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(NEWZIMBABWE) Secession not ZAPU policy: Dabengwa

Secession not ZAPU policy: Dabengwa
by Staff Reporter
04/05/2011 00:00:00

ZAPU leader Dumiso Dabengwa says his party does not support secessionist calls by some Matabeleland pressure groups, notably the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF).

Growing sentiment that the three Matabeleland provinces are sidelined from national development programmes has fed resentment of central government in the region, leading to calls for a separate state. But Dabengwa, whose party is a significant force in the region and has devolution of power as its central policy, says the issue calls for “meaningful dialogue”.

“ZAPU is the founder and authentic liberation movement of the whole of Zimbabwe, and has no intention of reducing itself to a tribal or separatist movement,” Dabengwa said in a statement on Wednesday.

“ZAPU liberated and wants to rule all of Zimbabwe, and not part of it.”

Dabengwa says his party would cut the current 10 provinces by half into Mashonaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Manicaland and Matabeleland “to be led by an elected provincial mini-government”.

He added: “There would be provincial or regional houses of assembly with relevant legislative powers. However, there will still be a national house of assembly to legislate national laws. There will still be central government led by a president, similar to what happens in South Africa.

“Regional premiers and their governments will have the mandate to initiate and implement development policies and programmes in their areas and to run social services such as health and education.

“Central government will remain in charge of national issues such as the army, police, national security, monetary and fiscal policies, revenue services, among other key matters of the state. Zimbabwe will still have one national flag, one national anthem, one president, one currency, and no borders between regions.

“There will be a fair and proportional distribution of national income to all the five provinces, as opposed to the current secretive and discriminative distribution of national wealth to favour one region at the expense of four others.”

Dabengwa said devolution, which featured prominently during public consultations on a new constitution last year, would “remove all bottlenecks and red tape created by the current Harare-based centralist governance system”.

“People become masters of their own destiny by controlling and owning their natural resources. Devolution empowers the people to be self-determining,” he added.

The ZAPU leader said he was forced to speak out after being approached by “several journalists wanting to know our position on the MLF or the cessation of Matabeleland”.

“It is clear to us that the journalists seem to believe that ZAPU is behind, or at least sympathetic to the issue of sessation of Matabeleland. This is both false and unfair … Clearly, devolution is not cessation and we do not understand why anyone would want to link our party to the MLF or cession,” he added.

But despite disagreements with the Mthwakazi Liberation Front, whose leaders have been charged with treason, Dabengwa insists that silencing them is not a solution. Instead, Dabengwa wants a national debate on the issues that have led them to take extremist positions.

“Even if we do not agree with the MLF or any other political formation for that matter on any issue, our party will defend their right to hold their views without fear. ZAPU is convinced the people of Matabeleland and some parts of the Midlands have genuine grievances against the current governance system that has disadvantaged them,” Dabengwa said.

“We call for meaningful dialogue on the issue to address the problem and maintain national cohesion. Arresting and detaining leaders of the MLF or anyone who talks about Gukurahundi and the marginalisation of Matabeleland will only worsen the problem.”

Labels: DUMISO DABENGWA, MDC, MDC TRIBALISM, SECESSION, ZAPU

posted by MrK @ 1:54 PM