Maravi

Ping meets Mugabe

Ping meets Mugabe
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Wednesday May 07, 2008 [04:00]

AFRICAN Union Commission chairman Jean Ping on Monday met President Robert Mugabe to discuss the Zimbabwean situation after the disputed March 29 elections. And Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) chairperson Noel Kututwa has urged the ruling ZANU-PF to accept the will of the people to enable the country to move beyond its political crisis.

President Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba on Monday evening told state-broadcaster that newly elected AU Commission chairperson met President Mugabe to receive advice on regional matters among other issues.

Charamba said Ping also exchanged notes with President Mugabe on the situation in Zimbabwe.

"He (Ping) met the President and they exchanged notes, not just on Zimbabwe. He also wanted to get the President's vision on the AU," he said.
Charamba, who is also Secretary for Information and Publicity, further said Ping also took the opportunity to get a briefing from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on the elections.

Meanwhile, Kututwa said since ZESN announced projections for the presidential election on March 31, 2008, its members, staff, management and leadership had been subject to a campaign of intimidation by the government.

"These projections clearly showed Morgan Tsvangirai secured more votes than Robert Gabriel Mugabe. In observing this and previous elections, ZESN has broken no Zimbabwean law and has conducted its electoral observation efforts in accordance with regional and international standards. As such, the organisation has been accredited by the relevant body for every election since inception 2000. For the 29 March 2008 harmonised elections, the Minister of Justice, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs approved ZESN accreditation of 11,808 observers and 8,667 observers were duly accredited by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)," Kutuwa said.

"Further, all ZESN observers received training and signed a code of conduct and which abide them to conduct themselves in a non-partisan manner. Despite this, some ZESN observers have been beaten, one had his home torched, some have been harassed and intimidated. The ZESN national director, Rindai Chipfunde-Vava was detained for 45 minutes at the Harare International Airport on the 15th of April 2008. ZESN's national offices were also raided by the police on 25 April 2008.

"Armed with a search warrant allowing them to look for subversive material, the police confiscated a number of ZESN's documents and took its programmes manager, Tsungai Kokerai, who was subsequently detained at Harare Central Police Station for six hours by the police for questioning. The home of ZESN's national director, was also raided by the police on the 25th of April."

Kututwa explained that he and Chipfunde-Vava were asked for three days running to make themselves available at Harare Central Police Station to answer questions and furnish the police with statements on a number of issues.

"ZESN's mission remains to promote democratic elections in Zimbabwe and this can only be done by helping to ensure that the country's political problems are resolved through the ballot box rather than by the barrel of the gun. We believe all of these efforts are intended to intimidate ZESN so that it will not observe future elections," Kututwa said. "ZESN will not be moved by these cynical actions on the part of the government and will continue to defend the right of Zimbabweans to vote, a right so dearly paid for in the struggle for the country's liberation."

He said it has now been one month since the elections and confidence in the ZEC has long since begun to wane.

"For the good of the nation, the government should accept the will of the people. This will enable the country to move beyond its political crisis and begin to address the economic and social problems facing the country," said Kututwa.

Labels: AU, JEAN PING, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 4:36 AM