The Herald (Harare)
5 November 2009
Harare — THE Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security meets in Mozambique today to review Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement, among other issues.
President Mugabe was invited to the Troika Summit by his Mozambican counterpart President Armando Guebuza, who chairs the Organ.
The invite was also extended to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.
According to the letter of invitation extended to President Mugabe, one of the items to be considered is a review of the implementation of the GPA.
Apart from Zimbabwe, political developments in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar are also on the agenda.
This was confirmed in a statement Sadc issued yesterday.
"The Sadc Troika will review the political situation in the region, particularly in Lesotho, Madagascar and Zimbabwe," the bloc said.
Private media have in the past week claimed the summit was called in response to MDC-T's "disengagement" from the inclusive Govern-ment.
However, Zimbabwe is only one of the agenda items and is being discussed as per GPA requirement that the arrangement be reviewed every six months.
Members of the Troika are Mozambique (chair), Zambia (deputy) and Swaziland.
DRC President and Sadc chair Joseph Kabila and South African leader Cde Jacob Zuma are expected to attend.
Yesterday, Sadc executive director Dr Tomaz Salamao who was already in Mozambique said the GPA parties remained committed to the inclusive Government.
"We are here to continue to help Zimbabweans in their difficult journey . . .
"One thing I can guarantee is that there is a commitment from all the Zimbabwean parties to make the political agreement work, to make the unity Government work, given the positive results it has achieved in its nine months of existence."
Dr Salamao said the summit would get feedback from the Troika's ministerial missions to Zimbabwe, Lesotho, the DRC and Madagascar.
The mission was in Zimbabwe last week and resisted attempts to limit its mandate to MDC-T's grievances, saying they were here to look at the totality of the GPA.
Meanwhile, sources last night said MDC-T leader Mr Tsvangirai had expressed his willingness to end the "disengagement".
"The three principals were supposed to meet on Monday as they have always been doing but this could not happen because President Mugabe was hosting a guest (President Kabila).
"There was a strong likelihood that had that meeting gone ahead, the principals would have gone to the summit more or less united.
"In fact, there was a very strong possibility that Mr Tsvangirai would have attended Tues-day's Cabinet meeting."
The sources said Mr Tsvangirai had sent a number of emissaries indicating as much to President Mugabe and it was likely that today's summit would have such a result.
Efforts to get a comment from officials in the PM's Office were in vain last night amid indications that they might already be in Mozambique.
President Mugabe has said it is up to Zimbabweans to solve their issues, a sentiment that was echoed by President Kabila when he visited the country.
Regional leaders also told Mr Tsvangirai as much when he toured Southern Africa soon after "disengaging" from Government, with the heads of state advising him to return to Zimbabwe to engage his partners.
MDC-T "partially pulled out" of Government claiming Zanu-PF was not fulfilling its part of the deal as well as in protest at Roy Bennett's indictment for trial in the High Court on terror-related charges. Bennett is MDC-T's treasurer-general.
However, Zanu-PF has said it has done everything required of it under the GPA and it is MDC-T that has neglected to deal honestly.
The party has noted that MDC-T is yet to lobby for the removal of illegal Western sanctions and do anything about the beaming of hate messages by pirate radio stations -- both of these being issues the party promised to tackle under the GPA.
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This ZANU PF hogwash should stop. If Lesotho was also a point of focus why have we not heard of their representation at the summit? You just want to water down the strong fact that this summit had the sole purpose of resolving the issue of Zimbabwe that seems to be never ending as if it's a child's play with its 'youngest brat' being the 85-year old Mugabe. No shame at all. How long can you survive on falsehoods and disinformation? Todya manyepo here? We know ZANU PF made some promises to the Troika that they have absolutely no will to meet. What a shame? What's going to be their next talking point? Anyway, this is not an issue to them as they are devoid of even shred of good senses! Tichanyareiwo
I am waiting for the leaders in the white man's SADC to finally tell Tsvangirai, the white man's stooge, to grow up and submit himself to the will of the electorate like a man.
[ or else he can decamp to his racist masters' west of the plundering, land-grabbing europeans - who as long as Tsvangirai is useful to them, they can tolerate him and stroke his infantile ego ...]
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"I am waiting for the leaders in the white man's SADC to finally tell Tsvangirai, the white man's stooge, to grow up and submit himself to the will of the electorate like a man."
As I recall, that's exactly what he did in March of 2008. Then, when the electorate chose him as President, he was forced at gunpoint to submit himself to the will of Robert Mugabe, where he's been ever since.
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