SW Radio Africa (London)
Violet Gonda
17 November 2008
There has been much confusion about the status of the power sharing deal, since the Tsvangirai MDC National Council resolved on Friday that the party will only join the inclusive government once certain issues have been resolved.
The Tsvangirai MDC said; "Given the lack of sincerity and lack of paradigm shift on the part of Zanu PF, the MDC shall participate in a new government once Constitutional Amendment No. 19 has been passed and effected into law."
This created confusion in sections of the media with people not knowing if this was a new condition, outside the usual demand for the equal distribution of cabinet posts, and if this meant the MDC would automatically join the unity government once the Act was passed by parliament.
The spokesperson accused certain sections of the media of distorting the truth and reading their resolution in isolation. Clarifying his party's position, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa says the enactment of Amendment 19 is not the only issue, but one of a host of outstanding concerns that were not given 'fair and just' attention by regional leaders who met recently in South Africa.
He said the concerns and conditions of the MDC are not inseparable and "until all areas are sorted we are not going to be found in this government because we are not going to be in a government wounded and in pain."
The MDC conditions include:
• The legal passage of Constitutional Amendment No.19; Chamisa said both ZANU PF and MDC have different interpretations of this saying: "ZANU PF thinks that Mugabe is going to be both Head of State and Head of government. We feel that the agreement is about Mr. Tsvangirai being Head of Government and Mr. Mugabe being Head of State so that there is equitability in the sharing of powers."
• Equity in allocation of governors: MDC says this must be done according to who won particular provinces. But Robert Mugabe has already appointed the governors who are all from his party.
• The equal distribution of 10 ministerial portfolios:
• The constitution and composition of the National Security Council
• Appointment of senior government like Ambassadors and Permanent Secretaries
• Corrections to be made to the 'illegally' altered agreement signed on the 15th September 2008
The MDC insists it respects African institutions but accuses the Southern African Development Community of not following the principles of justice and common fairness, when the regional body recommended the setting up of a unity government but overlooked the unresolved issues. Chamisa said if decisions lack fairness, then they have to be revisited.
The MDC is calling for the urgent opening of parliament, which was forced to adjourn last Tuesday to 16th December because of severe water shortages. Hungry legislators from outside Harare had to be fed by a donor agency because Parliament is broke and cannot pay for their meals. But Chamisa said the present economic and political challenged facing the nation call for the urgent reconvening of parliament. He said: "Waiting for the 16th is unacceptable and just impossible."
Meanwhile MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is on a tour of Europe. The MDC spokesperson declined to comment about his President's visit, nor would he comment about what travel document Mr. Tsvangirai is travelling on, as he still has not been issued with a new passport by the Mugabe regime. It is reported that the MDC leader only has an Emergency Travel Document, valid for South Africa only. Chamisa referred us to the President's spokesman George Sibotshiwe, saying he only comments on matters to do with the party and not the President's itinerary. We were not able to get hold of the President's spokesperson.
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Womudenga, You are venting your anger towards the wrong people. President Mugabe, and the Service Chiefs have nothing to do with the delay in forming a govt of national unity neither do they have anything to do with the suffering being witnessed in Zimbabwe. In fact, the President needed this govt yesterday because he realizes that Tsvangirai wants to cause maximum harm to the people – destroying all that the people have worked for since independence in 1980. The President is also aware that a good number of people who support Tsvangirai are doing so through ignorance, without really understanding what kind of person they are following, without knowing that he is the one who called for the sanctions that are making them suffer. The same can not be said of Tsvangirai, who is the one procrastinating in fulfillment of what he was instructed to do by his handlers. McGee told Tsvangirai that by December 2008 the govt of President Mugabe will have fallen and that is expected to torpedo him to State House. We all know that the month of December is the hardest of all as food would have run out and they cannot work their lands for lack of inputs. Tsvangirai was also told that he should procrastinate as much as possible so that all the countries that voted against the UK and USA sponsored sanctions resolution at the UNSC will get frustrated with Zimbabwe and vote on the side of imperialists thereby opening the way for UK and USA invasion of Zimbabwe using Botswana as a launching pad. Signs of that are already evident as South Africa is now withholding input (300 million Rands) support for this agricultural season.
Tsvangirai called for the sanctions that are hurting us today. He is daily swinging with McGee who brags and is proud of having made Zimbabweans suffer under the sanctions that the Bush regime in America has imposed on the people of Zimbabwe. Instead of travelling to Zimbabwe first and map the way forward with in his party and the other two principals, Tsvangirai decides to travel to France soon after the SADC Summit. What is he doing in Europe if not to call for the strengthening of sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe? We need to read between the lines to see exactly why Tsvangirai is in Europe while people are suffering and dying as a result of the sanctions that he called for in the first place. What we hear Tsvangirai saying in front of the media should not be taken at face value but should be viewed in the context of what a stooge says after meeting his masters. Tsvangirai believes and hopes that by making Zimbabwe suffer like is happening today, people will revolt against the govt and that he can gain through force what he failed to get through the ballot box. Today our economy cannot perform to capacity because important companies and institutions have been put on the sanctions list. People are starving, there is no medicine in our hospitals and pharmacies, we have no clean drinking water owing to lack of forex to buy chemicals, children are not going to school because teachers and school are demanding payment in forex, and there is no fuel for the farmers to produce for the national. Have you ever asked yourself why banks like Agribank appearing on the sanctions list when imperialist banks like Barclays and Standard Chartered do not? The answer lies in the fact that Agribank is the one institution financially assisting farmers so that we do not have “…those fields the Sora beans we now see?” that you talked about. The land form programme is a reality, is final and hence is irreversible. However, for the new farmers to effectively produce enough to feed the nation they need our support and not demonization, they need the support of govt (mechanization and inputs), they need the support of banks and other agriculturally inclined companies. Moreover establishing a viable farming industry is not an event but a process and what we have is just the beginning of that process. Former white commercial farmers had more than 50 years of govt support to get to where they were when the land reform programme started in 2000. Why should the new farmers be expected to perform miracles after less than 10 years without adequate support? Just look at the former white commercial farmers who ran away to places like Mozambique. They are coming back to Zimbabwe because they could not secure financial support for their new ventures as there is no scheme like the one run by Agribank. Similarly, our new farmers, without adequate support from all the relevant sectors of the economy, will not be able to perform their mandate of feeding the nation.
hahahahaha, no mugabage has not delayed it at all! What drugs are you on, of course mugabe has delayed everything to try and stay in power!
A gvt of national unity must be put in place as soon as possible to avert a deadly catastrophe if people are not fed and continue to die of hunger ,desease and poverty. Mugabe has shown the world that he enjoyes to see people suffering as long as they donot support him and he is still at the helm of power. Tsvangirayi must stand firm and must not be intimidated. Mugabe is just an owl with no horns,a barking dog with no teeth . Chiwenga Iwe! Newe Zimonte naChihuri God is going to punish you heavily sooner . Mugabe -what happenned to all the green fields that used to be a darling to see in any direction you would take when travellimng in Zimbabwe? Are those fields the Sora beans we now see ? Sorry and shame shame on your land reform programme its a shame really shame shame Mugabe. Unonzwisa tsitsi chokwadi.Uy'ngimangalisa Mugabe and you call your self a president of a country. Actually you are an illegitimate president you do not have the mandate to rule that country because you do not have the majority. If you think you have as you lie to your self let us go back to another round of elections where all the opposition parties are aloowed to campain freely without intimidation. You will see that you are not clever.You claim to be educated but you are not.