Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Andrew Mambondiyani
4 July 2008
Mutare — THE resolution encouraging dialogue between the Government and MDC-Tsvangirai passed at the just-ended African Union summit in Egypt is a confirmation of what Zimbabwe has been doing in the past through the Sadc-initiated talks, a Cabinet minister has said.
Information and Publicity Minister, Cde Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, told journalists in Mutare yesterday that there was nothing new in the resolution as Government was already in Sadc-brokered talks.
"There is nothing new from the resolution that was passed at the just-ended AU summit, but it is a confirmation of what we have been doing through the Sadc-initiated talks.
"President Mugabe has said he is ready to talk to anyone in Zimbabwe to find a solution to the current problems we have, but the Government of National Unity should not come from imperial forces.
"All stakeholders should be involved; we have the churches and other political parties, who should be involved in the talks," Dr Ndlovu said.
In this regard, the AU said Sadc should establish a mechanism on the ground in order to seize the momentum for a negotiated solution.
Dr Ndlovu said Zanu-PF, under the leadership of President Mugabe, was not a tyrannical party as the Western media wanted the world to believe, but is a party that wanted to safeguard the gains of the liberation struggle and empower its people.
"We want to empower our people and have a share in our resources, which we call 100 percent total empowerment," he said.
He appealed to Britain and United States of America not to interfere in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe, saying Tsvangirai had double standards by calling for internal talks, but also calling for sanctions.
"We need to solve our problem without violence or interference.
"Tsvangirai, unfortunately, is already globetrotting and giving speculations to the foreign Press.
"Tsvangirai is already rejecting the African Union summit resolution.
"But the thorny issue here is the sanctions.
"The British and the Americans are calling for more sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe, but these sanctions should be scrapped.
"I urge our friends at United Nations to reject the sanctions.
"We know they will reject them," he said.
U.S. and its allies are presently trying to coerce the United Nations Security Council to impose a sanctions regime on Zimbabwe.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
