Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Mugabe holds talks with Uganda's Museveni

Mugabe holds talks with Uganda's Museveni
Natasha Greenwood
Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:17:00 +0000

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has held talks with Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly summit and discussed the recent developments in the country mainly the formation of an all-inclusive government.

The two leaders who met yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York, discussed issues of mutual interest as well as regional matters, according to a statement from the Ugandan State House.

President Mugabe briefed his counterpart on the power sharing deal which Zanu PF party signed with the leaders of the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.

Museveni has in the past criticized both the MDC-T party and President Mugabe for the problems in the country urging the two leaders to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis amicably. At a press conference last month, Museveni condemned the post election violence in Zimbabwe and also raised questions about the opposition MDC-T party being funded by foreigners.

“Mugabe has got his own mistakes but is the opposition clean? Nobody could answer that. In the end we said: Since things are not very clear, you go and negotiate because you are both not very clean,” Museveni told journalists in August.

President Mugabe did not respond to the comments by the Ugandan President. Earlier this month he told delegates to the signing ceremony of the Unity Accord with the two formations of the MDC that he does not criticize African leaders in public.

Sources in NY say the meeting was very cordial and the two leaders were “in high spirits”.

In New York, the two Presidents also attended a high level meeting on Africa’s development needs where challenges that hinder the continent from achieving the Millennium Development Goals were discussed.

African leaders warned that a lingering global financial crisis, coupled with the collapse of talks on a world trade agreement, could harm the UN campaign to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest.

At the start of Monday’s meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world’s rich nations to spend $72b a year to help Africa achieve the millennium goals to reduce poverty, improve health and ensure universal primary education.

Ban said the price tag may be daunting but “affordable,” pointing to the $267b the world’s richest nations spent last year on agricultural subsidies.

TZG/NVO

Labels: MUGABE, UGANDA, YOWERI MUSEVENI

posted by MrK @ 9:44 PM