President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF is accusing the Southern African Development Community of exploiting Mr. Mugabe’s early departure from the recently ended SADC summit in Luanda, Angola, to add resolutions to the final communiqe that had not been agreed upon by all the leaders.
The party has instructed its negotiators – Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa and transport minister Nicholas Goche – to formally challenge the SADC summit decision instructing its troika to name a delegation of three to bolster the joint monitoring and implementation committee which tracks compliance by the co-governing parties with the Global Political Agreement.
Mr. Mugabe and his 40-member delegation left Luanda before the communique was released. But SADC sources say mr. Mugabe left because he was unhappy things were not going in his way.
His supposed ally, Angoland President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, newly installed as SADC chairman, said in reference to Zimbabwe, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo that those countries need to put democratic mechanisms in place and understand that “power can be held through free and fair elections.”
SADC sources add that Dos Santos backed the resolution giving south african president Jacob Zuma wide-ranging powers to deal with the Crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mr Zuma himself said the region was getting impatient with Harare. ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo says SADC must not impose decisions on Harare.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition advocacy officer Dewa Mavhinga says ZANU-PF reasons are unreasonable and meant to frustrate SADC calls for reform.
