(HERALD ZW) President lauds progress of poll processes
Thursday, 18 July 2013 00:33
Morris Mkwate recently in MASERU, Lesotho
PRESIDENT Mugabe says processes leading to the July 31 harmonised elections are moving smoothly in full view of poll observers drawn from different progressive nations, including Sadc and the African Union. Speaking at a State banquet hosted on the eve of King Letsie III’s 50th birthday celebrations in Lesotho on Tuesday, Cde Mugabe said Zimbabwe remained peaceful on account of calls by political party leaders for violence -free campaigns.
The President, who delivered an address for the occasion on behalf of regional leaders, reiterated the need for Zimbabweans to maintain peaceful co-existence.
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Swaziland’s King Mswati III, President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana, Zambian Vice President Guy Scott and his Malawian counterpart Mr Khumbo Kachali were among leaders who turned up for the festivities.
“Let me take advantage of this gathering to inform you that the processes leading to our harmonised elections on the 31st of July 2013 are moving smoothly in the full glare of Sadc and African Union observers and those from other well-meaning countries,” President Mugabe said to loud applause from guests, comprised mainly of representatives of Southern African countries.
“As leaders of political parties in Zimbabwe, we have been and still call on our people to refrain from political violence and to maintain peaceful co-existence. I am happy to inform you that so far, the electoral environment has remained peaceful.
“As Zimbabweans, we remain committed to working with the region to further regional and continental unity and to advance our common cause on the broader international platform.”
Regarding the celebrations, President Mugabe said Zimbabwe’s attendance was ample evidence of the cordial relations between Harare and Maseru.
He highlighted the crucial assistance Lesotho extended to Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle which saw eminent political figures receiving education in that country.
Zimbabwe, President Mugabe said, reciprocated the goodwill by enrolling Basotho students at the University of Zimbabwe’s School of Medicine.
“As people of the region, we are bound together by a common history, similar cultures and strong economic linkages,” he said, as a good number of jubilant guests applauded; while others raised mobile phones to take his picture.
“The people of Zimbabwe remember with fond memories the assistance that the Kingdom of Lesotho rendered to them during the days of the liberation struggle despite the immense pressure exerted on your own country by the then apartheid rule in South Africa.
“I am equally aware that your country remained resolute to the cause for liberation in our region and some of those countries which got liberated with your assistance are represented here today.
President Mugabe said Zimbabwean students educated in Lesotho went on to occupy key positions in Government at independence.
“On our part, as Zimbabwe, I am delighted to note that we are training some Basotho, though in a small way,” he said.
“In 2010, our two countries agreed on a co-operation framework that has seen the training of Basotho students in surgery and medicine at the University of Zimbabwe. This is only a small good turn for what we received from your country.
“It is from these strong bonds, forged over the years, that we want to develop a strong and co-operative relationship for the good of our people. As a matter of fact, our presence here bears testimony of our mutual desire to strengthen our relations.
“Areas of possible cooperation abound in various fields of endeavour, which include manufacturing, agriculture, mining, health and education. We are confident that this festive occasion will give further impetus to our cooperation and friendship.”
Speaking before over 15 000 Basotho at the celebrations broadcast live on national television and radio stations yesterday, King Letsie paid tribute to President Mugabe for continuing to support his country, saying the President’s presence demonstrated genuine friendship and solidarity.
He said it was important for Zimbabwe to remain peaceful during the fast-approaching elections to ensure national and regional benefits.
“We are humbled by this gesture of friendship and solidarity,” said King Letsie. “We all know that to a politician, there is nothing more pressing than an election campaign and the strenuous quest to garner votes for themselves and their parties.
“Of course, we also know that in Zimbabwe, as we stand here, politicians of all parties are traversing the country, chasing those votes which they hope will deliver to them a favourable outcome in a few weeks to come.
“However, there is at least one Zimbabwean politician who has decided to leave all of that behind just for a day in order to celebrate with us. I would like to say to that veteran politician, ‘Your Excellency, your presence here today is a clear demonstration of your enduring respect and love for Basotho and Lesotho. For that we wish to express our sincerest appreciation and deepest gratitude’.
“All of us hope that those elections will be peaceful for the benefit of all Zimbabweans and the region as a whole.”
Digressing from his prepared speech, King Letsie thanked President Mugabe for pulling him out of the “abyss of humiliation” by motivating him to marry.
President Mugabe had on the eve of the celebrations told guests of how the King’s late mother got increasingly worried about her son’s prolonged run of bachelorhood.
He had also revealed how his marriage to First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe following the death of his first wife, Amai Sally Mugabe, motivated the King to seek out a bride.
“Those who were at the banquet remember that veteran of a politician recalling the days of old when I was a bachelor. I would like to say he was right. I was truly embarrassed.
I was more than embarrassed. In fact, I was also jealous,” said King Letsie.
“When I expressed those sentiments of embarrassment and jealousy. . . I would just like to remind him that it was in 1996. My father had just passed away and unexpectedly,
I assumed office. Six months after that, I was thrown into the deep end by being asked to host the Sadc Heads of State summit.
“I was embarrassed because I was a bachelor. I was jealous because he had just married a young wife and I had nothing. But because of that, I was motivated to put that right. It took me three or four years to do it. I thank you for rescuing me from the abyss; for rescuing me from being humiliated and being teased by my elders and other people.
“Since then, I would really like to say thank you (my wife) because we have created a wonderful home and we have enjoyed love, stability and comfort with you and our children.”
King Letsie III’s birthday anniversary is a public holiday celebrated countrywide.
Yesterday’s event saw more than 15 000 Basotho converge on Setsoto Stadium to witness various performances ranging from army displays and traditional dances and to enjoy the day with their leader.
President Mugabe returned home last night and was welcomed at the Harare International Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru, State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, service chiefs and other senior Government officials.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), GUY SCOTT, HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, IAN KHAMA, KHUMBO KACHALI, KING MASWATI, ROBERT MUGABE
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(NEWZIMBABWE, CONFIDENTE NM) Namibian leader 'snubs' Tsvangirai
02/05/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has suffered a setback in his bid to lobby SADC leaders to lean on his Zanu PF rival, President Robert Mugabe, to force him to agree a string of reforms ahead of elections.
Reports from Namibia say President Hifikepunye Pohamba – a regional ally of Mugabe – refused to meet Tsvangirai.
The MDC-T leader should have arrived in Namibia on Wednesday after stops in South Africa where he met President Jacob Zuma, Tanzania where he met with President Jakaya Kikwete and Angola which put forward its foreign minister.
But Namibia’s Confidente newspaper reported on Thursday that Pohamba and Prime Minister Hage Geingob “showed no interest in meeting with Tsvangirai” who is believed to have stayed away.
A source told the newspaper: “It appears that Pohamba and Geingob are not so keen to engage with Tsvangirai on this matter because of their relationship with Mugabe and his party so they will not meet with him.”
Tsvangirai is travelling with his spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka who was not available for comment on Thursday, but Alex Magaisa, the Prime Minister’s political adviser responsible for transitional affairs, confirmed earlier this week that “a stop in Namibia by the Prime Minister is on his itinerary”.
Namibia’s Presidential Affairs Minister Albert Kawana said he knew of no scheduled meeting between Tsvangirai and Pohamba.
Facing attacks at home from Zanu PF and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC, Tsvangirai is crisscrossing the region trying to convince SADC leaders to convene an extraordinary summit to discuss Zimbabwe and possibly force the parties to agree some election rules.
Tsvangirai, in a coalition with Mugabe and Ncube since 2009, fears the Zanu PF leader is preparing to call elections in June before agreement can be reached on a raft of reforms his party insists on including the issuing of licences to “truly independent” radio stations.
South Africa’s Zuma, who took over the mediation on behalf of SADC from his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, told Tsvangirai during their meeting that he would be travelling to Zimbabwe soon for talks with the main parties.
Tsvangirai is expected back in Harare on Sunday.
Labels: HAGE GEINGOB, HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, LIBERATION, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NAMIBIA, SWAPO
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Namibia mourns Mama Betty
September 26, 2012
By CLAVER MUTINTA
BETTY Kaunda was amongst Freedom Fighters recognised during the Africa Freedom Day celebrations.
NAMIBIAN President Hifikepunye Pohamba has sent a message of condolences to former President Kenneth Kaunda following the death of his wife, Betty, last week.
Mr Pohamba says he learnt with shock and deep sorrow of the sudden passing of Mama Betty.
“The sudden departure of Madam Betty Kaunda robs you personally and the family of a beloved companion, a caring mother and grandmother,” he said.
He said the death of Mama Betty equally constitutes “a great loss to the fraternal of people of Zambia and many friends abroad whom she treated with compassion over the years, including many of Namibians hosted in Zambia during the struggle for national liberation.”
Mr Pohamba conveyed his deepest sympathies on behalf of his government, people of Namibia, and his family to Dr Kaunda and the people of Zambia.
“May you be strengthened and consoled as you deal with this difficult time of mourning, in the knowledge that she served with humility and kindness until her final hour,” he said.
And former President of Namibia Sam Nujoma says he learnt about the death of Mama Betty with utmost grief and profound distress.
He said Mama Betty, Dr Kaunda and other revolutionaries played a pivotal role in the liberation of Africa.
Mr Nujoma said together with Dr Kaunda, Mama Betty dedicated her life to dismantling the apartheid regime in South Africa and total liberation of Africa.
“In this regard, a tribute to Comrade Mama Betty Kaunda will be incomplete without reference to the role she played in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and the white South Africa colonial regime in Namibia,” he said.
He said Mama Betty will be remembered by the current and future generations of Zambian nationals, African continent and beyond as a fearless freedom fighter and an indefatigable liberator.
He said Namibia remains indebted to the government and people of Zambia for their “unflinching and unwavering support during the armed liberation struggle”.
Labels: BETTY KAUNDA, HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, OBITUARIES
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Sadc summit opens in Luanda, Tsvangirai uninvited
Posted by By Our reporter at 17 August, at 19 : 00 PM
THE 31st Ordinary Session of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) opened in the Angolan capital, Luanda Wednesday amid calls for the immediate and serious implementation of programmes that overcome challenges facing the region. President Robert Mugabe is among the 10 heads of state and vice presidents in attendance.
His delegation travelled to Luanda earlier and it includes Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Defence Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa; Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa; Regional Integration and Cooperation Minister, Priscilla Misishairambwi-Mushonga; Trade and Industry Minister, Professor Welshman Ncube; Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara and the Minister of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development, Nicholas Goche, among others.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is also in Luanda as an ordinary citizen of the region. No invitation was extended to him as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
NGO activists from Zimbabwe were also barred from the summit.
The leaders were in closed session on the opening day and Zimbabwe was not on the agenda, as expected by anti Zanu-PF activists.
Some MDC-T and Zimbabwean NGO activists were earlier detained by Angolan authorities as they entered Luanda. Their documents were also seized for investigation.
Sadc faces an uphill task of tackling poverty, disease, high unemployment rates as well as other economic challenges.
It is against this backdrop that the regional leaders, among them President Robert Mugabe are meeting to chart the way forward in addressing these problems.
The summit is being held under the theme, ‘Development of infrastructure towards regional integration,’ to emphasise the importance of sound communication networks, road links, power as well as roads and railways in the coordination and movement of goods and services in an integrated Sadc.
In his opening remarks, Sadc Executive Secretary, Tomaz Augusto Salamao paid tribute to Angola as the host of the summit and a founding member of the grouping which has seen significant improvements in national savings, growth in GDPs and revenue following the impact of recession in the developed north.
Officially opening the summit, outgoing Chairperson, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, challenged leaders attending the summit to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing the sub-region, among them rising internal conflicts, famine and droughts as well as HIV and AIDS.
President Pohamba said African resources should be channelled towards alleviating the situations in Somalia, Madagascar and other countries.
The Namibian President handed over the Sadc Chairmanship to this year’s host, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who will be at the helm until the next Heads of State and Government summit in 2012.
The incoming Sadc Chairman outlined the progress that his country and Sadc have made towards integration and the reconstruction of infrastructure following the protracted war in his country.
AU Commission Chairman, Dr Jean Ping saluted Sadc’s fast pace towards regional integration which is fast merging with the East African Community (EAC) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) economic regions, saying this will see the eventual realisation of the Abuja Treaty, which is aimed at establishing a united African economic block.
Former Botswana President, Festas Mogae, who is now Chairman of the Committee of Champions on the fight against HIV and AIDS, spoke about the progress that Southern Africa has made in reducing HIV and AIDS prevalence and warned that despite the reduction, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest figure of people living with the virus.
Among the items on the agenda are the Sadc Tribunal, the Sadc budget and the African Union Commission post of chairman where Sadc is standing behind former South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and now Minister of Home Affairs, Mrs Nkosazana Dhlamini Zuma as candidate for the chairmanship.
On the Sadc Tribunal, the judges whose terms were not renewed at the last Windhoek Extraordinary Summit, are challenging their termination of jobs, saying the summit has no power over them and that their mandate should be continued.
Sources say that the challenge by the judges has exposed the need for Sadc to ensure that the body funds its own programmes and organs to ensure that they are not hijacked by western imperialistic forces that have a regime change agenda in the region.
Labels: HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SADC
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End sanctions now, say liberation movements
Friday, 12 August 2011 02:00
By Robert Mukondiwa in WINDHOEK, Namibia
LEADERS of liberation movements that brought independence to southern Africa yesterday demanded that the West lifts its illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe which have crippled the economy and hurt the ordinary man.
In a joint communiqué released after their one-day meeting here, the liberation movements said:
"The Heads of former liberation movements reiterate their call for the immediate and unconditional removal of the inhuman and illegal economic sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe."
It was signed by representatives of the African National Congress of South Africa, MPLA of Angola, Chama Chama Pinduzi of Tanzania, Frelimo of Mozambique, Zimbabwe's Zanu PF and Swapo of Namibia.
These are the parties that brought liberation to their respective countries and ushered in majority rule and democratic institutions.
The EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe at the behest of former coloniser Britain and its ally, the United States, in a bid to boost their quest for illegal regime change in Zimbabwe through economic hard- ships.
The West wants to take advantage of puppet regimes to plunder African economies.
Western countries working in cahoots with MDC-T have insisted on maintaining the illegal sanctions regime on Zimbabwe.
Leaders of the liberation movements condemned such subversive acts describing them as economic sabotage.
Host president Cde Hifikepunye Pohamba, leader of Swapo, reminded all parties that the ideals of the liberation struggles waged should never be forgotten.
Cde Mugabe represented Zanu-PF in his capacity as its President and First Secretary.
He was accompanied by the party's secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa, Cde Stan Mudenge and Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.
President Pohamba, in his opening remarks, singled out the need to continue pushing towards indigenous ownership of natural resources as this would pull African populations out of poverty.
"The struggle against colonialism was not only aimed at achieving political freedom and restoration of the dignity of the African people, but it was also about gaining access to the means of production such as land, gaining the right to benefit from the natural resources that our countries are endowed with and providing opportunities for our people to access public services and social amenities, which they have been denied for centuries," said Cde Pohamba.
He said the right to determine how African resources are governed lies solely in the hands of Africans.
"With the attainment of freedom and independence, we have become masters of our own destiny. Thus, it is entirely up to us to determine the trajectory of social and economic development that our countries should take," he said.
Cde Pohamba said the meetings should serve as a constant reminder of the arduous and bloody road that led to this freedom the region was enjoying.
"One of the main objectives (of these meetings) is the need to keep alive the ideals that thousands of our comrades shed their precious blood and sacrificed their lives for during the struggle against colonialism and apartheid in our region," he said.
The meeting of leaders of the liberation movements will become a "family" tradition of like-minded revolutionary parties in the Sadc region.
This years' summit is the second one following the inaugural summit held in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in May last year.
Other leaders who attended the summit include Tanzanian President Cde Jakaya Kikwete representing Chama Chama Pinduzi, Gwede Mantashe representing South Africa's ANC for which he is secretary-general and leaders of Angola's MPLA and Mozambique's Frelimo.
President Mugabe was hailed for rekindling the spirit of the liberation movements and advocating that they walk and speak with one voice, something that delegates at the meeting were expected to endorse and adopt.
Said Cde Pohamba; "It is important that we speak with a united voice and also harmonise our approaches to the issues affecting our region and our continent."
Labels: FRELIMO, HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Liberation movements forge closer Sadc links
Saturday, 13 August 2011 02:00
Jakaya Kikwete
SOUTHERN Africa's former liberation movements have resolved to meet on the sidelines of annual Sadc summits, a development that will see the parties return to the centre of activities of the bloc they created.
Since they started meeting in Tanzania in 2010, their meetings have been held a week before the Sadc summit and now the region's two most important dates on the political calendar could merge as of 2012.
This was resolved at the second summit of leaders of MPLA (Angola), ANC (South Africa), Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Tanzania), Frelimo (Mozambique), Swapo (Namibia) and Zanu-PF (Zimbabwe) in Windhoek on Thursday. Zambia's UNIP was not represented for as yet unclear reasons.
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* End sanctions now, say liberation movements
Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is also the president of the ruling Swapo, chaired the meeting.
In attendance were Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Zanu-PF leaders President Jakaya Kikwete and President Mugabe.
Frelimo secretary-general Cde Filipe Chimoio Paunde, his ANC counterpart Cde Gwede Mantashe and Chama Cha Mapinduzi secretary-general Cde Wilson Mukama represented their parties.
Representing MPLA was Cde Alberto de Almeda, the party's vice president.
The first such meeting was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in May last year.
Speaking yesterday on arrival from Windhoek, President Mugabe said the liberation movements wanted to strengthen their relations in fighting the enemy.
"We had revolutionary parties trying to get together as much as possible so that what we fought for should be seen in governance. We need to preserve what we fought for and the right to self-determination and we need to stand strong. We wanted to discuss heritage, which yesterday amounted to the means we used to get independence, get together so that governments can stand together and defend each other," President Mugabe said.
He said the Frontline States had given birth to such bodies as Sadc whose liberation movements helped in the attainment of independence.
"What we have here are liberation units that were not Frontline States, but were born out of the Frontline States. It is because of their efforts that we got independence and for us to get independence we had to organise our people in the armed struggle," he said.
President Mugabe also slammed the West, adding they should stop poking their noses in Zimbabwe's affairs.
"We are saying you have enough problems in your countries. Don't poke your noses in our affairs. Sanctions should be removed. They must go, why must they continue?"
"Who are they the Americans and EU (European Union) to decide where we should go?"
In a communique at the end of the summit, the liberation movements noted that their coming together has its historical basis in the Front Line States, which formed the core of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference that later became Sadc.
"The heads of political parties resolved to hold the summit of heads of the former liberation movements at the sidelines of the Sadc summit," they said.
The meeting was preceded by a meeting of secretaries-general and youth league leaders of the liberation movements.
It was also resolved that the liberation movements collaborate with the African Union and Unesco to establish an African Liberation Heritage, a project the parties want endorsed at the next African Union summit.
The meeting renewed calls for Western countries to remove illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, and in the same vein urged the AU and the United Nations to demand the release of the Cuban Five.
The Cuban Five are a group of patriots who have been imprisoned in the US for years now without recourse to a fair trial.
The Southern African parties also resolved to rally behind the lifting of the 50-year-old US embargo on Cuba.
The UN General Assembly has for some 20 years in a row unanimously called for an end to the embargo but the US has ignored this.
"Heads of former liberation movements reiterate their call for the immediate and unconditional removal of the inhuman and illegal economic sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe," the communiqué reads.
They resolved to "individually and collectively through multilateral forums such as Sadc, AU and UN to demand the release of the Cuban Five and lifting of the inhuman and barbaric sanctions on Cuba by the government of United States of America".
The political leaders agreed to support and broaden the ownership of The Southern Times newspaper, the regional weekly newspaper co-owned by New Era Corporation of Namibia and Zimpapers of Zimbabwe.
Ownership, they noted, should encompass all Southern African liberation movements' governments.
President Pohamba set the tone of the one-day summit by pointing out that the region's history was steeped in the common fight against colonial and foreign occupation.
Former liberation parties should close ranks and fulfill "ideals that thousands of our comrades shed their precious blood and sacrificed their lives for during the struggle against colonialism and apartheid", President Pohamba said.
"The struggle against colonialism was not only aimed at achieving political freedom and restoration of the dignity of the African people, it was also about gaining access to the means of production such as land, gaining the right to benefit from the natural resources that our countries are endowed with, which they have been denied for centuries."
Economic empowerment should be the new battle cry, President Pohamba said.
"We must now struggle, just as hard, if not harder, for economic empowerment of our people."
Political parties should consult and exchange views if they were to remain true to the ideals of freedom, social justice and preservation of human dignity.
Parties should strive to keep alive the ideals that they fought for, said President Pohamba, who alongside Namibia's Founding President Sam Nujoma led Swapo in a 21-year war against the racist and repressive South African apartheid regime.
"We faced a common enemy in the form of colonialism, apartheid and oppression. Today we face a common enemy in the form of poverty, hunger, underdevelopment . . . We should therefore adopt common strategies to confront these challenges with the same determination in order to improve the living conditions of our people," President Pohamba said.
The liberation movements first came together under the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa (PAFMECSA) in 1962.
After the formation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, the continental body ---- through the Liberation Committee led so astutely by Brigadier Hashim Mbita of Tanzania --- took over much of PAFMECSA's work.
To concentrate efforts on Southern Africa's specific needs, the Front Line States came about in the 1970s.
In 1980, they formalised this grouping as SADCC, which transformed into SADC in 1992.
--- Southern Times-Herald Reporters
Labels: HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, LIBERATION, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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Livingstone should not be repeated: Pohamba
Sunday, 19 June 2011 00:16 Top Stories
Sunday Mail Reporter
NAMIBIAN President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is also the chairman of Sadc, has said the procedural irregularities that characterised the controversial Organ Troika Summit on Zimbabwe that was held in Livingstone, Zambia, on March 31 should not be repeated in future.
President Pohamba said this last week at the Extraordinary Sadc Summit on Zimbabwe in Sandton, South Africa, on the sidelines of the tripartite summit on the establishment of the Africa Free Trade Zone intended to bring together Sadc, Comesa and the East African Community (EAC).
The Namibian President’s call for the regional body not to repeat the Livingstone fiasco was made after the facilitator of Zimbabwe’s political dialogue between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations, President Jacob Zuma, had admitted to the Sandton summit that there had been mishaps and lapses in preparation of the Livingstone Organ Troika Summit.
The SA leader said the irregularities were largely caused by the unfortunate fact that only one side, Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T, submitted its one-sided views on the political situation in Zimbabwe with no commentary or submission from other parties.
What made President Pohamba’s call stand out and permeate the spirit of the summit was that it came after Sadc had taken a tough stance against Western-imposed leaders or political parties in the region during its unanticipated long and highly charged debate on the report about the situation in Madagascar that was presented by former Mozambican leader Joaquim Chissano, the Madagascar facilitator.
Some of the recommendations in Cde Chissano’s report on Madagascar were either rejected or amended by the summit in a manner that set the tone for the discussion on Zimbabwe.
In its sensational submission ahead of the Livingstone summit, the MDC-T had falsely claimed that President Mugabe had lost power to an alleged silent coup by unnamed so-called securocrats who are allegedly accountable only to themselves and who are alleged to be waging political violence to intimidate and harass alleged political opponents.
These allegations were resolutely denied by various national and international authorities and have been proven to be cheap political propaganda from the MDC-T and its UK, US and EU handlers designed to misinform, mislead and inflame Sadc in the hope of corrupting elections that are due this year in terms of the GPA.
In presenting his Livingstone report to the Sandton summit which turned out to be a sanitised version without any of the false or controversial elements that had been linked to it by the regime change media soon after the Livingstone summit, President Zuma openly admitted that all had not been well with Livingstone and assured his colleagues that as facilitator “in future I will not go to any summit without first talking to all parties to the GPA and getting their views”.
This welcome assurance by President Zuma prompted the chair of the Sandton summit, President Pohamba, to declare emphatically that “Livingstone must not be repeated because of the undeniable procedural irregularities that surrounded it.”
These irregularities had the effect of making the Livingstone summit a one-sided affair in favour of MDC-T as the only party that had presented unchallenged yet false submissions.
It is against this background that the Sandton summit noted the Livingstone report without taking a position on it one way or the other.
The firm commitment by Sadc not to repeat Livingstone was evident not only in the Sandton summit but also just before it when President Zuma requested a one-on-one with President Mugabe.
The meeting held in Pretoria lasted a good three hours, during which the two leaders held a cordial and mutually respectful discussion which went beyond the controversy of Livingstone by focusing on ways through which SA can support President Mugabe’s recently launched initiative to uplift Bulawayo.
Even more reassuring was President Zuma’s offer to help Zimbabwe to sidestep and overcome the illegal Western-imposed economic sanctions in concrete ways that those familiar with the initiative say are certain to give new impetus to President Mugabe’s anti-sanctions campaign.
Unlike in Livingstone which President Pohamba said should not be repeated, the Sandton summit tackled the sanctions issue head-on.
Ambassador Tuliameni Kalomoh from Namibia tabled a report on Sadc efforts to have the illegal sanctions removed in which he revealed that the US had officially indicated that it will not lift the sanctions because “as The Sunday Mail reported two weeks ago”, the MDC-T repeatedly asked the US to keep and expand the sanctions as the only viable tool to effect illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.
Embarrassed by the official disclosure by Ambassador Kalomoh at the Sandton summit, PM Tsvangirai reacted by claiming that he had previously joined President Mugabe and DPM Professor Arthur Mutambara to publicly call for the “easing” of the sanctions. Mr Tsvangirai said Ambassador Kalomoh’s team should have advised the US government accordingly.
But Ambassador Kalomoh responded by saying that he was merely reporting what the US government had officially said and that it was not his responsibility or that of his team to explain or justify anything on Mr Tsvangirai’s behalf.
The Sunday Mail has since established that the repeated MDC-T communication asking the US to keep and even expand the economic sanctions was coming from the party’s secretary-general, Mr Tendai Biti, who has allegedly been abusing his portfolio as Finance Minister to sabotage the national economy when he is supposed to champion its recovery by campaigning against the illegal economic sanctions.
Last week, Minister Biti refused to sign the national anti-sanctions petition under the spurious claim that it is a Zanu-PF project when everybody knows that the anti-sanctions policy is enshrined in the GPA and guaranteed by Sadc.
With the ghost of Livingstone having been exorcised in Sandton, observers say that the forthcoming annual Sadc summit in Angola will be interesting to watch if Livingstone is indeed never to be repeated.-The Sunday Mail
Labels: HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, SABOTAGE, SADC, SANCTIONS, TENDAI BITI, TREASON, ZDERA
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Summit dissolves Tribunal
Friday, 20 May 2011 22:36
From Munyaradzi Huni in WINDHOEK, Namibia
THE Sadc Tribunal was dissolved at the regional grouping's extraordinary summit here yesterday with leaders tasking Jus-tice Ministers to reconstitute the tribunal to give it a new mandate. Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mbengegwi said: "We are very happy because we have fought for this decision for a very long time.
"So today we have completely and totally dissolved the tribunal." The tribunal was suspended last August pending proper reconstitution this year.
This came in the wake of complaints and objections raised by Zimbabwe over its rulings that sought to nullify the revolutionary land reform programme laun-ched by the Government at the turn of the millennium.
Some white former commercial farmers took their cases to the tribunal in a bid to reverse the land reform programme after the State acquired their farms for redistribution to the landless majority.
The tribunal subsequently courted controversy when it passed judgments that contravened Zimbabwe's constitutional position on land reform.
Government made it clear that it was not bound by the rulings as the tribunal's constituting treaty had not been ratified by two-thirds of Sadc members as required.
Zimbabwe is among 10 countries that had not ratified the protocol that seeks to give the tribunal force.
Zimbabwe's position was backed at an Extraordinary Sadc Summit in Pretoria, South Africa, in August 2008 where leaders resolved that the tribunal's standing be reviewed.
The review was not forthcoming, forcing the summit to restate its position when it convened in Kinshasa, DRC, last year.
Meanwhile, Sadc chairman President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia deferred discussion on the political situation in Zimbabwe to next month.
He said the issue would now be dealt with on the sidelines of the Comesa-Sadc-EAC Tripartite meeting in South Africa next month.
This followed an invitation by President Pohamba to chairman of the Troika, Zambian leader President Rupiah Banda, to make submissions on Zimbabwe.
President Banda said it would not be meaningful to discuss Zimbabwe in the absence of the facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma. The move was seconded by Mozambi-que.
However, Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama wanted the discussion to continue without the facilitator.
He said there were disturbing reports that came out from the Livingstone Su-mmit and he wanted the chairman of the Troika to brief them on what transpired.
Sources said President Mugabe then took the floor and agreed with President Banda to defer the issue.
President Mugabe reportedly said Zimbabwe had a strong view on the whole matter, particularly what happened in Livingstone.
The sources quoted President Mugabe as having said: "To us Livingstone is a bombshell, there were serious inaccuracies."
He also said Zimbabwe supported the postponement, saying other parties to the Global Political Agreement were absent.
"We will not want them to think that we are waylaying them," President Mugabe was quoted as saying.
Labels: HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, LAND REFORM, SADC
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Sadc summons US envoy over Zim sanctions
By: TH-TZG
Posted: Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:27 am
NAMIBIA, in its capacity as Sadc chair, recently summoned the American ambassador in Windhoek to explain why her country continued to impose illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, it has emerged.
Speaking to The Herald newspaper at the Harare International Airport yesterday morning, Namibia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Utoni Nujoma, said Windhoek had done this in its capacity as Sadc chair and as a fellow opponent of imperialism.
Minister Nujoma said Windhoek had summoned Ambassador Gail Dennise Mathieu to express their displeasure over the economic embargo.
He said: "From our side as the chair of Sadc, we have called in the ambassador of the United States of America to tell her the Sadc position and that of Namibia that these sanctions must go now."
At the Sadc Summit in Namibia in August, regional leaders mandated Sadc chair President Hifikepunye Pohamba and the Troika chaired by President Rupiah Banda of Zambia to lobby Western powers to remove their ruinous sanctions.
To this end, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma — who is the deputy chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security — has already told the European Union and the United States to lift their sanctions.
Minister Nujoma added that the illegal Western sanctions were affecting the whole region and Sadc leaders should expeditiously lobby the international community for their removal.
He said: "An important decision was made during the Sadc Summit in Namibia in July that these illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe must go because they have a contagion effect on Southern Africa countries.
"Because of these sanctions, the Heads of State and Government decided that the chairman of Sadc (President Pohamba) and chairman of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, President (Rupiah) Banda of Zambia, and his deputy should undertake a trip to the Western countries; to go to the United Kingdom, the European Union and also to the United States of America and tell them that time has come for these sanctions to go."
He said the Organ was responsible for organising the principals’ itinerary.
Minister Nujoma, who was in Zimbabwe at the invitation of his counterpart, Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, as part of efforts to boost bilateral ties, left yesterday.
"I also came here to discuss issues to do with peace and security in the region. We still have problems in Madagascar and we are still trying to solve that issue.
"There are still some pockets of problems in the DRC and we are working with President Joseph Kabila.
"We discussed issues of food security in Zimbabwe and in the region.
"We agreed the only way to solve the problems in Zimbabwe is the removal of the economic sanctions."
Minister Mumbengegwi thanked Namibia for offering Zimbabwe use of a facility at Walvis Bay harbour.
"Namibia has sacrificed a lot for Zimbabwe. During the time of the cholera epidemic, they did a lot for this country.
"Zesa and Nampower entered into a deal where Namibia gave us US$40 million to rehabilitate our systems.
"Not many countries are able to come and assist a sister state when in trouble," he said.
Also at the airport was Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu.
Labels: GAIL DENISE MATHIEU, HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, SADC, SANCTIONS, UTONI NUJOMA, ZDERA
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Pohamba calls for lifting of sanctions against Zim
Mutsawashe Makuvise
Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:45:00 +0000
NAMIBIAN President Hifikepunye Pohamba has called for an immediate lifting of sanctions of Zimbabwe by Western countries after the historic signing of a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC faction leader Prof Arthur Mutambara
Describing the deal as “a success” the Namibian leader, who celebrated his 73rd birthday last month, said there “is no more reason to have the sanctions” as the speeches delivered at the signing ceremony proved that all the leaders were committed to achieving peace and stability in the country.
“It is now up to Western countries to lift (the) sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe with immediate effect because the reasons they imposed those sanctions on are no longer there."
He also hailed the deal as a success for African diplomacy and praised the Southern African Development Community mandated facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, for his sterling efforts at brokering a deal between the rival parties.
"The deal is a success for the people of Zimbabwe, Sadc and Africa. Without the assistance from outside, they have found a solution," Pohamba, who attended the historic signing ceremony on Monday, was quoted as saying by Windhoek’s New Era newspaper.
The Namibian government led by the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) has been steadfast in its support of the Zimbabwean government dating back to the liberation war time..
Swapo’s party Secretary-General, Pendukeni Livula-Ithana, said the unity deal provides the opportunity for the country to move forward and also called for the lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean Ambassador to Namibia, Chipo Zindoga, in an interview with te same newspaper “expressed joy over what transpired in her country.”
Zindoga was said to have called on the international community to support the development and reconstruction of Zimbabwe “even those that had reservations on what was happening in that country.”
"We need assistance that will ensure that Zimbabwe grows into a useful member of society," she said, adding that Zimbabwe will need assistance in terms of agricultural resources as the rainy and ploughing season draw near.
"We want everybody to be supportive. We have to utilise land that we claimed back," she said.
"We look forward to the day the sanctions will be removed. This is the will of the people, unless they have different agenda," she said.
WESTERN RESPONSE TO UNITY DEAL
Meanwhile, Western response to the signing of the unity deal has not been favourable.
The US and the EU said on Tuesday, a day after the official signing ceremony, that there will be no immediate end to sanctions on Zimbabwe.
EU foreign ministers said the measures would continue “until the new government took steps to restore democracy.”
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a decision on lifting sanctions on Zimbabwean officials had been postponed until October.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer said that Washington wanted to help Zimbabwe, but would need to see proof that President Mugabe had relinquished “some genuine power to Mr Tsvangirai”.
Australia's foreign minister says sanctions against Zimbabwe will not be lifted, despite the signing of a historic power-sharing deal by the leaders of the African nation.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday that sanctions would be reviewed depending on human rights progress and social and economic reconstruction.
Smith welcomed the agreement signed Monday by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as "modest progress."
Labels: HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, NAMIBIA, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE
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