Kitsepile Nyathi
14 May 2008
Kampala — Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF has accused Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa of siding with the opposition in its bid to oust President Robert Mugabe, in yet another sign of worsening relations between the two countries.
The ruling party, which is gearing up for a bruising presidential election run-off between Mr Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said it was disappointed with Mr Mwanawasa because he had failed to call for the lifting of sanctions imposed by Western countries.
It said that as the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Mr Mwanawasa had been tasked to ask the United States and Britain to scrap the "illegal" sanctions. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mr Patrick Chinamasa, who chairs Zanu PF's media sub-committee, said the sanctions had contributed to Mr Mugabe's embarrassing defeat in the first round of the elections.
"Sadc undertook to call for the lifting of the illegal sanctions but Mr Mwanawasa, as the chairperson, has not done so yet," he said. Mr Chinamasa's outbursts were the first direct attacks on Mr Mwanawasa by the government since signs of a breakdown in relations between the two countries started appearing early this year.
Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating since Zimbabwe accused Zambia of trying to block its maize imports in the run-up to the March elections.
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