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No one can break the relationship Zambia, Zim embellish - Mugabe

No one can break the relationship Zambia, Zim embellish - Mugabe
By Lambwe Kachali
Friday September 05, 2008 [04:00]

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has said there is no one who can break the relationship Zambia and his country embellish. And President Mugabe warned that he would go ahead and form Cabinet if opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai fails to sign the negotiation agreement.

In an interview before he left for Zimbabwe at Lusaka International Airport on Wednesday evening, President Mugabe said he would not forget Zambia because of the role it played in dismissing the British colonial masters from Zimbabwe. He said Zambia sacrificed a lot to ensure that Zimbabweans were liberated from the colonial chains.
“Zimbabwe will never forget Zambia especially on how our independence was fathered and how Zambia helped us.

Property was destroyed, people were killed and some places bombed both in Zambia and Zimbabwe. And also with this history and the fact that we share the same geography, we drink the same water from the Zambezi River, we share the same time, our people Zimbabweans regard Zambia and Zimbabwe as one. So I say no one can break that umbilical code that we embellish with each other,” President Mugabe said. “Again, Zambia helped us to magnanimously dismiss the British and now we are no longer under the British colony. So, with this I had nothing but to come and console the country.”

President Mugabe said the relationship and development that Zambia and Zimbabwe were enjoying would continue despite the untimely death of president Levy Mwanawasa. He said although there were some differences between himself and the late president Mwanawasa, especially during the presidential election runoff in Zimbabwe following the disputed elections, it did not mean that they had become enemies.

“First and foremost, the death of an African leader, especially a member whose country was a training ground for our liberation, the death is very shocking and touching. It is devastating. You know history tells us that we differ in views but that is a political difference.

A difference in opinion does not amount to such as to make enemies or harm each other. Brothers can quarrel but you still remain brothers. So we are brothers much more in harmony,” President Mugabe said. “I remember we talked with President Mwanawasa about projects, e.g the Batoka project over electricity generation, we talked about promoting tourism within the SADC region and there were much more on the ground.”

He said he had many things in common and that he admired President Mwanawasa's philosophy.

“As history says, we were related even before we became presidents. And when he (President Mwanawasa) became president after taking over from president Frederick Chiluba, we talked about how he felt about president Chiluba as well as the history of the country.

He also talked about the former president Dr Kenneth Kaunda and from his speech; he was aggrieved of how president Chiluba treated Dr Kaunda. So I admire his philosophy. He visited us and that brought about interaction and made our two countries to come together. Because of that, I decided to come and mourn him. When I arrived, I talked to the widow and consoled her,” he said.

And President Mugabe said he would form Cabinet even if Tsvangirai failed to sign the documents of their negotiations. He wondered why Tsvangirai was failing to sign the documents when he at first agreed to what was on the paper.

“Talks started well and the facilitator was committed, flying to Harare and Johannesburg to whichever place as the venue of the talks and we signed the MoU Memorandum of Understanding by all the three leaders. And after that understanding we engaged in discussions, in dialogue and it is this dialogue that has not gone well. After we agreed, and when it came to signing what was put on the paper, Tsvangirai says he will not sign. Although he agreed, he refused to sign what was put on the paper,” he explained.

President Mugabe accused the British government of influencing Tsvangirai not to sign the documents so as to disturb the operation of the government.

“We know that the British government is behind him Tsvangirai in order to delay the talks. So as long as the British are behind him, he will not sign. This is all because of the land issue that they are fighting. Although they talk about the rule of law, that's just rubbish. It's the land issue. But there is vast land which is still under the British control,” President Mugabe said. “This land is used by mining companies and tea companies and still under the British control, perhaps two-third of the land is still controlled by the whites. But we had agreed that some of the land be allocated to the people (Zimbabweans).

So I don't know what they want. But we are the government that should be empowered after elections. But we cannot allow to have no Cabinet. So we are talking to the facilitator possibly tomorrow (yesterday) and if Tsvangirai still refuses to sign, I think we shall go ahead and form Cabinet, the country must go ahead. The government must tick, we feel frozen as at now.”

Labels: MUGABE, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:28 AM