Maravi

Charamba lashes out at ‘Elders’

Charamba lashes out at ‘Elders’
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 12:30:15 AM

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba has lashed out at the "Elders" saying they do not have the interest of Zimbabweans at heart and they are being used to front a regime change agenda in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe last week barred former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, former US president Jimmy Carter and advocate for women and children rights Graca Machel, referred to as Elders, from entering Zimbabwe where they were due to assess the humanitarian situation.

They said their mission was to assess the situation "first hand" and lobby for international support.

But the Zimbabwean government asked them to reschedule their visit and clarify their true intent of their visit, and denied them visas.

Charamba, who doubles up as secretary for information, yesterday said the Elders' mission had nothing to do with the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

"The so-called Elders are a creature of pro-Labour British corporate interests. There is nothing elderly about them. But what is more, it is a very condescending title. If they are Elders what do Zimbabweans become, infants?" he asked.

He said they were being used to front a regime change agenda being pushed by Britain and the US.

"Annan has been in South Africa several times, Graca lives in South Africa and are beginning now to find a Methodist church where Zimbabwean refugees live. People should not seek to make big names for themselves using Zimbabwe. Annan has on no occasion denounced the illegal Western sanctions against Zimbabwe despite repeated appeals by the Zimbabwean President. Annan refused to his last day in office [as UN secretary-general] to denounce the sanctions, but now pretends to be concerned about a humanitarian crisis he knows can be traced to sanctions he condoned as UN secretary-general. These (Elders) are glory seekers and we treat them as such," he said.

Charamba also dismissed the notion that former US leader Carter supported Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, an argument being pushed to give credence to his involvement with the ‘Elders’ group in Zimbabwe.

"Carter never supported the Patriotic Front, no American president could ever do that. What Carter did, and we commend him for that, was to realise that the white settler community which the United States supported was about to be overrun by the Patriotic Front forces and what was needed was a rescue package for the embattled white community. That is why the US stepped in to save the Lancaster House deal by offering funds to support land reform in Zimbabwe," he said.

The Zimbabwean government believes that the Elders were supposed to produce a damning report on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe in order to justify the UN's intervention in Zimbabwe.

The government believes the Elders' report would have given the UN Security Council basis to invoke the "responsibility to protect" clause paving the way for the aggression and intervention in Zimbabwe by foreign countries.

The Elders group was convened by Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the world's toughest problems.

The full group consists of Mandela, Annan, Machel, Carter, Ela Bhatt [the founder and general secretary of a women trade union, the Self-Employed Women's Association], Lakhdar Brahimi [former UN envoy and advisor], Gro Harlem Brundtland [former Norwegian prime minister], Fernando Henrique Cardoso [former Brazilian president], Mary Robinson [former Ireland president and UN Human Rights Commissioner) Archbishop DesmondTutu and Muhammad Yunus [Bangladeshi banker].

Aung San Suu Kyi, a human rights leader in Burma, is an honorary Elder.

During their press conference in South Africa on Monday, the Elders denounced the Zimbabwean government, saying it was failing its people.

They held the press conference after meeting political leaders, businessmen, aid workers, donors, UN agencies and civil society representatives in Johannesburg over the weekend, many of whom travelled from Zimbabwe to see them. They also held meetings with leaders of South Africa and Botswana.

Food is the most serious problem in Zimbabwe.

“The number of people reliant on food aid from UN and other agencies has increased from 2.6 million in October to 4.9 million in November. Half the population, 5.1 million people, will need food aid by January," the Elders' statement read.

"School attendance has fallen sharply from over 85 per cent in 2007 to just 20 per cent. Universities have not opened at all this term. A teacher's monthly salary barely covers a day's average transport costs. Zimbabwe's collapsing health and water infrastructure has led to a major cholera outbreak that now raises the risk of a trans-regional cholera epidemic. An estimated 6,300 cholera cases have been recorded in nine out of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe, with fatality rates far above accepted international emergency levels of one per cent. Cases are already being recorded in South Africa and other neighbouring countries."

The Elders also noted the growing hyperinflation, cash crisis, mass migration and the failure by political leaders to implement the Global Political Agreement, which was accelerating the humanitarian disaster.

The Elders recommended that all political parties should implement, in good faith, the Global Political Agreement as a matter of urgency, and work to form a truly inclusive government to tackle the humanitarian and economic crisis, also working with regional and international partners.

Labels: GEORGE CHARAMBA

posted by MrK @ 12:33 AM