Published by the government of Zimbabwe
1 August 2008
Harare — CHURCH leaders yesterday castigated Britain, the United States and Europe for trying to influence the outcome of talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC formations by imposing new sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The churches urged the three parties to disregard such distractions and remain focused on reaching an agreement.
They spoke as MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai expressed satisfaction with the way the talks were progressing.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, the chairperson of the Eminent Church Leaders in Zimbabwe, Reverend Andrew Wutawunashe, said sanctions, in whatever form, were not a sign of goodwill for the people of Zimbabwe, but would only cause more suffering and deprivation.
"The position of the West as characterised by the use on the part of the United States, Britain and the European Union of sanctions as a weapon of pressure or blackmail to ensure that an outcome which is according to their own definition prevails is of great concern to us.
"We strongly urge these nations to withdraw sanctions and show goodwill in a practical way towards the sterling efforts being made through these talks to bring unity and progress to the people of Zimbabwe," he said.
He urged Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations to remain focused on the successful conclusion of the inter-party talks and disregard detractors bent on derailing the process.
"We urge our political leadership and negotiators and the people of Zimbabwe to stay focused on the prize and disregard these attitudes which are voices from our destructive past.
"We therefore commend our political leaders, President Robert Mugabe, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara and their parties for putting the interest of the nation first and courageously working together to defeat division, mistrust, violence and forging a viable and promising way forward for Zimbabwe by consensus," said Rev Wutawunashe.
The church unreservedly affirmed the process and hailed signs of consensus already emerging while the spirit of pragmatism and constructive compromise that has characterised the talks so far were a welcome development for Zimbabwe.
"It is particularly inspiring to note that the negotiation process is a coming together of Zimbabweans themselves. We would like to assure the political leaders that this course they have taken is supported by the overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans and must not be allowed to fail," he said.
Rev Wutawunashe said the critical issue was not even who would hold what position in the administration but the principle that all parties must work together in Government.
He said church leaders were grateful to President Mbeki's sterling efforts that had brought the country's political leaders to the negotiating table.
"President Mbeki has suffered completely unjustified, irrelevant and unwarranted criticism from those who, had this process been put into their hands, this country would by now be in flames. The voice of his critics is not the voice of African patriots but rather that of those who would sooner see African people under the tutelage of colonial masters," Rev
The church also said the three parties should be left to conclude the ongoing talks because the inclusion of other stakeholders, at this juncture, will create confusion.
This was in response to calls by civic society that it should be part of the talks.
"The Memorandum of Understanding clearly sets the agenda of the talks and the negotiations will come up with a set of principles that will be ironed (out) in the future.
"Whatever administration to emerge out of the talks would be in a position to address the concerns of stakeholders and interest groups," Rev Wutawunashe said.
Eminent Church Leaders is made up of religious leaders from the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe, Pentecostal Assemblies, the Council of Apostolic Churches of Zimbabwe, the Family of God, Revival Ministries International and Harvest Time Ministries, among others.
European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel yesterday said the talks were an important step in addressing Zimbabwe's problems.
"The signing by President Mugabe and the opposition leaders of the MDC of a Memorandum of Understanding last week is an important step towards a genuine political solution to the current crisis in Zimbabwe. We sincerely hope that the ongoing negotiations between the Zimbabwean parties will succeed," he said.
However, he expressed concern over reports being made by some non-governmental organisations and other Government critics of renewed violence, which they have failed to substantiate to police.
Police yesterday dismissed reports that political violence was still taking place long after the elections.
Chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told New Ziana that police had not received reports of politically motivated violence recently.
"The situation in the country is normal. We have not received any reports of violence around the country and we have not paid much attention to the media reports," said Asst Comm Bvudzijena.
Italy's foreign ministry announced this week that its ambassador to Zimbabwe Mario Bologna has returned to his post in Harare following signs of an improvement in the country's political situation.
Rome had recalled the envoy last month to send what Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called a "political signal" over election violence.
But the foreign ministry on Monday said it had noted some signs of improvement thanks to the meeting between President Mugabe and the opposition leader Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai told journalists in Senegal yesterday after meeting Senegalese leader Mr Abdoulaye Wade that he was satisfied with the way the talks were going.
"I am fairly satisfied. But there are, like in any negotiations, sticking points that need to be unravelled and therefore until we can get a full agreement which reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe, I would say, for the moment, that is our struggle: to ensure that it is achieved," Tsvangirai said.
He said the two-week deadline set for the talks was not cast in stone.
"Two weeks may appear as too short, but it's not inflexible . . . I'm sure that the facilitators will adjust as the progress moves forward," Tsvangirai said.
The talks are set to resume on Sunday ahead of the two-week deadline which ends on Monday.
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