Bulawayo — President Robert Mugabe yesterday claimed that he met his side of the bargain in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) as the MDC –T gathered here to review its participation in the inclusive government.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is under pressure from hardliners in his party to pull out of the troubled coalition over frustration by Mugabe’s reluctance to reform and fully implement the September 15, 2008 agreement.
Sadc’s failure to thrash out the outstanding issues that include Mugabe’s unilateral appointment of Johannes Tomana and reappointment of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono at its DRC summit last week raised temperatures in Tsvangirai’s party.
The MDC-T national executive was last night still locked in a marathon meeting to discuss the “status and health” of the unity government and “fashion a way forward”.
A meeting of the national council meeting will also be held ahead of the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations at White City Stadium today.
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But a defiant Mugabe told journalists after meeting senior European Union officials in Harare that he did not understand why there was a fuss about outstanding issues.
“They (the EU delegation) thought things were not working, yet we did all the things we were asked to do under the GPA, timeously even,” he said.
Mugabe said he established a good rapport with the EU delegation during the meeting at State House in Harare yesterday.
“We established a good rapport,” he said. “There was no animosity.”
But Mugabe also told the BBC that he bore no sense of responsibility for anything that had gone wrong in Zimbabwe - blaming Western governments and international sanctions, which he said should be lifted soon.
Mugabe, 85, added that he had no plans to step down, saying he was “still young”.
The EU team expressed satisfaction with the talks, stressing these were not negotiations but discussions.
The EU team pointed out the problems with the current situation, complaining to Mugabe about the slow pace of political reform and about human rights violations and the rule of law.
While the team described the visit as an attempt to re-open political dialogue with Zimbabwe, it said it was not appropriate to lift sanctions at the moment or for major aid to start.
De Gucht said he hoped Mugabe realised the need for “more understanding between the three principals himself, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime minister”.
The first high-level EU delegation in almost a decade to visit Zimbabwe consisted of EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Karel de Gucht, Swedish International Co-operation Minister Gunilla Carlsson and a representative from Spain, which takes over the EU presidency next year.
In Bulawayo, Tsvangirai said there were “serious challenges” in the implementation of the GPA.
“We discussed the EU-Zimbabwe dialogue. We said there are issues in the GPA,” he told a press conference after meeting the EU delegation.
“We want to see the full implementation of the agreement and that is why we have taken the issues to SADC.
“However there has to be progress. The pace of the GPA has been slow but I’m sure the three political principals will be able to sit down and solve the issues.”
Carlsson who led the delegation said the EU, which imposed sanctions on Mugabe’s inner circle for violating human rights said the block was prepared to re-engage Zimbabwe.
“We would like to engage with the government of national unity in Zimbabwe. But of course, we are concerned by the fact that there has been no progress on some issues included in the global agreement,” she said.
“These specifically refer to governance issues.”
Meanwhile, the World Bank has refuted allegations that it is helping Tsvangirai to set up “parallel government structures”.
The state media has been waging an onslaught against the Prime Minister after Tsholotsho North MP, Jonathan Moyo started making claims that the World Bank was among some donors financing extra salaries for MDC-T ministers and workers in Tsvangirai’s office.
But the bank said the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) was only supporting the placement of “qualified policy and programme specialists in key government agencies to assist with the collection an analysis of data which can provide sound policy options for ministers, permanent secretaries and stakeholders to consider”.
“The World Bank procedures stipulate that contracts are of a short-term nature for a maximum of 150 days.”
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One can see when my brothers have been brain washed by mugabes thugs,especially when they call you CIA or MI5 or British agent. Then they accuse you of being "Rhodie" or White. To all the stupid commentators out there I am a Zimbabwean from Africa. I dont work for any agency and have a mind of my own that can see past the indoctrination of ZANUPF. I have had my money stolen from my bank account in Zimbabwe by Gono and Robert Mugabe. I have seen Zimbabwe go from what I fought for (YES idiots I am an ex combatant)to a corrupt, bankkrupt state. I fought for a better life in Zimbabwe not to make Gono , Mugabe or the rest of ZANUPF central committee rich. When i drove past Gonos house all 125 rooms of it i want to be angry , very angry. when I see the so called president talk his lies I get angry. Mugabe never saw the front line in 1975-1979. He came to the camps and visited and then fled back to a safe place. most of the vets will tell you that zimbabwe now is not what they fought for. Many are already dead becuase of Mugabe and ZANUPF. The new vets that claim to be vets are those who didnt fight in the struggle but were born soon after and grew up with the brain washing of ZANUPF.
jeff...well said....but that wont stop the brainwashed idiots on here from calling you a racist rhodie..etc etc. Incredible how they just cannot seem to grasp the extent of mugabe's evil against his own people. They immediately point to bush, blair, brown etc. neither of these idiots ever set the military on americans or british people. neither of these three a-holes ever starved their people to death or carried out mass genocides against a certain race of their people simply based on the criteria that they spoke a different dialect. I have not love of bush, blair or brown and firmly believe the first two especially should be hauled before a war crimes tribunal. Mugabe on the other hand ought to be charged with crimes of genocide. But they just dont get it. they seem to almost believe that it is ok for black people to be murdered, starved to death and pillaged...AS LONG as it is a black man doing it! strange twisted reasoning that eludes all logical reasoning if you ask me.
William - you are happy that your country has been torn apart? White people born to land holders who purchased their land from Mumbabe's national structure being raped and killed on your salty highways? There is a reason your "colonial" system (running water, increased agriculture through hyprid wheat) has collapsed - it's through ignorance and tribalism. Why is India on the world stage today?
Amazedattheraciscm;
Why did you not say white people born to "land grabbers" - their proper description? These were purely and simply criminal land grabbers who should never be entertained.
Children of land grabbers, of subjugators, of slave masters, of colonialists and of racists NEVER bought a square inch of land before or after independence.
So there is no question of them having any right whatsoever, to the land that was forcibly taken away or grabbed from Vana VeVhu, the black people of Zimbabwe. The land is ours and will forever belong to the Africans.
"Grabbed from vana vevhu" from a man who goes around "smelling in between old grandmothers legs" and knickers. Those farmers bought their land or they would have had no recourse to fight their cases in the human rights court of the Southern African Development Community.
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