The Voice (Francistown)
Tanonoka Joseph Whande
29 April 2008
Francistown — After decades of neglect by African leaders, the Zimbabwean issue has suddenly burst onto the itineraries of SADC leaders, having been initiated by Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
The Lusaka extra-ordinary summit three weeks ago was in itself an achievement considering how African leaders have always shied away from taking Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe head-on.
But still, the Lusaka summit did not achieve much but loosened the tongues of several African leaders.
A few days after the summit, a Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang, loaded with weapons destined for Zimbabwe, showed up in Durban where the ITF-affiliated South African Transport Workers' Union (SATAWU) refused to offload the Chinese vessel saying it feared the weapons could be used by Mugabe to crackdown on opponents "as he battles to reinforce his grip on power after surprise losses to the opposition in elections last month."
That was a snub to South African president Thabo Mbeki, a supporter of Mugabe, who had earlier indicated that SA could not stop the arms from proceeding to Zimbabwe because it was a legitimate trade arrangement between two sovereign countries.
Earlier, Mozambique's Transport minister had said his government had turned down the ship's request to dock at a Mozambican harbour.
SADC Chairman and Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa, called on all states in the region to refuse the ship permission to dock. It was a call that was heeded by all SADC countries, including Namibia and Angola.
Even Jacob Zuma, ANC party president entangled in a power struggle with Mbeki, diverted from government position and made critical comments on Zimbabwe.
"At this point in time . . . I imagine that the leaders in Africa should really move in to unlock this logjam," Zuma said. "We have been affected by the situation in Zimbabwe. That's part of the reason we're engaged . . . there is a concrete, practical impact . . . on the South African situation."
Immediately, the Americans, almost glad that African leaders were finally taking the initiative, joined in and put the Chinese ship under surveillance.
The British upped their verbal barrage against Mugabe and his government.
On Tuesday, the China Ocean Shipping Company, owners of the An Yue Jiang ship, announced their vessel was coming back home.
Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, the recount of votes got underway in 23 constituencies only to be temporarily suspended for a few days but the counting started again on Wednesday.
The MDC claimed on Monday that "the vote recount exercise was being used by the regime to 'doctor' figures to allow Robert Mugabe to qualify for a run-off with Morgan Tsvangirai." The MDC went to court, vehemently resisting the recount, demanding that the presidential results should first be announced. They also pointed out that a recount of the parliamentary seats should have been requested within 48 hours of the election. The High Court dismissed the MDC's protestations.
As the recounting got underway, the MDC's Secretary General, lawyer Tendai Biti, told the media that his party had lost at least 10 of their supporters, killed in post election violence.
SADC leaders are, however, seemingly keeping an eye on developments in Zimbabwe. Their observers are there monitoring the recount.
While Mugabe is getting exceedingly isolated and holed up in Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai is, meanwhile, on a sustained diplomatic offensive that has seen him criss-crossing the continent drumming up support against Mugabe. In the last 10 days or so, Tsvangirai has met with, among others, President Khama, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, Zuma, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano, Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the Mozambique National Resistance movement and was scheduled to meet Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Wednesday.
But can SADC be trusted to see this through? Can SADC really stand up to Mugabe and finally tell him the damage he is doing to the region? Is SADC strongly united enough to force the Zimbabwean president to stop his wayward behavior?
That remains to be seen. It will, however, also be interesting to see how long SADC's newly-found unified approach towards Mugabe will last.
Tsvangirai, who reportedly has made Botswana his temporary base, commutes between Gaborone and South Africa.
The MDC leader, who was in Ghana last week, has said he will return home "when appropriate", after being out of the country for more than two weeks.
"I've not committed any crime -- I'll go back to Zimbabwe," Tsvangirai told reporters in Accra, Ghana, on Monday, after a 30 minute meeting with the UN Secretary General on the sidelines of a U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
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