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(ZIMBABWE GUARDIAN) West should recognize President Mugabe: Tsvangirai

West should recognize President Mugabe: Tsvangirai
By: NNN-NEW ZIANA-TZG
Posted: Friday, April 9, 2010 9:33 pm

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged the West and the international community to recognize President Robert Mugabe as the leader of Zimbabwe and accept that the inclusive Government has made significant strides in ending polarisation, violence and divisions in the country.

Addressing delegates at the Zimbabwe Africa Business Opportunities Day commemorations in the capital Harare on Thursday, PM Tsvangirai said the three political parties in the country signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) with the intention of saving the country from "the turmoil that it was experiencing".

“If there are sceptics in the United States who think and wish one day President Mugabe will wake up dead then they are mistaken,” he said.

The comments by PM Tsvangirai came aganist a background of Western countries refusing to support the inclusive Government, saying they would only do so when President Mugabe was removed from office.

President Mugabe has criticised the West for trying to effect regime change in Zimbabwe.

Mr Tsvangirai urged the international community to recognize the progress that the inclusive Government has made so far. “We need to be rewarded for the progress,” he said. “We are not where we are supposed to be, but certainly we are where we never thought we would be sometime last year.”

Meanwhile, PM Tsvangirai said the government was about to finish revising the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act regulations which would see equity being bought and not ceded.

He said the new regulations would ensure that there was broad-based empowerment and not for a few people to benefit. “Under these regulations shares will not be ceded but instead they will be purchased and they will be open for anyone,” he said.

He said the government was working towards the creation of an environment which attracts foreign investment. Investment opportunities were limited and the country should compete to attract them, he added.

“As government we are working on creating an investment climate that will result in our natural assets being used for economic growth,” said Mr Tsvangirai, who urged the business community to interact positively with foreign counterparts to promote international investment.

“If you go out there and paint a bad picture no one will come to invest in the country,” he said. “We are struggling to create a conducive investment environment so give us the support and be patient with us.”

— NNN-NEW ZIANA-TZG

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 3:01 AM