishonesty we have, there would still be massive problems.
The current saga with the Constituency Development Funds is a reminder of just how deep our problems are. Several politicians were caught investing in their businesses with money meant for development. Others simply blew it without explanation.
The newspapers are full of stories MPs who are on the run, but not a single one about those who used the money properly. This does not bode well for the rest. We do not know whether they have been investigated and cleared or they are still to be investigated.
So far I have had assurance from only one MP, Eddie Cross that they have been investigated and cleared.
I am also worried that if the process threatens to become too politically costly to the major parties, it will be quietly smothered. While Zanu-PF and the MDC fight each other tooth and nail on most fronts, the tendency has been to quietly cooperate where 'eating' for both is involved.
So far no real big names have been fingered on either side of the political divide. I would be surprised if all the ministers are clean.
That Zimbabwe has some of the best educated politicians in the world does not seem to help. How many governments can boast several professors in cabinet? However, a degree does not amount to common sense. Common sense does not amount to education. In life you need both. It seems most of our politicians have the one or the other but never both. Quite a substantial number have neither common sense nor education.
A new constitution will not instill honesty, education or common sense in our politicians. A vulture with a beak muzzle is still a vulture. At some point it will find a way to get rid of the beak muzzle and start tearing at the flesh again. Dishonest politicians with a good constitution are still dishonest politicians. They will be busy looking for the loopholes to exploit before the ink dries.
Most of those clamouring for a new constitution are themselves not being honest. They merely want to use it as another tool in their arsenal for removing Robert Mugabe. This motive has nothing to do with the long term fortunes of ordinary Zimbabweans, but everything to do with the short term objective of removing Mugabe as a stumbling block to neo-colonialist agendas.
Mugabe's continued tenure is in itself also a problem. It encourages personality culture, is a stumbling block to renewal of ideas, and ensures the recycling of the same political deadwood we have had for three decades.
Mugabe's extended tenure is the foundation upon which the culture of crony protection is built - a foundation which the MDC seems intent to reinforce rather than demolish. Both sides of Zimbabwe's political divide want a new constitution only in as much as it serves their narrow agendas.
The MDC and their backers want to use it as a tool prise the levers of power from Mugabe's hands. Zanu-PF want it in order to dampen or eliminate the criticism that they would face if they manage to stay in power (by whatever means necessary). None of the sides seems prepared to accept a loss.
It is therefore very unlikely that a new constitution will change much in Zimbabwe. I am certain that it won't remove the political fighting that has been the root cause of Zimbabwe's woes. I am therefore certain that to ordinary Zimbabweans, a new constitution won't mean much. They will still be the grass beneath the feet of two political elephants.
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