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(TALKZIMBABWE) What then Mrs Frazer?

What then Mrs Frazer?
Jeff Chitengo - Opinion
Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:34:00 +0000

DEAR EDITOR – United States Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer told reporters in Pretoria that her Government was no longer prepared to support a deal that includes President Robert Mugabe.

The United States can decide who they want to help or not help, that is their choice – but I think the decisions of the Zimbabwean people need to be respected.

When we voted on March 29 and June 27, we did not see Mrs. Jendayi Frazer’s name on the ballot box, neither did we see President Bush’s.

Some of us are tired of these gesture statements from the West without real solutions proffered for the Zimbabwean people. If Mrs. Frazer says the US does not support the deal and not suggest a viable way forward, I think such statements are counterproductive. In any case, the African leaders support such a move and their voices should be listened to.

Mrs Frazer should realize that us Zimbabweans are pinning our hopes on that deal and would like things to normalize in the country. Her country has been very instrumental in causing some of the pain that we witness daily in Zimbabwe through a raft of sanctions that stop key businesses operating in and outside Zimbabwe.

Sometimes I just hope these people could see what we really go through on a daily basis to understand the impact of their statements which are detached from the reality in Zimbabwe. Rather than help us with cholera fighting efforts, she saw it fit to talk at this juncture.

Mrs. Frazer should realize that any solution to the Zimbabwean problem will be found once the parties sit down and start working together, not by the US declaring that it does not want this person and that person as president.

"The power sharing agreement ... needs to be implemented with someone other than Robert Mugabe as president," says Mrs. Frazer.

Who does she have in mind, if I may ask. The Global Political Agreement signed by the three principals on September 15 is clear on who will occupy what position. They all consented to the posts, so who exactly is Mrs. Frazer suggesting should be President when the Agreement is already in place. And why undermine what Zimbabweans themselves have agreed on?

Why doesn't Mrs. Frazer say the same about the leadership in the Middle East? Some of us think the current leaders are locked in a never-ending battle, but who are we to tell them who should (should not) lead them?

I can only draw one conclusion from Ms. Frazer's statement. She is trying to silence th growing calls for an All-Inclusive Government by African leaders; otherwise why would she be saying this?

The US has already shown that the suffering people of Zimbabwe, through their santions, are not priority. In that regard, they should spare us the rhetoric.

Jeff Chitengo
Zimbabwean writing from Singapore

Labels: JENDAYI FRASER, MDC

posted by MrK @ 10:42 PM