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(HERALD) Sadc Council of Ministers to finalise agenda

Sadc Council of Ministers to finalise agenda
By Hebert Zharare
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 22:01

THE Sadc Council of Ministers meets today in Namibia to decide among other things whether Zimbabwe should be on the agenda of the Summit starting in Windhoek tomorrow.
Addressing journalists in Windhoek yesterday, Sadc secretary general Mr Tomaz Salamao, said it was impossible to disclose whether Zimbabwe was going to be on the summit agenda or not before the Council of Ministers' meeting.

"The Council of Ministers is meeting tomorrow (today) to discuss among other things whether the Zimbabwe issue and Madagascar will be discussed by the Summit or not," he said.

Mr Salamao said the South African President and Sadc appointed facilitator to the GPA talks had asked to be excused from the Summit as his country would be holding local government elections during that time.

He said it was against this backdrop that the Council of Ministers wanted to discuss whether it was possible or not to put Zimbabwe on the agenda during the absence of Mr Zuma.

"The Council of Ministers will discuss and agree whether Zimbabwe can be discussed by the Summit during the absence of the facilitator or the issue be discussed during another Summit," he said.

The Summit is going to receive a report from Sadc Ministers of Justice on the Sadc Tribunal and come up with its position.

The other issues to be discussed include the Regional Indicative Development Plan for Sadc.

A report on what happened during the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Troika meeting in Livingstone, Zambia, will also be presented to the Summit.
The Sadc Justice Ministers have acknowledged that the Sadc Tribunal was improperly constituted and its decisions, mainly on land matters in Zimbabwe were null and void.

At a Summit held in Namibia last August, the Heads of State and Government resolved to suspend the tribunal pending the outcome of a review by the bloc's ministers of justice and attorney generals.

The Summit asked the AGs and ministers of justice to investigate the tribunal's operations.

The review followed concerns raised by Zimbabwe, querying the legitimacy of the tribunal's rulings. The tribunal courted controversy when it passed judgments that contravened Zimbabwe's constitutional position on land reform.

Government made it clear it was not going to be bound by the decisions of the tribunal as its constituting treaty had not been ratified by two-thirds of Sadc members as required.

Zimbabwe is among the 10 Sadc countries that have not ratified the protocol that seeks to give the tribunal force.

The Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa is already in Namibia for the Summit.

Labels: JACOB ZUMA, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 12:59 PM