(HERALD) ‘Botswana’s hands dirty’

‘Botswana’s hands dirty’
By Mabasa Sasa

GOVERNMENT says it now has "compelling evidence" tying Botswana to the training of bandits believed to be linked to an alleged MDC-T plot to unconstitutionally unseat the Government.

The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, yesterday said evidence collected established that Botswana had provided human and material resources for the training of the bandits.

He also warned Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama that the route he had chosen would have dire consequences for the entire region.

The turn of events casts a shadow on whether or not an inclusive Govern-ment involving Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC will be formed following the gazetting of Constitutional Amendment Number 19 Bill on Saturday.

"You are aware that the last time the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security met in Harare, we lodged a complaint against Botswana. Botswana has availed its territory, material and logistical support to MDC-T for the recruitment and military training of youths for the eventual destabilisation of the country with a view to effecting illegal regime change.

"Compelling evidence has already been proffered and the matter is now in the hands of the (Sadc) Troika and it is not for us to say how the matter will proceed. The Troika is now in charge of the matter and we all await their next move.

"What evidence is there establishes that Botswana has rendered itself a surrogate of Western imperial powers, that it is acting contrary to its past role as a Frontline State, and that it has decided to be a destabilising factor in the region.

"My plea to Khama and his government is to think carefully about the irreversible harm they have been plotting to unleash on the region," Cde Chinamasa said.

He added: "It is for them to realise that they have put themselves on a course that is bound to bring a lot of suffering on Zimbabweans and the region, including the population of Botswana."

Cde Chinamasa would not be drawn into revealing the nature of the evidence gathered.

Botswana and MDC-T have denied the allegations but it appears the Sadc Troika was sufficiently persuaded by the Zimbabwe Government’s presentations to order a full investigation into the matter.

Cde Chinamasa, who is one of the ruling Zanu-PF’s negotiators in the Sadc-mediated inter-party talks, further accused MDC-T of negotiating in bad faith by taking part in the dialogue while "preparing for war".

"As far as we are concerned as Zanu-PF, we have done all we can to ensure peace and stability in the country which are prerequisites for economic recovery. MDC-T, on the other hand, is bent on foisting war on the country and the region.

"It has become evident that MDC-T is negotiating in bad faith and has engaged in dialogue as a ploy to string us along. They lack sincerity.

"We now have evidence that while they were talking peace they have been preparing for war and insurgency, as well as soliciting the West to invade our country on the pretext of things like cholera.

Since the cholera outbreak began in August, Britain and the United States along with several African askaris like Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga have called for an invasion of Zimbabwe, calls that have, however, been dismissed by the AU and Sadc.

"We can look our people in the eye and say ‘enough is enough’. Our backs are now to the wall and a day may soon come when each and every one of us may be called to defend our revolutionary gains and our sovereignty," he said.

Details of the training of bandits in Botswana remain under wraps but The Herald understands that former Zimbabwe Defence Forces personnel recruited for the escapade spilled the beans after gathering sufficient information from inside.

Sources have revealed that the plot was to train groups of bandits who would instigate instability that would give the West a pretext to get the United Nations Security Council leeway to authorise a military invasion of Zimbabwe.

The development has serious implications on the envisaged inclusive Go-vernment and Constitutional Amend-ment Number 19 Bill.

The Bill, if passed into law, would pave way for the formation of an inclusive Government bringing together Zanu-PF, MDC-T and the MDC.