SW Radio Africa (London)
Violet Gonda
9 October 2008
The MDC President has finally come out and told Zimbabweans there is a deadlock in the power sharing agreement and appealed to the African Union and SADC for immediate assistance. Tsvangirai told journalists in Harare on Thursday: "We have spoken to the facilitator and he has responded he will be coming."
The leadership of the Zimbabwe Liberation Veterans Forum - a grouping of war veterans, former senior commanders of the national liberation war and members of ZIPA High Command (Zimbabwe Peoples Army) - has said the intervention of the regional bodies is welcome, but not Thabo Mbeki. The group says the focus should be on the African Union and SADC.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum, Wilfred Mhanda said what is happening merely betrays the lack of seriousness on the part of ZANU PF "and I think the only problem that I might have with Morgan Tsvangirai is calling on the facilitator."
He said it was the former South African President who created this problem by not tying up the loose ends. "Actually I don't think President Mbeki did a good job and I don't think he is in a position at all to resolve this problem," the war veteran said.
Mhanda said it is certainly 'naïve' for anyone to expect Mbeki to perform miracles when he no longer has any leverage.
Some analysts say it is curious that the MDC is now putting its hopes on Mbeki, when in the past they have urged SADC to remove him.
Mhanda believes the agreement 'is not even worth the paper that it is written on,' and it is not too late to bring in a new facilitator, as there is nothing that has changed on the ground.
Mhanda also commented on the developments in the Mavambo/Vusile movement, a political outfit headed by former Finance Minister Simba Makoni. He said he broke ranks with this group as Makoni 'did not adequately distance himself from ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe.'
Mhanda said: "I was a candidate for Simba Makoni in Mbare. People were beaten up and people were being evicted from their homes and Simba Makoni did absolutely nothing. This was an opportunity for him to demonstrate his leadership qualities and in that case he actually failed most of us."
Mhanda doesn't regret playing a role in the Mavambo/Kusile movement, saying the formation contributed positively to the political landscape as March 29th was one of the best elections Zimbabwe has ever had.
He however said: "As a result, the perception among the people was that he (Makoni) is just a Trojan horse. A ploy by ZANU PF. He took a long time to clarify this and it was his 'indecision that affected us."
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 SW Radio Africa. 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.
Mr Mhanda, is this possibly a chance for some meaningful commenting on the ridiculous situation effected by the equally ridiculous Zanu powermongers?If you believe in Morgan then get behind him please ,because Mbeke 's as useless as tits on a bull.