Maravi

Tsvangirai explains his Europe, US trip

Tsvangirai explains his Europe, US trip
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Marondera, Zimbabwe
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 3:03:48 PM

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said he did not undertake a trip to Europe and the United States to borrow money for Zimbabwe, but to re-define the country’s foreign policy.

He told a rally that he was neither sent by President Robert Mugabe to the US and seven European countries to canvass for international aid nor to negotiate for the lifting of sanctions but that he took it upon himself to build relationships following a decade of Zimbabwe’s isolation.

“I did not go to look for money but to build relations which were lost in the last 10 years,” said Tsvangirai of his tour of the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway the United Kingdom and France.

“You can’t just go and say, ‘give me money’ without first building friendships.”

He was addressing hundreds of MDC supporters who braved the chilly weather to attend the MDC party’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Marondera, about 50 km east of the capital, Harare.

Tsvangirai said he was surprised to learn from the state media that he had been sent by the President to ask for aid.

“We wanted to redefine the foreign policy of this country, and we achieved that successfully,” he said. “I was not sent by Mugabe.”

Tsvangirai said the message from the Western countries whose money the government required to run government business was very clear.

He said Western countries needed to see concrete political, governance and economic reforms before they could assist.

Tsvangirai said Western leaders were not interested in rhetoric but wanted to see real change on the ground before they could commit themselves to giving the country any financial assistance.

“The leaders of the countries I visited told me that they are not interested in what we say but what we do,” he said. “It’s up to us to make reforms and get help.”

According to the Ministry of Finance, Zimbabwe requires a total US$ 8.5 billion to fund crucial reforms.

Western donors, key to the revival of the battered economy, have demanded substantial democratic change before they could provide aid to Zimbabwe.

During his trip to Europe and the United States, Tsvangirai managed to raise up to US $500 million but none of it is budgetary aid.

The bulk of the money will be channelled through non-governmental organisations.

And referring to contradictory statements the parties to the unity government have been issuing recently, Tsvangirai said since there was a unity government between his party, the MDC faction led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, it was therefore important for the leaders to speak with one voice.

“There is confusion but we should speak with one voice,” he said. “We cannot have discord; we have to communicate a uniform message.”

He admitted, without elaborating, that there were still a lot of problems facing the all-inclusive government.

“There are issues that we are still facing but these can be solved politically,” Tsvangirai said. “Conditions of the global political agreement must be fulfilled in full and we will do that.”

Tsvangirai blamed the state media for publishing falsehoods about his trip.

“There are some who are still resisting this change but only the will of the people will prevail not even that of individuals or an army,” said Tsvangirai. “There is no greater enemy of Zimbabwe other than those who don’t want the will of the people to prevail. The MDC has never had any media. And we have been scolded over the past 10 years. The media might lie but the people know the truth. If we are in a government together, then why should we separate and compare who is doing the best? We want change in the media.”

Perturbed by what the MDC refers to as negative reporting about the Prime Minister by the state media, Tsvangirai’s office recently started publishing a pamphlet that details what the MDC is doing in the inclusive government.

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 2:06 PM