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(TALKZIMBABWE) Negotiators endorse minutes for Sadc summit

Negotiators endorse minutes for Sadc summit
Posted by By Our reporter at 2 June, at 22 : 58 PM

NEGOTIATORS to the Global Political Agreement met Sadc facilitators yesterday and endorsed minutes from their meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa, last month, The Herald newspaper reported.

The minutes are now expected to be presented to Sadc Heads of State and Government at their meeting to be held on the sidelines of the Comesa-Sadc-East African Community Summit in South Africa next week.

Zanu-PF representative – Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa – was quoted as saying the negotiators and facilitators agreed on the minutes, which covered the review of the GPA report, election roadmap and the Jomic report.

“The meeting was an extension of the Cape Town workshop that was attended by negotiators and facilitators from the 5th to the 6th of May this year.

“At that meeting, we presented the review, election road-map and the Jomic report so today we agreed on the record of proceedings of that meeting.

“The expectation is that the facilitation team will table the minutes at the extraordinary summit in South Africa,” he said.

Minister Chinamasa said the report on the review, the election roadmap and the Jomic report would be annexed to the minutes to be discussed at the Sadc meeting.

Minister Chinamasa said he was unaware of what would happen to the outcome of the Livingstone meeting, but said the Chair of the Sadc Organ, on Politics, Defence and Security Zambian President Rupiah Banda was expected to present a report.

“The Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security will report on the Livingstone meeting. The facilitator will also table another report.

“We are not privy to what the facilitator presented in Livingstone, so we hope to know what he presented,” Minister Chinamasa said.

The minister said there were still disagreements among the three parties on various issues.

MDC-T is pushing for security sector reforms, but Zanu-PF has insisted that this was never part of the GPA and that the country’s security sector was solid and did not need to be reformed. It is also a matter of national security which cannot be mortgaged to any external institution.

The discussion on the situation in Zimbabwe was deferred to this month during last month’s Extraordinary Summit in Windhoek, Namibia, after President Mugabe said he preferred all the parties in the inclusive Government to be present.

This followed Sadc facilitator, President Zuma’s absence at the summit as he was attending to local government elections in his country.

MDC-T claimed a diplomatic coup after the Livingstone meeting when it misled Sadc leaders that Zanu-PF was violating the GPA and perpetrating political violence.

The party also claimed that President Mugabe was now incapacitated to run the country and that there was a silent coup in Zimbabwe.

Labels: MDC CORRUPTION, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SADC

posted by MrK @ 10:35 PM