The Herald (Harare)
Published by the government of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: New Cabinet Imminent

Mabasa Sasa

11 November 2008


PRESIDENT Mugabe is said to have invited MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai to submit the list of ministers from his party and expressed optimism that a Cabinet will be in place soon following recommendations by the Extraordinary Summit of Sadc Heads of State and Government in Sandton, South Africa, over the weekend, that the inclusive Government be established urgently.

Zanu-PF chief negotiator Cde Patrick Chinamasa yesterday told ZTV that President Mugabe had invited Mr Tsvangirai to submit names for ministers from his party.

"We invited Mr Tsvangirai to submit names from his party. Whether he will respond positively or not only time will tell," he said.

Speaking to the media earlier on at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg before returning to Zimbabwe early yesterday morning, President Mugabe expressed optimism that the decisions expressed in the final communiqué would soon be implemented.

"We will try to institute the decisions reached by the summit as quickly as possible. Maybe this week, maybe next week, but as soon as possible," he said.

Asked if the two opposition MDC parties would come on board in the envisaged inclusive Government, President Mugabe said: "I hope they do. Sadc has been very persuasive this time around. Of course, they cannot force any decision on any country and at the end of the day it is up to us as Zimbabweans to implement the recommendations. All they can do is make recommendations and I hope they (the opposition) come on board."

The final communiqué said it was imperative that a new Government be put in place pursuant to the September 15, 2008 agreement that paved the way for the creation of an administration headed by President Mugabe with MDC-T and MDC filling several Cabinet portfolios.

The summit also endorsed the earlier position of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security calling for co-management of the contentious Ministry of Home Affairs by Zanu-PF and MDC-T.

MDC-T had demanded sole control of the ministry with Zanu-PF insisting the portfolio should be shared for national security reasons.

The summit decision clears the way for the formation of an inclusive Government while calling for immediate steps to be taken to legislate Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 19 which will give legal effect to the September 15 agreement.

Insiders close to the proceedings in Sunday's meetings said Sadc leaders had at the end of the day been left convinced that co-managing Home Affairs "presented the best possible way for the agreement to move forward".

They also said the vast majority of leaders had rejected attempts by MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to widen the discussions to include other ministries, gubernatorial seats and ambassadorial appointments.

"Tsvangirai wanted the summit to discuss a number of ministries, but the leaders said the report from the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security indicated that the only outstanding issue was Home Affairs.

"President (Hifikepunye) Pohamba (of Namibia), in particular, was quite steadfast on this and pointed out that the Organ had released a communiqué in Harare making it clear that Home Affairs was the sticking point.

"He said the communiqué had been issued after Tsvangirai had seen it and consented to it as a true reflection of the status of the talks and he, thus, could not keep on tabling new issues at the table," one of the sources said.

Another source said: "Initially three countries appeared to be sympathetic to Tsvangirai's calls for fresh matters to be tabled, but after much discussion they too agreed that Home Affairs was the matter on the table, that it be co-managed and that a government be put in place.

"The emphasis all throughout was on the need for a substantive government to be formed so that Zimbabwe could focus on addressing matters of food security and economic recovery."

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The source said Mr Tsvangirai told Sadc leaders that he would accept the decision with reservations.

"He said he had reservations, but it was pointed out to him that President Mugabe also had reservations but these should not be allowed to stall national progress. He subsequently said he would accept the decision despite his reservations."

However, soon after the summit, Mr Tsvangirai told the international media that he could not accept the decision.

The summit also addressed the conflict in eastern DRC and Sadc chair President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa told the opening session that the regional bloc was calling for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian assistance.

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Author: nongratascabinet
Wed Nov 12 19:07:23 2008

A cabinet of persona non gratas, it must be ? What exactly does Mugabe and his cronies hope to achieve by being world parriahs ? Apartheid leaders tried it; Muammar Gaddaffi tried it too. Where did it get them to ? Obviously to nowhere, except back to apologising and paying truck loads of money to get readmitted to the world community.

Author: afric35
Tue Nov 11 17:06:22 2008

Mugabe is n going to k his word so well I am thinking how many times do we have to go through this for someone to take Mugabe and the Zanu-pf? There was no agreement reached other than the SADC let Mugabe dictate the terms of the meeting what is fair about that? I do know there is a Judge bigger the Mugabe and the SADC that each one of them will answer for the decisions whether good or bad that they have made.

Author: zim patriot
Wed Nov 12 10:47:21 2008

SADC was asked to make a decision and they did - we must salute them for that. Of course as a sovereign nation Zimbabweans are free to accept or reject the SADC decision. But let us be honest - do they have any other plausible and peaceful option as a way forward? I doubt it.

Author: mabhiza
Tue Nov 11 20:19:46 2008

We salute SADC for their unequivocal support of Zimbabwe..Tinozvikudza chaizvo!!!President R.G Mugabe has proved once again that he's a towering statesman, liberation hero and a living legend who's respected in SADC and Africa at large..!!The SADC resolution on sunday was a memorable diplomatic triumph in our political history..The outcome is exactly what we had envisaged, that SADC was to endorse the official Troika report and give the green light for CDE Mugabe to form the next government..Now, the Western sponsored stooge,Tsvangison demanded that a SADC full summit get involved because he didn't trust Mbeki..The confused stooge said SADC should settle the matter for him, now this is what they did thus he should accept it..As a sellout who relies heavily on foreign intervention ,It would be tantamount to political suicide if tsvangi acts on advice of his United States and British sponsors to walk out on the powersharing deal because this would condemn him and his MDC-T cohorts to the junkyard of African politics..

Tsvangi is at crossroads in his chequered political carrer because he now has to decide whether to listen to his Western sponsors' call for him to walk out of the deal and thereby rendering himself as the outcast of Africa or to embrace an African decision made by SADC and join GNU..The uneducated stooge has to humble himself ,accept SADC's decision , join GNU and work flatout at his Munhumutapa offices to alliviate the poverty he invited through illegal economic sanctions..Well, if he continues his intransigence and flagrant disregard for African organisations like SADC , the stooge risks becoming a pariah & outcast in Africa like Savimbi..Tsvangi and his supporters can forget about taking the matter to AU because it simply acts on advice of SADC recomendation..Tsvangi feels that his source of power,which are Western countries are more superior than SADC and AU, this is the reason why the sick stooge trashes all African recommendations that go at odds with MDC-T..Now ,Tsvangi foolishly shot himself in the foot by blasting the recommendation made by SADC on sunday to form GNU without any further delay...By trashing the SADC recommendation and trying to potray himself as "smarter" than 15 SADC representatives , Tsvangi has done untold damage to himself and his MDC-T cohorts in Africa..To make matters worse for the stooge, his American& British handlers came out in the open and supported their puppet on monday in trashing the SADC recommendation, exposing to the world that tsvangi is simply acting on their behalf..What tsvangi has to do now is to humble himself , accept SADC resolution ,join GNU and work fulltime in alliviating poverty caused by the illegal economic sanctions he campaigned for......

Author: afric35
Wed Nov 12 09:26:41 2008

Mabhiza the only reason Mugabe is respected among the leaders of the SADC is b/c they are just as corrupt as he is and afraid if they stand up against him he will tell everything he knows which most already know. The SADC leadership should be ashamed of themself to say they even care about the people of Southern Africa b/c as Mugabe they only care about themselves....They are there to help the people but just want power so they can control people and things. One day their reign will end and unless they change their ways they will fall very hard. No man or party will be able to save them when this day comes so I pray they change their ways....

Author: awt_independent
Tue Nov 11 20:52:15 2008

PLEASE IGNORE ANY POSTS FROM TAKUNYA_NDEBVU AND MABHIZA. THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME PERSON AND PAID BY THE ZANU PF'S MINISTRY OF INFORMATION (PROPOGANDA DEPARTMENT) TO POST AS MUCH PROPOGANDA ON THE WEB AS POSSIBLE TO PROMOTE THE MURDEROUS AND THEIVING ROBERT MUGABE. IF YOU READ ANY OF HIS POSTS YOU'LL SEE THAT HE MAKES THINGS UP AND CONTINUALLY LIES FOR THIS AIM. HE HAS NO CREDIBILITY WHATSOEVER AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. HE WILL CONTINUALLY CLAIM THAT TSVANGIRAI HAS CALLED FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE. THIS CLAIM IS 100% FALSE AND DESIGNED TO ALIENATE TSVANGIRAI FROM THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN ZIMBABWE THAT SUPPORT HIM. HE HAS NO EVIDENCE OF THIS, AND WILL TRY TO TELL YOU THAT THIS HAPPENED ON BBC HARDTALK. IF YOU LOOK UP TSVANGIRAI'S INTERVIEW ON HARDTALK THROUGH YOUTUBE, YOU WILL SEE THERE ARE NO MENTION OF SANCTIONS AT ALL. IT IS SIMPLY A LIE, LIKE THE REST OF HIS POSTS. HE IS ALSO UNABLE TO NAME A SINGLE SANCTION THAT SITS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE AND HAS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ANY OF HIS CLAIMS AND LIES BLATANTLY ON A CONSTANT BASIS. HE WILL ALSO CALL ANY PERSON WHO IS AGAINST THE TRYANNY AND GENOCIDAL REIGN OF MUGABE WHO ARGUES WITH HIM ANY NAME UNDER THE SUN IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THEM. SO PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH TAKUNYA, HE IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER ARGUE WITH A (SELF PROFESSED!)IDIOT. HE'LL ONLY BRING YOU DOWN TO HIS LEVEL AND BEAT YOU WITH EXPERIENCE.

Author: bhodlumlilo gt
Tue Nov 11 21:32:35 2008

Serombe chimwe chaungaite chii? There is mass poverty in the country and you celebrate. Fushake!!

Author: bhodlumlilo gt
Tue Nov 11 19:08:34 2008

Mugabe has chosen cabinets for the past 28 years the results are quite evident for everyone to see even SADCC are well informed. But having gone through an AFRICAN solution Zimbabwe is now destined for more misery. Failure is not taught but it can easily be felt, Mugabe should know that there is no amount of force, violence or con games that would meet the needs of Zimbabweans. Zimbabweans have been denied their right to determine their destiny. HAPANA CHINOBUDA APA INHAMO YEGA-YEGA YATATARISANA NAYO. Sanctions or no sanctions with the current set of failures in power we are assured of serious poverty GOD WILL BE OUR ONLY LIBERATOR.


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