SADC’s New Stance Angers Mugabe

SW Radio Africa (London)

Tichaona Sibanda

4 April 2011

SADC’s recent censure of Robert Mugabe and its decision to appoint officials to closely monitor the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) have left the ailing dictator seething with rage.

Leaders who attended the Troika summit in Livingstone, Zambia last week Thursday reportedly cornered the ZANU PF leader over the resurgent political repression and violence, leaving him shaken and angry.

The regional leaders exerted pressure on Mugabe to immediately reform, to avert a collapse of the inclusive government. The MDC-N President, Welshman Ncube, who attended the closed door session said Mugabe responded by addressing the chair of the SADC Troika, saying; ‘President Banda, I am alarmed by this assessment.’

Back home on Friday a raging Mugabe told his ZANU PF Central Committee that neither SADC nor South Africa could dictate how Zimbabwe runs its internal affairs.

Referring to South African President Jacob Zuma, the mediator in Zimbabwe’s crisis, Mugabe said; ‘A facilitator is a facilitator and should facilitate dialogue between Zimbabweans by way of persuasion. He (Zuma) cannot prescribe that we do A, B, C or D. We are a sovereign state and we don’t accept any interference. Even our neighbours should not tell us what to do.’

There also appears to be a new twist in the fallout, with reports that statesmen in the region are being engaged to convince Mugabe that his time to retire has come.

A source who attended last week’s SADC Troika meeting told SW Radio Africa that statesmen like former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and Joachim Chissano of Mozambique have been asked to speak to Mugabe ‘to urge him to speed up’ his retirement plans.

‘I am fully aware SADC leaders like Rupiah Banda of Zambia have in the last few weeks been in talks with Kaunda, Chissano and former Namibian President Sam Nujoma, to impress upon them that Mugabe is now becoming a liability to the whole region,’ the source said.

The director of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, McDonald Lewanika, said they welcomed the SADC communiqué and hoped that the Troika would stand by its resolutions and ensure that they are implemented.

‘It shows the SADC Troika now seems to be in touch with events on the ground and have refused to be hoodwinked by narratives from political parties in the GPA,’ Lewanika said, adding ‘we now wait for action following the statement.’

Lewanika told us he was not surprised by the way ZANU PF has reacted to SADC but said they are the ones who have over the years benefitted the most from the regional bloc’s soft stance on Mugabe.

‘ZANU PF has agreed with decisions of regional and continental bodies when they suit them but when they’re censured like what happened last week Thursday, the tendency is to rubbish them. But I don’t think they can afford to part ways with SADC or want to antagonise South Africa further because that would backfire quite spectacularly,’ Lewanika said.

The SADC Communique stated that three people from SADC are to be attached to Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) to now monitor the situation and are expected to be based in Harare.

While the Troika communiqué did not mention Mugabe by name, it is believed all SADC’s criticism in the meetings was directed towards the ZANU PF leader. The communiqué contained some of the toughest language SADC has ever used on Zimbabwe.

The summit made it clear to the principals to the GPA that SADC is not happy with the recent developments in Zimbabwe, which has seen scores of MDC supporters and human rights activists arrested and an escalation of political violence.

SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that for the first time in a SADC summit Mugabe was told point blank the region had had enough of his intransigence.

Meanwhile the GPA negotiators were expected to meet in Harare Monday to craft a roadmap for general elections. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is quoted as saying the election roadmap would be drawn up in terms of the GPA and that a report will be submitted to the South African facilitation team, which is expected in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

Political analyst Clifford Mashiri told us the reaction from ZANU PF, following the summit is an acknowledgement they know the ‘game is over.’

He said SADC summits used to be nothing more than talk shops, but not any more following the turmoil in North Africa, which SADC leaders believe could trickly down the continent if regimes keep suppressing their citizens.

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