(NEWZIMBABWE) Delays polls by two-weeks, SADC tells Mugabe
15/06/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter I Agencies
Elections on July 31: Mugabe
REGIONAL leaders meeting at a special summit on Zimbabwe want President Robert Mugabe to delay crucial elections set for the end of July by at least two weeks.
"The summit acknowledged the ruling of the constitutional court on the election date and it will be respected," Tomaz Salomao, Secretary General of SADC, said after the one-day meeting.
"What the summit recommended was, in recognizing that there was a need for more time, that the government of Zimbabwe engage the constitutional court to ask for more time beyond the deadline of July 31."
The Crisis Coalition, an alliance of Zimbabwean pro-democracy and rights groups in the Mozambique capital, said a summit communique was being prepared that would urge Mugabe to ask the country’s highest court to rescind a ruling ordering him to hold elections by July 31.
Mugabe was asked to seek at least a two-week extension of the ruling and hold polls not before August 14, the group said.
Commenting on the development MDC legal affairs secretary and education Minister David Colart said on Tweeter: “There are three reasons why SADC resolution is critically important; Firstly, it is a victory for the respect for the rule of law and the new Constitution;
"Secondly, it means that voter registration and roll inspection can be completed before nomination day and, thirdly, it constitutes a major political faux pas by Zanu PF hardliners and will be damaging and embarrassing.”
The official communique has not yet been formally released. No confirmation was immediately available from the secretariat of southern Africa’s political and economic bloc, known as Southern Africa Development Community, or SADC.
No comment was given by Mugabe or his delegation.
MacDonald Lewanika, the Crisis Coalition director, said in a Twitter feed from the Maputo convention centre that regional leaders agreed the election “is not time-driven but process driven” and more time was needed finalise preparations and voting reforms.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Friday that Mugabe’s unilateral proclamation of the July 31 election date breached terms of the power sharing agreement forged by regional leaders after the last violent and disputed elections in 2008. That agreement required the coalition partners to agree on policy decisions and the holding of elections, he said.
Tsvangirai, in a shaky coalition with Mugabe, said democratic reforms also demanded in a new constitution and by mediators ensuring free and fair polls cannot be completed by July.
Polls after August 14 would clash with one of the world’s largest tourism gatherings, the United Nations World Travel Organisation summit, that Zimbabwe is set to host on August 24.
South Africa President Jacob Zuma, the chief regional mediator on Zimbabwe, started closed-door talks with Mugabe, Tsvangirai and other regional leaders earlier Saturday, officials said.
Zuma said in a statement the leaders were to consider “a roadmap” to elections in Zimbabwe. But a top Mugabe party official told South African state radio Saturday the summit will only seek financial help from the region to fund polls in July.
The Crisis Coalition said at the beginning of the talks that early elections risked not being recognized regionally or by Zimbabweans themselves unless reforms are in place and political violence and intimidation are brought to an end.
“Conditions are not ripe for free and fair elections. The security situation is not good ...we want SADC to ensure that violence is stopped and the media is free to report without intimidation,” Lewanika told reporters.
A new constitution, overwhelmingly accepted in a referendum in March, has demanded reforms to sweeping media and security laws along with reforms within Mugabe’s loyalist police and military blamed for state orchestrated violence in previous polls.
None of those reforms have been completed, Tsvangirai’s party says.
Mugabe’s party insists he was abiding by a ruling of the Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest court, ordering him to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of July, linked to the automatic dissolution of the Harare parliament on June 29, the end of its current five year term.
Independent lawyers’ groups say that ruling does not follow provisions in the new constitution and can only be rescinded by the same court on an application from Mugabe.
Continuing amendments to electoral laws called for in the constitution and by regional leaders were effectively blocked by Mugabe’s announcement of the poll date on Thursday, said Veritas, a legal research group.
Mozambique President Armando Guebuza, current chair of the regional grouping, said earlier Saturday that Zuma was scheduled to have presented a report to the one-day summit on Zimbabwe’s readiness for elections.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), TOMAZ SALOMAO
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Sadc upholds Zimbabwe constitutional court ruling
This article was written by Our reporter on 16 June, at 00 : 12 AM
The regional economic and political bloc, the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) Special Summit on Zimbabwe has ended in Maputo, Mozambique, this Saturday evening.
Sadc leaders at the summit resolved not to interfere with the Constitutional Court ruling which declared that harmonised elections should be held not later that the 31st of July.
The regional body accepted that the Constitutional Court ruling is binding.
“The summit acknowledged the ruling of the constitutional court on the election date and it will be respected,” Tomaz Salomao, Secretary General of Sadc, said after the one-day meeting.
“It also agreed on the need for Zimbabwe to engage the Constitutional Court to seek more time beyond July 31,” added Salomao.
The official communique has not yet been formally released. No confirmation was immediately available from the secretariat of Sadc, but it is expected on Sunday (today).
The internet has been awash with unofficial ‘wishlists’ which have been passed off as Sadc communiques.
The special summit was attended by Sadc heads of states including President Robert Mugabe, leaders of the MDC formations, and leaders of non-governmental organisations.
Speaking to journalists in Maputo soon after the summit ended, President Robert Mugabe said his partners in the inclusive Government are afraid of elections and fear defeat, hence the move to try and delay the elections under the guise of the so-called reforms.
MDC-T party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, wants elections to be carried out in September.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe has arrived back home from Mozambique this Saturday evening.
He was welcomed at the Harare International Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru and several senior government officials.
Incoming search terms:
* Sadc upholds Zimbabwe constitutional court ruling
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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This is time for Africa!
By Editor
Wed 29 May 2013, 14:00 CAT
Tomaz Salomao, secretary general of the Southern Africa Development Community, says African states should exert their efforts in implementing clear independent strategies of managing domestic affairs away from reliance on regional integration or external intervention for development.
Salomao emphasises the need for African states to concentrate on mobilising their domestic resources for development. And he further observes that our so-called co-operating partners "are here in Africa to deal with their own business".
When Che Guevara was asked by Mrs Josie Fanon in an interview that was published on December 26, 1964 about what road of development was best suited for the African countries, he responded: "If my advice were asked, or rather my opinion, as Cuban Minister of Industry, I would say simply that a country beginning to develop itself must, in the first period, work, above all at organisation, and that one should approach the practical problems by 'using your own head'.
This may seem to be an abstract and rather vague opinion but it is something very important… It may be necessary at times to set up small plants requiring a lot of workers and offering jobs for many unemployed, rather than highly mechanised enterprises employing a reduced number of workers. In certain cases, a sector must be rapidly mechanised; in other cases, this is not necessary.
In fact, in a country on the road to development, most problems involve agriculture and extractive industries, but it is quite evident that these problems are posed in a different way in each country, and that one must pay attention above all to particular realities. That is why it is impossible to give a general formula that could be applied to all the African countries."
Che was not opposed to aid but emphasised the need for vigilance on this score: "There are also other positive aspects: the present possibilities of much more rapid development for African countries that even a few years ago due to the aid which some of the capitalist countries can likewise provide under certain conditions. But on this point, we must be vigilant." That was Che in 1964.
We should stand for self-reliance. We should hope for foreign aid but we should not be dependent on it; we should depend on our own efforts, on the creative power of our people; on our own strength, and that means regeneration through our own efforts. We should rely on the things we ourselves can organise.
We stand for regional integration but it must be regional integration based on integrating our strengths while clearing away our weaknesses. We have a pressing need to unite. We think that the correct strategy is to unite and regionally integrate. But this, as Salomao has correctly observed, does not take away our responsibility to manage and develop our individual countries in the most efficient and effective way. If we ignore this, we will be running in circles. The political leaders who fail to see this will have to answer to history for it. We hope they will accept their responsibility, understand the problem, state it in correct terms in order to solve it and move our countries forward.
We must choose concrete, realistic and definitive solutions - not take the path of agony. We must choose a clear, intelligent, effective solution - not head toward Calvary.
We think we have been struggling uphill for long enough. We have suffered not only the torment of Calvary but also that of Sisyphus, who had to keep pushing a boulder up a hill and every time he was about to reach the top, it would roll back down, and he would have to start all over again.
Our situation is worse than Calvary because Calvary was climbed quickly; we have been climbing our hill for a long time, and we keep on having to start over. Calvary is preferable to Sisyphus' torment, and if we have had our Calvary, we should also have a resurrection.
What we want is to find a real solution to the problem, but what will happen is that others will try to prevent the implementation of those things that would move our countries and our people forward; they will divide the people; they will give a little aid here and there so that each will remain his own Calvary - and not even a Calvary, but with the agonising torture of pushing the boulder up a never-ending hill. But one day, the peoples are going to demand, 'How much longer do we have to put up with these conditions?' And then they will find solutions.
We prefer an orderly solution; internal and external unity; and a real, definitive solution for the problems of dependence and underdevelopment.
Let each country handle its issues in a way that best suits its democratic process and the solution of its most pressing economic problems. Generalised prescriptions that have been imposed on our countries have not achieved much. As Salomao has correctly observed, "we need to have long-term visions on how to do this".
We need to exert ourselves that much more, and break out of the vicious cycle of dependence imposed on us by the financially powerful; those in command of immense market power and those who dare to fashion the world in their own image. We are perfectly capable of deciding upon our own future form of government, discovering and ourselves dealing with any dangers which might arise.
Africans are eager and willing to be among the very best in all areas of human endeavour.
Our renaissance is at hand - and our challenge is to steer our continent through the tide of history.
As it is said, it would be a cruel irony of history if our actions to regenerate our continent were to unleash a new scramble for Africa which, like that of the nineteenth century, plundered our continent's wealth and left it once more the poorer.
And as we try to redeem and work for the regeneration of our continent, we should be conscious of the fact that the African renaissance can only succeed as part of the development of a new and equitable world order in which our marginalised continent takes its rightful place and becomes a maker of history rather than the possession of others. This is time for Africa!
Labels: DAVIDSON CHILIPAMUSHI, REGIONAL INTEGRATION, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Nothing wrong with regional integration - Chilipamushi
By Kabanda Chulu
Wed 29 May 2013, 14:00 CAT
THERE is nothing wrong in embracing regional integration strategies in pursuance of economic development, says economist Davidson Chilipamushi.
Commenting on the statement by SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao that African states should exert their efforts in implementing clear independent strategies of managing domestic affairs away from reliance on regional integration, Chilipamushi, who is a former permanent secretary at ministry of commerce, trade and industry, yesterday said weaker economies should maximise benefits from regional economic cooperations.
"In my opinion, embracing regional integration is a step in the right direction, for example, Europe realised the importance of this strategy and started the process of integration because the benefits are many," Chilipamushi said.
"But in Africa, we are still far from getting benefits associated with regional integration because in each of the regions on the continent there is one or two dominant economies which doesn't work to the advantage of smaller economies."
He advised that smaller economies should be assisted to address structural rigidities that affect the whole process of regional economic integration.
"We need to move towards regional integration and for weaker economies to get maximum benefits from this process they should be helped to address their inadequacies in transport, communication, research development, technological capacity, among other factors," said Chilipamushi.
Dr Salomão last week said African states should exert their efforts in implementing clear independent strategies of managing domestic affairs away from reliance on regional integration or external intervention for development.
He said it was the sum of these efforts of different member states that would consolidate and strengthen integration to make it more beneficial.
Dr Salomão was responding to a question on what benefits member-states were accruing from the annual a thousand-dollar subscription to AU beyond the dream of liberalization of fellow countries, which has now almost been achieved.
He said implementation of long-term national visions and ensuring lasting peace was key for all member states of AU.
Labels: DAVIDSON CHILIPAMUSHI, REGIONAL INTEGRATION, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Elections can go ahead: SADC
26/05/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THE conclusion of the constitutional reform process means the country can now hold fresh elections to choose a substantive government, the regional SADC grouping has said.
SADC leaders held an extra-ordinary summit to discuss Madagascar, DRC and Zimbabwe on the sidelines of the African Union general assembly in the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting the grouping’s executive secretary, Tomaz Salamao said: ‘‘The summit took note that the constitution making process has been endorsed by parliament ... it is time to put our minds as a region and support Zimbabwe to hold elections.
"Our position as Sadc is that the Constitution was concluded and the next step is the election, whether it’s held within one month, two months, three months or the next six months, it is up to those with the powers to decide.
“We are waiting to hear the ruling of the Supreme Court, and as Sadc we will be there to support . . . We are basically waiting for the announcement of the day of the election so that we move this process forward.”
Last week the Supreme Court reserved judgement in a case in which a Harare man wants President Robert Mugabe to be compelled to name an election date before the end of Parliament on June 29.
SADC intervened to facilitate the formation of the unity government after the violent 2008 elections and has helped the coalition parties negotiate various reforms and map out a so-called roadmap to new polls.
A new Constitution was one of the key reforms agreed under the coalition deal.
President Robert Mugabe signed the new charter into law last week paving the way for new polls to be held although the parties remain miles apart over the exact timing of the vote.
Mugabe wants the polls to immediately follow the end of Parliament on June 29 while the MDC parties are pushing for a delay to facilitate the implementation of further reforms.
MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai recently toured the region to urge SADC to call a summit and help ensure reforms he says were agreed as part of the coalition deal are fully implemented.
It was not clear whether the Addis meeting was connected to the MDC-T leader’s diplomatic campaign which was derided and dismissed as a failure by rivals back home.
Tsvangirai cancelled travel plans to the AU summit after his wife was taken ill, officials said at the weekend.
Meanwhile SADC Troika chairperson and Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete said he did not see any reason why the elections could not go ahead.
‘‘Why not? There is progress; we are hopeful, there is progress. We have to keep our fingers crossed for the next hurdle,” he said.
“We have made progress with the referendum. It went on very well and now there are preparations for the next election.’’
Labels: ELECTIONS, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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SADC urges implementation of national policies
By Kombe Chimpinde in Addis Ababa
Fri 24 May 2013, 14:00 CAT
COMMENT - Maybe the MDC and MMD are listening. - Mrk
SOUTHERN African Development Community secretary general Tomaz Salomão says African states should exert their efforts in implementing clear independent strategies of managing domestic affairs away from reliance on regional integration or external intervention for development.
He said it was the sum of these efforts of different member states that would consolidate and strengthen integration to make it more beneficial.
Dr Salomão was responding to a question on what benefits member-states were accruing from the annual a thousand-dollar subscription to AU beyond the dream of liberalisation of fellow countries, which has now been achieved.
He said implementation of long term national visions and ensuring lasting peace was key for all member states of AU.
"We need to have a long term view, whether it is at national, regional or continental level," Dr Salomão said. "Today we are celebrating 50 years of AU, you look back, you take stock where we failed, where we had lack of clarity on how we managed our affairs and where we succeeded. We need to asses ourselves on how we manage to lift ourselves out of poverty, with better skills, better education, better health, quality of life and economic performance."
He cited an example of conflicts in Africa that continue to retard development of those citizens affected and earn the region a bad perception.
"It is how nationals of each country manage their internal problems. For instance, does AU (some member states) have internal fights? Yes, because we are failing to attend to our domestic problems in an
inclusive manner that is the problem in those countries where you have conflicts," Dr Salomão said.
"That is important to reflect on because there is a problem in how we are attending to our internal problems on those war-torn countries and we need to draw lessons from those errors, to improve,
it does not have anything to do with AU. If the parties concerned in the conflicts are failing to deal with them, AU only has the moral obligation to help and bring the parties together to talk and dialogue."
On how SADC, would fit into the new adopted '2063' vision of AU, which will be launched today and adopted at the 21st summit of heads of states and government, Dr Salomão said SADC was taking stock of the lessons that could be improved upon to develop the Southern African region.
He, however, emphasised the need for African states to concentrate on mobilising their domestic resources for development.
"They (partners) are here in Africa to deal with their own business. We need to have long term visions on how to do this," Dr Salomão said. "I understand and think that African countries have less than 50 years, in fifty years as a nation, you can't do much especially when you take in consideration what we inherited from the past. That is why there isneed for a clear strategy," said Dr Salomão.
Some of the states that are currently marred with internal conflicts are Mali, Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau and Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara), which is still fighting to be independent.
Labels: SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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MDC-T to block draft amendment: Biti
19/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
MDC-T secretary general, Tendai Biti has insisted that his party will block any amendments to the draft constitution and blamed the new impasse over document on President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party.
Last week SADC Executive Secretary Tomas Salomao was optimistic that the new constitution had been agreed to by all parties in Zimbabwe and could go to a referendum in October, thus paving the way for general elections next year.
But that timetable has been thrown into uncertainty by Zanu PF’s demand for further amendments.
Speaking after the weekend SADC summit in Mozambique Mugabe said the GPA principals would consider changes to the draft proposed by Zanu PF.
"The principals have not yet met on the draft constitution," he said.
"As soon as we get home we will be working with the facilitator, and we do hope we can improve that work on the new constitution soon and there will be a referendum before we have fresh elections."
But Biti, who is Finance Minister in the coalition government, told reporters that, as far as both MDC factions are concerned, the constitution was a done deal.
“Three years were spent discussing the constitution,” he pointed out, and the two MDCs did not accept Zanu-PF reopening those discussions. “When the Zanu-PF team negotiated with the MDCs, we assumed they had the authority from their party to do so”.
Biti insisted that the constitution could not be amended here and there, because it all hung together as a coherent whole. He was unsure what the SADC could do to unblock this latest impasse.
Both MDCs wanted the referendum on the constitution to take place in October, Biti said.
He suggested that if there was no longer agreement with Zanu PF, perhaps the simplest thing to do would be to put both texts before the Zimbabwean electorate - the text agreed by negotiators of all three parties and the one Zanu PF is now writing on its own.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, MDC, TENDAI BITI, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Salamao under fire over Zim utterances
Thursday, 11 August 2011 02:00
Herald Reporter
SADC executive secretary Mr Tomaz Salamao has no right to determine policies for the regional bloc as he only serves as an employee of the organisation, Government officials have said. This follows his recent media reports that President Jacob Zuma's mediation role in Zimbabwe was not on the Sadc summit agenda set for Luanda, Angola, next week.
President Zuma, who is the Sadc appointed facilitator to the inter-party dialogue in Zimbabwe, is expected to assume the chairmanship of the Sadc Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Co-operation in Angola. The facilitator reports to the organ on Zimbabwean issues.
Government last week indicated that the summit should consider the possibility of President Zuma playing the two roles.
Mr Salamao immediately responded saying that issue was not on the Luanda summit agenda and there was no problem with President Zuma wearing the two hats.
Ms Lindiwe Zulu, who is a member of President Zuma's facilitation team, concurred with Mr Salamao's assertions.
However, Government sources yesterday said Mr Salamao's remarks were not authoritative because the matter of facilitators is determined at Head of State level.
"Mr Salamao is just an executive secretary and he does not make authoritative decisions on behalf of the bloc. The issue of Zimbabwe's facilitator is for Heads of State to decide on and he (Mr Salamao) should stop causing unnecessary confusion," a Government official said.
"The whole mediation role in Zimbabwe has got a historical anomaly that is inconsistent with Sadc practices when it comes to facilitation roles.
"The Sadc norm on facilitation is to rely on a former Head of State and not a sitting president. It is only the Zimbabwe case that has been subjected to a sitting President."
Another official said Sadc leaders should deal with the matter at the forthcoming summit.
He said the argument that former South African President Thabo Mbeki once served as Sadc chairman while being facilitator in Zimbabwe was invalid.
"That was an anomaly and we cannot use yesterday's anomaly to justify another anomaly today.
"Furthermore, President Mbeki's case is different in that the Troika is an active instrument of engagement whereas Sadc is an occasional office.
"A facilitator is not occasional and in that case we cannot compare President Mbeki's case with that of President Zuma."
Said political analyst Professor Jonathan Moyo: "To say President Zuma should execute the two duties is utter nonsense. Things must be right because of their inherent rationality. He should choose one of the two hats because either way he will still be seized with the Zimbabwean issue.
"The question is which hat should he wear because he cannot wear two because he does not have two heads. President Zuma should choose either to remain as facilitator and allow another head of State to assume the Troika chairmanship.
"Or if he chooses to be the Troika chairman then he should allow another person to take the task of facilitator in Zimbabwe.
"If they insist that he should take the two responsibilities, they will be inviting clear conclusion that there is a sinister agenda. That will create unnecessary tension within the facilitation team and Sadc itself."
He said since 2007, President Mbeki's facilitation role was being challenged by MDC-T and now there was a problem with some officials in President Zuma's office who practised megaphone diplomacy.
"A facilitator must be acceptable to all parties being facilitated. There was controversy right from the beginning with the MDC-T contesting President Mbeki's facilitation role.
"Now it is common cause that there is a problem because of the megaphone approach of the officials in President Zuma's facilitation team as exemplified by the constant noise by Lindiwe Zulu.
"Every time when Zanu-PF holds a meeting, Zulu will comment saying she is doing so on behalf of the facilitator. She comments on everything in Zimbabwe as if Zimbabwe is incident free."
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Zuma to continue Zimbabwe role: SADC
04/08/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A TOP SADC official says attempts by Zanu PF hardliners to sideline South African President Jacob Zuma from his mediation role in Zimbabwe are likely to fail.
Zuma assumes the chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation at the 31st Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Angola later this month, a scenario which Zanu PF officials claim would mean he would be “reporting to himself”. But Tomaz Salamao, the SADC executive secretary, said he was mystified by suggestions that Zuma would be “wearing two hats”.
“In 2008, former South African President Thabo Mbeki chaired SADC while he was still the mediator in the Zimbabwean problem,” Salamao said on Wednesday. “Why does it have to change now? The fact that President Zuma will chair the organ is a mere coincidence; it does not change anything at all.”
Salamao, meanwhile, said any objections Zanu PF has to Zuma’s continued role in the Zimbabwean political dialogue can be formally brought up and be addressed at the summit set for August 17.
Zuma has been publicly attacked by President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF officials who accuse him of giving the MDC factions a wide berth in his reviews of the political process in Zimbabwe, while painting Zanu PF as an impediment to progress.
Zuma’s aides, meanwhile, maintain that his only concern is a free and fair election in Zimbabwe which will bring an end to an uneasy coalition government formed in 2009 following disputed elections.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Zimbabwe off SADC agenda
by Staff Reporter
19/05/2011 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE has been removed from the agenda of a SADC heads of state summit opening in Namibia on Friday at the request of South African President Jacob Zuma, reports said last night.
Instead, Zuma – SADC’s point man on Zimbabwe -- has offered to host a special summit in Pretoria either on June 11 or 20, the Voice of America reported, citing SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao.
The two MDC factions led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry Minister Welshman Ncube confirmed that no invitations had been received from SADC to attend Friday’s summit – the clearest signal that Zimbabwe had been removed from the agenda.
President Robert Mugabe will, however, attend in his official capacity.
Salomao said: “Despite the removal of Zimbabwe from the agenda, the summit will still take place on Friday and Mugabe has indicated he will attend.”
Zuma reportedly pulled out of the summit because he was too busy with the local government elections held on Wednesday.
He was expected to brief regional leaders on his mediation efforts in Zimbabwe where he is pushing for an election roadmap – a cross-party agreement on conditions to be met before the country can go to the polls.
Salomao said a debate on the fate of the SADC Tribunal, which controversially ruled that Zimbabwe’s seizure of white owned farms was illegal and discriminatory, would still go ahead.
The Tribunal was suspended last August after Zimbabwe protested that it was not properly constituted. Justice Ministers from the region who met in Namibia in April made recommendations which will be presented to the summit.
Labels: SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO, ZIMBABWE
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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
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Zuma to meet leaders over rifts
by Reuters
21/11/2010 00:00:00
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma is expected to meet Zimbbawe’s coalition principals this week for further talks on settling their disputes over power sharing, a Southern African Development Community official said on Saturday. SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao told reporters that Zuma was expected to go to Harare by the end of this week to continue with his mediation efforts.
The regional leaders failed to discuss in detail the tensions in Zimbabwe at a summit on Saturday after Zambian President Rupiah Banda - who is chairman of the SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and Security - failed to attend the meeting held in Botswana.
"After the Troika summit failed to take place, it was agreed that President Zuma should go to Harare again where he would hold talks with the three parties in the (political agreement)," Salamao said.
"After that he would be expected to make a recommendation to the chairperson Rupiah Banda on the next date for another Troika summit."
Although the Zimbabwe government has stabilised the country's economy, President Robert Mugabe and coalition partners Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara have frequently clashed over the pace of political reforms and western sanctions on the country.
Mugabe said last month the power-sharing government would expire in February and should not be extended, leading to new elections by mid-2011.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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SADC studying Post’s harassment complaint, confirms Dr Salomao
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:37:29 PM
SADC legal team is analysing The Post's request for the regional bloc's intervention in the harassment of its journalists by MMD cadres, executive secretary Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomao confirmed yesterday.
In a telephone interview from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, Dr Salomao confirmed receiving the letter from the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post over the harassments of journalists and that the SADC legal people were looking into the matter.
"Yes we did receive the letter," Dr Salomao said.
Asked if SADC would take action on the matter, Dr Salomao responded: "Yes, I sent it to my legal people for advice."
In a letter dated May 18, 2009 addressed to the SADC executive secretary and copied to the International Press Institute, Human Rights Commission Zambia, World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the Zambian government spokesperson and several foreign missions in Zambia, PFC chairperson Chansa Kabwela stated that of late, journalists from The Post had experienced expulsions from meetings where public officers had been officiating, as well as physical harassment and confiscations of their equipment while on duty.
"The beating has been justified by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services - Reverend Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha as follows, 'The Post newspaper is reaping what it sowed because you cannot have a newspaper that reports negatively about the Republican President most of the time. If you plant mangoes, you will harvest mangoes. That is how the principle goes'," she stated. "If the government supports the violence in a bid to make our reporters submissive and afraid to perform their duties, we will be infringing the people's right to know and also to exchange their opinion freely."
Kabwela, who is also Post news editor, noted that it was the PFC's understanding that Article 20 of the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport stated that 'state parties shall take necessary measures to ensure the freedom and independence of the media'.
However, she observed that this SADC protocol had seriously been disregarded by the Zambian government by justifying and supporting the harassment and abuse of journalists working for The Post newspaper.
"We have in the past managed to overcome such turbulences in one way or the other and one of these ways has been to involve groupings such as Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the United Nations (UN), to which Zambia is a member..." stated Kabwela.
Post journalists have continued to suffer at the hands of MMD cadres who have vowed to continue meting out physical punishment on them as long as the newspaper continues being critical of President Banda and his MMD government.
Labels: SADC, THE POST, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Fresh demands by MDC caused Zim talks collapse
Written by Kingsley Kaswende and George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 7:07:28 PM
FRESH demands tabled by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday caused a potentially irretrievable damage to the hopes for an inclusive government in Zimbabwe. The new MDC demands, which conflict those agreed upon by SADC leaders last November on how the Zimbabwean leaders must proceed to form an inclusive government were met by a stern rejection by ZANU-PF, throwing the parties worlds apart as far as constituting an inclusive government is converned.
It was the sixth meeting held over forming an inclusive government since September 15 when the leaders agreed to form a unity government, but it still failed to yield positive results.
Zimbabweans and the region had hoped Monday's talks would find a solution to the political wrangling and allow Zimbabwe's leaders to focus on ending an economic crisis that has half the country's people in need of food aid.
At a press briefing following the 13-hour marathon meeting, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao said the meeting had “unfortunately failed to yield anything positive.”
Dr Salomao said the talks were inconclusive and Presidents Motlanthe and Guebuza and facilitator Thabo Mbeki had recommended that a summit be held next Monday either in Johannesburg or in Gaborone. Speaking to journalists in the early hours of yesterday, President Mugabe confirmed the breakdown of the talks.
"It didn’t go well. We had a proposal from SADC that would have brought us to a situation where the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers would have been sworn-in. We agreed to it, as did Mutambara’s MDC but MDC-T (Tsvangirai) did not agree. They instead came up with their own counter-proposal that naturally was in conflict with the position of SADC which would have seen us move forward and that is where the talks broke down. We will continue to discuss here at home. There will be a meeting of SADC in a few days time where a report will be made to SADC. We are for the SADC proposal and abide by it to the full," President Mugabe said.
However, Tsvangirai accused President Mugabe of being "a stumbling block" and said the president's party had "disappointed" Zimbabweans who were hoping for an end to the "roller-coaster" of problems they face.
“The same issues that have always caused a stalemate are the ones that are still sticking the talks. The chairman has organised another meeting next week...We came to this meeting so that we would be able to resolve the outstanding issues and conclude the power-sharing agreement. Unfortunately, there has been no progress made," he said. "This has been one of the darkest days of our lives."
Prior to the meeting, President Mugabe had warned he would not give any more concessions that he had already given.
Last November, SADC leaders meeting in Johannesburg had recommended that ZANU-PF and MDC co-share the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was the main stumbling block to the implementation of the agreement. The proposal of co-managing the ministry had earlier been proposed by the MDC.
Dr Salomao, at the time, said SADC’s position was final and would not be changed.
“Whether the political parties agreed or not, that’s the position of SADC. The parties came to SADC and now SADC has made a ruling,” he said after the November meeting.
“The parties themselves presented proposals… of co-sharing, rotation and here they differed on who starts the rotation and also towards the end the position in case of MDC was that, for them the bottom line should be the ministries of finance and home affairs. Some progress was made and the parties agreed that the portfolio (minister of finance) be presented by MDC and so the outstanding issue now was home affairs. In practical terms you have two ministers of home affairs appointed by ZANU-PF and the other by MDC. The view of the summit was we are dealing with an above normal circumstance and we cannot afford to postpone the formation of an all inclusive government because there is a dispute on who appoints the minister of home affairs.”
However, the MDC rejected the proposal and on Monday presented a fresh set of demands, which were rejected by ZANU-PF.
Among the MDC’s fresh proposals as contained in a confidential document accessed by The Post, the opposition party demanded that the envisaged National Security Council should be appointed by an Act of Parliament and not appointed by the president.
“The question of the composition, function and constitution of the National Security Council is a critical issue in view of the dangerous and partisan role that has been displayed by the security services in Zimbabwe,” the document reads.
“In this regard, our position is that an Act must be enacted by Parliament which will regulate and oversee all State security and intelligence agencies. This Act must seek to balance the need for accountability and transparency with the competing principles of national security and sovereignty.”
The MDC also demanded to take control of the ministries of Home Affairs; Finance; media, information and Publicity; Local Government, Rural and Urban Development; and agriculture while demanding that ZANU-PF should get Defence; National Security; Foreign affairs; Justice and Legal affairs; and Lands and Resettlement.
“The issue of the equitable allocation of ministerial portfolios has unnecessarily delayed the consummation of the global political agreement to the detriment of resolving the other outstanding issues. Therefore, unless the above allocation is accepted we see no point in any further discussions on this matter,” the party’s document reads.
The opposition party also demanded that the ruling party must consult the opposition party before appoint provincial governors, an issue which ZANU-PF says will be dealt with after the inclusive government is formed.
The MDC also demanded that President Mugabe should reverse the appointment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr Gideon Gono and that of the Attorney General Johannes Tomana.
“The reappointment of Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono on 26th November 2008 contravenes both the Reserve Bank Act and the GPA. A Central Bank Governor should play an essential role in the economic stabilisation of Zimbabwe and therefore, in terms of the GPA no one person should make such an appointment. It is our firm position that this appointment be reversed and that the
Prime Minister designate and President designate agree on his replacement prior to the consummation of this agreement,” MDC stated.
“Similarly, the Attorney General was appointed unilaterally by Mr Mugabe on 17th December 2008.”
In an interview at the end of Monday’s meeting, one of Zanu-PF’s negotiators to the talks, Patrick Chinamasa, said Tsvangirai’s latest U-turn had surprised everyone.
"We as ZANU-PF told (then) SADC chair, Comrade Mbeki and Comrade Guebuza — who is the acting chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security — that we had no problem with the proposal put before us. In essence, the proposal was that the three parties issue a statement declaring that we would all support Constitutional Amendment Number 19 Bill when Parliament resumes sitting on 20 January, 2009 (yesterday),” he said.
Chinamasa said that would have been followed by the swearing-in of Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and the two Deputies by January 24, 2009, after which Cabinet ministers would be appointed.
"MDC-T would make an undertaking to submit a Draft Bill for the National Security Council by January 24 because this is essentially something that they have demanded today. On the issue of governors, the parties would agree that these would be shared as and when vacancies arose according to a formula that the parties would agree on and that the allocation of ministries would be reviewed after six months. We agreed with all of this in the spirit of the agreement that we all signed and Professor Mutambara also assented to this proposal,” Chinamasa said.
"However, Tsvangirai suddenly, and to everyone’s consternation, said he needed a bit of time to consult after initially saying he too would go with it if the other parties agreed.”
Labels: MDC, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, NEGOTIATIONS, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO, ZANU-PF
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Comprehensive financial package on the cards: govt
Ralph Mutema
Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:03:00 +0000
THE Government of Zimbabwe will soon receive a massive injection of cash from “friendly countries” which will offset the current economic problems being faced by the country, according to sources in the ruling Zanu PF party.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Publicity and Presidential Spokesman, George Charamba, made the revelation over the weekend.
He said the financial package will be a huge boost needed for the revival of the productive sectors of the economy and will be a sanctions-busting initiative.
“Clearly, the tables are turning and it won’t be long before we get a massive economic package from friendly countries to revitalise the economy,” Charamba told a local paper over the weekend.
Between US$5 billion and US$10 billion is needed to revive the Zimbabwean economy, according to economic analysts.
Charamba did not, however, reveal who these “friendly countries” are, but vowed that the financial package was “likely to stimulate rapid growth in the economy by bringing back industry, agriculture and mining to gear once more, creating massive employment and making food available in shops”, according to Sunday News.
Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Fund (ZHDAF)
However, Sadc on Thursday launched the Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Fund (ZHDAF) in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
Dr Tomas Agushto Salamao, the Sadc Executive Secretary launched the initiative saying that this fund is not a parallel process to other humanitarian funds adding that the initiative is different from that of the United Nations and the European Union which are based on relief.
Dr Salamao said the Sadc initiative was divorced from current negotiations on the formation of the all inclusive Government by the ruling Zanu PF party and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change.
"A ruling was made for Sadc to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe and its people,” he said.
“There is no way the region can ignore Zimbabwe because of the impasse, so we will assist with agricultural inputs and the fight against the cholera outbreak," he added.
Dr Salamao said the Fund was aimed at helping the Zimbabwean people and communal farmers.
"The launch also coincided with the meeting to ensure that the distribution of inputs, that is, seed and fertilizers, is non-partisan and benefits all the people — especially communal farmers.”
He added that the initiative predicated on ‘regional solidarity’ and was a regional initiative meant to benefit the whole bloc.
"This is regional solidarity. When you are facing difficulties, you have to count on the solidarity of your brothers. We cannot fail in assisting Zimbabwe, that's the critical and most important thing," said Salamao.
Labels: ECONOMY, FOREX, SANCTIONS, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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SADC has no plans to convene meeting on Zimbabwe
Written by George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Saturday, January 10, 2009 2:43:52 AM
SADC executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salamao has stated that the regional bloc has no plans of convening a meeting on Zimbabwe as requested by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Dr Salomao, who was asked on state television - Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation - whether SADC would convene a meeting to discuss the proposed inclusive government in Zimbabwe, said the regional bloc had no plans for such a meeting.
Recently, Tsvangirai requested South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to facilitate a 'confidential' meeting with President Robert Mugabe.
"The SADC executive is the only office with a mandate to call a meeting of regional leaders in consultation with the [SADC] chairman and the chairman of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security [King Mswati III]," Dr Salomao said. "I am currently consulting within the region and no letter has been written to convene such a meeting on Zimbabwe."
Dr Salomao also said Tsvangirai had never approached the SADC headquarters in Botswana over his grievances.
According to Tsvangirai's letter to President Mugabe dated December 29, 2008, which was leaked to The Post by Botswana government sources, Tsvangirai outlined a set of conditions to be met by President Mugabe before he could join an inclusive government.
"In the absence of the processes, I find your proposal to appoint me Prime Minister irregular. I have written in the same vein to President Motlanthe suggesting that he convenes a confidential meeting in South Africa between you and me, under his chairmanship, so that we can iron out these matters to the satisfaction of all parties," read Tsvangirai's letter to President Mugabe in part. "I am sure you are anxious to proceed to the successful implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), anxiety that I share, but the issues are so profound that we must act in a logical sequence. In the meantime, I hope that when Parliament convenes on 20 January, 2009, all parties will support the text of the bill in accordance with the agreement."
Meanwhile, the MDC has dismissed Zimbabwean state media reports that it's currently divided.
"The opposition ZANU-PF-controlled Herald newspaper has climbed laughable heights in alleging non-existent divisions within the leadership of the MDC. Since Saturday, the Herald has engaged on cheap propaganda about the so-called divisions within the top ranks of the MDC," party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa stated. "Zimbabweans will not be hoodwinked by shrill propaganda from a discredited newspaper that has since lost its credibility. Since Saturday, the allegations have ranged from false stories that the MDC secretary-general, Hon Tendai Biti, is plotting to oust President Morgan Tsvangirai to laughable claims that the MDC President has summoned the top leadership of the party to South Africa to mend non-existent rifts within the top hierarchy of the party.
"Zimbabweans know that the only political divisions that exist are in ZANU-PF where contrived accidents and succession disputes and factionalism are a reality and not fiction. The Herald has obviously mistaken the MDC for ZANU-PF where internecine succession battles have wrought deep rifts, mistrust and suspicion across the length and breadth of the dying party."
He stated that Tsvangirai and all members of the party's standing committee, including Biti, were elected for five-year terms at the MDC Congress on Sunday, 19 March 2006 and their terms expire in 2011.
"There is no reason why the MDC secretary-general, himself a lawyer of unquestioned repute and a key figure in the drafting of the MDC Constitution, would wish for an illegal Congress in February 2009. The lies are too threadbare, indeed too naked to be taken seriously by the discerning people of Zimbabwe who overwhelmingly voted for the MDC on 29 March 2008," Chamisa stated. "It is common cause that several resolutions by the MDC national council have reiterated the fact that all outstanding issues have to be resolved before the party can become part of the inclusive government. These resolutions, including those of the last National Council held in Kadoma on Friday, 12 December 2008, have been unanimous. This means there are no divisions within the party; the party has one position regarding the issue of the inclusive government.
"No amount of propaganda against the MDC and its leadership will improve the waning political fortunes of ZANU-PF. No amount of malice, hate language and distortions will be able to transplant divisions and factionalism from their home in ZANU-PF to the MDC. No amount of fiction will change the fact that Zimbabweans see their only hope in the MDC and its leadership as expressed by the people's vote on 29 March."
Chamisa stated that no prophets of doom would be able to bring ill luck to the people's project.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Sadc snubs Tsvangirai
By Mabasa Sasa and Sydney Kawadza
SADC has rejected MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s request for a meeting to reopen debate on the allocation of ministries in Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government. Speaking to journalists in Harare yesterday, Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salamao said the bloc had no plans to convene such a meeting.
Earlier in the week, Sadc chair and South African President Cde Kgalema Motlanthe rejected Mr Tsvangirai’s request for him to facilitate a "confidential meeting" with President Mugabe, telling him to instead immediately join the inclusive Government with Zanu-PF and MDC.
"The Sadc executive is the only office with a mandate to call a meeting of regional leaders in consultation with the chairman and the chairman of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (King Mswati III of Swaziland).
"I am currently consulting within the region and no letter has been written to convene such a meeting on Zimbabwe," Dr Salamao said.
Dr Salamao said while he had heard reports that the MDC-T leader was in Botswana, which hosts the Sadc headquarters, Mr Tsvangirai had never bothered to approach the offices with his grievances.
According to information at hand, on Tuesday President Motlanthe summoned Mr Tsvangirai to Tshwane where he told him he could not entertain his request as it would undermine the role of the facilitator, Cde Thabo Mbeki.
He also made it clear that MDC-T could not in one breath rubbish a binding resolution passed by a Sadc summit while at the same time asking the regional group to help him push Cde Mugabe out of power.
The rejection comes on the back of indications that the South African government recently told United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer to respect the Sadc initiatives in Zimbabwe and stop treating the country as if "it is in America’s backyard".
South African sources told The Herald that Frazer tried to "intimidate" them into forcing President Mugabe out of office and picking someone else to represent Zanu-PF in the inclusive Government because "Tsvangirai was too weak to handle" the Zimbabwean leader.
"President Motlanthe told Tsvangirai that there was no way he would facilitate a meeting on the issue of the inclusive Government while excluding (Prof Arthur) Mutambara and the facilitator.
"He pointed out that Tsvangirai had insulted Sadc leaders by rubbishing the resolution in Sandton on the structure of the inclusive Government and that it should be constituted immediately.
"As such, it was highly irregular to expect him to chair another meeting whose outcome Tsvangirai could just as easily insult. His final words to Tsvangirai were that he should return home, join the inclusive Government and seek to solve any other outstanding issues from inside for the sake of progress," a diplomatic source revealed.
President Motlanthe, the source said, indicated that it was "highly irregular" for him to be seen to be usurping the facilitator’s role.
The South African leader’s rejection of Mr Tsvangirai’s request prompted the latter to convene a crisis meeting in South Africa to re-strategise in the face of regional resistance to their demands.
Observers yesterday questioned why Mr Tsvangirai was holding the meeting with his executive in South Africa rather than returning to Zimbabwe.
President Motlanthe’s position, according to observers, leaves MDC-T with few options to pursue their agenda of using Sadc to push President Mugabe out of the agreement.
It also means they will be hard pressed to get the African Union to think any differently because the continental bloc acts in sync with Sadc’s resolutions.
Further compounding Mr Tsvangirai’s headache is the revelation that the South African government told America’s
Frazer that they viewed the US as a bully with no respect for Sadc’s initiatives in Zimbabwe.
According to an official in the South African Embassy in Harare, Frazer last month tried to convene a meeting with President Motlanthe and Cde Mbeki during her regional tour but eventually settled for an audience with one of the facilitators in the talks.
In the meeting with Cde Sydney Mufamadi, who is part of Cde Mbeki’s team, she insinuated that South Africa was arm-twisting the rest of the region to be "soft on President Mugabe".
She admitted that the September 15 agreement was "a good framework" but the US would not allow it to be implemented as long as President Mugabe was involved because "Tsvangirai was too weak" to work with the Zimbabwean leader.
Frazer — a former US Ambassador to South Africa — said Mr Tsvangirai was "no Odinga" and would not be able to "handle President Mugabe" and so the latter would have to step aside and appoint someone else to represent Zanu-PF in the inclusive Government.
"She effectively said the US would only recognise a weak Zanu-PF leader who would make it easier for Tsvangirai to pursue their agenda in the country and the region.
"Frazer wanted Sadc to persuade President Mugabe to step aside and she claimed the rest of the region agreed with this but was afraid to confront South Africa.
"Mufamadi responded to her saying ‘Zimbabwe is not in Latin America, it is not your backyard. It is Sadc’s backyard and Sadc knows best what Zimbabwe needs. This is not an American issue. What gives you the status of declaring veto over a Sadc decision? Who are you?
"You say that South Africa is bullying the rest of Sadc but the truth is that you are the real bullies. You go to countries that depend on you for budgetary support and you ask them to give you their views on the Zimbabwe issue.
"’What kind of answer do you expect to get from them when they still want budgetary support from you? They will tell you what you want to hear’," he said.
The official added: "When Frazer pressed on Mufamadi became annoyed and told her pointblank to just instruct her man to join the inclusive Government and resolve his issues from inside for the sake of progress.
"Our Foreign Affairs Minister (Cde Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma) told her the same thing and she said she would take up the matter with them again when she returned from Lesotho. But that was the last that was seen of her in South Africa."
He said South African officials told Frazer that the US and Mr Tsvangirai were "acting as if their words were cast in stone like the Law of Moses and everyone should obey them".
After Frazer’s visit, Washington’s chief diplomat in South Africa, Eric Bost, tried to press home the line that President Mugabe should appoint "a weaker person" to take his place in the inclusive Government.
In a letter to the Star newspaper on January 6, 2008, Bost wrote: "We are calling on the leaders of the Sadc to unite strongly and publicly in their call for Mugabe to step down and give the political parties in the country space to work together."
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, said the letter demonstrated American arrogance and lack of respect in trying to tell Sadc what to do.
"The United States ambassador must surely know that Sadc leaders do not take orders from Jendayi Frazer or from Washington. It is baffling that Frazer continues to speak at cross-purposes with Sadc in clear defiance of African sentiment and the consistent advice that she received from all the South African leaders that she interacted with while in South Africa."
Cde Khaya Moyo said African leaders had shown a lot of restraint in the face of "provocative and insulting behaviour from the United States".
"In a further show of US ignorance and arrogance, the US ambassador in his letter calls on Sadc leaders to ‘unite strongly and publicly in their call for Mugabe to step down . . . ’ Sadc leaders have never at any point called for President Mugabe to step down. Not in the Sadc meetings; not in the resolutions adopted. Never!"
Labels: KGALEMA MOTLANTHE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SADC, THABO MBEKI, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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Sadc launches Zimbabwe aid package worth over US$30million
Ralph Mutema
Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:54:00 +0000
THE Sadc Humanitarian Assistance Programme worth over US$30 million to Zimbabwe was launched in Harare this weekend. Large consignments of agricultural inputs and cholera medical kits are already in the country and are awaiting distribution to various areas where they are needed in the country.
Speaking to journalists at the launch, the Sadc Executive Secretary, Dr Tomaz Salamao said the move by Sadc was in solidarity with Zimbabwe at a time when the country was facing a crisis.
"We are here to launch the initiative and find out how far we are in terms of delivering the required assistance," Dr Salomao said.
"The region will always assist its member states."
"We have also agreed on how, along the borders, Sadc member states can work together and assist each other especially on cholera," said Dr Salamao.
The launch is a result of the visit to Zimbabwe by a Sadc team led by South Africa - currently the Chair of the regional bloc - two weeks ago to assess the country's humanitarian needs and several consultations were made by relevant stakeholders on how best to assist the country.
Salamao said part of the package was South Africa's 300 million rands' worth (30 million dollars, 22 million euros) donation of seed, fertilisers and fuel to help revive the country's agricultural sector.
"It's clear that we cannot fail. Africa cannot fail on this in assisting Zimbabwe and the people. This is a region of solidarity and when you are facing difficulties you have to encounter it," he said.
South African Director General in the Ministry of Home Affairs Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba who represented the Sadc Chairperson commended the reponse by regional members in coming up with intervention measures for the welfare of Zimbabweans.
The delegation led by Dr Salamao, Chief Secretary in the President Mugabe’s Office, Dr Misheck Sibanda, diplomats and government officials toured the warehouse in Masasa Industrial Area where several metric tonnes of agricultural inputs are awaiting distribution.
Some countries in the region have also donated drugs and medical kits to Zimbabwe to help curb the spread of cholera.
South Africa had maintained that it will hold off any kind of aid assistance to Zimbabwe until a unity government is in place, but the urgency of the humanitarian assistance required immediate action.
"This is regional solidarity. When you are facing difficulties, you have to count on the solidarity of your brothers. We cannot fail in assisting Zimbabwe, that's the critical and most important thing," said Dr Salamao.
Other regional countries who contributed to the package include Tanzania, Botswana and Namibia.
This effort was unveiled as the United States announced that it will not extend aid to Zimbabwe as long as President Robert Mugabe remains leader.
TZG/AFP/Newsnet
Labels: SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO, ZIMBABWE
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Sadc analyzing evidence: Salamao
Floyd Nkomo
Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:18:00 +0000
THE Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Secretary General Tomaz Salamao has confirmed that the regional grouping has received documents and videos from the Government of Zimbabwe with supposed confessions by MDC supporters that they were involved in banditry activities to topple President Mugabe.
Salamao said Sadc was analyzing the documents and videos submitted to them in a bid to establish their aunthenticity, but could not be drawn into discussing further details..
The Zimbabwean Government claims to have enough evidence to prove that neighbouring Botswana is supporting an opposition plot to overthrow President Mugabe.
"Botswana has availed its territory, material and logistical support to the MDC for the recruitment and military training of youths for the eventual destabilization of the country with a view of effecting illegal regime change," said Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the state-owned Herald newspaper.
"We now have evidence that while the opposition MDC were talking peace they have been preparing for war and insurgency, as well as soliciting the West to invade our country on the pretext of things like cholera," he added.
Observers say it is the first time that such openly hostile relations have emerged among any of the 15 Sadc members.
Botswana's President Ian Seretse Khama is one of the few African leaders to have publicly criticized President Mugabe and called for a re-run of the presidential election in Zimbabwe.
The opposition MDC claims that the confessions in the videos were made under duress and involved some missing people including Emmanuel Chinanzvavana - husband of MDC Councillor for Banket.
Meanwhile, a Sadc Task Force has been dispatched into Botswana to determine whether or not there were bases in that country were 'MDC bandits' were being trained.
Labels: MDC VIOLENCE, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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SADC leans heavily on Tsvangirai to share Home Affairs
Posted to the web: 10/11/2008 14:41:23
ZIMBABWE'S feuding politicians must form a government of national unity "immediately" if they want the support of the SADC, a leading official of the regional bloc warned Monday.
Tomaz Salomao, executive secretary of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), was speaking after a special summit called Sunday by the organisation failed to break the impasse on forming a unity government.
"We will be there to assist them, help them and try to bring them together but under one condition: the government of national unity has to be formed immediately," Salomao told South African public radio station SA FM.
"Now it is up to the three parties in Zimbabwe to decide how they want to proceed," he added.
"But what is important to note is we cannot afford to postpone the formation of the government of national unity," he said.
Salomao reiterated SADC's proposal of co-sharing the home affairs ministry between the ruling Zanu PF and the main opposition MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai as a way out of the deadlock.
"And within six months, the parties are free to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the co-sharing. If they feel that that is not the best way, then they can decide on the best way to push it."
After 12 hours of closed-door talks, the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) failed to prod President Robert Mugabe into a compromise with opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Salomao rejected a suggestion that the SADC has reached the end of the road of mediation following Tsvangirai's rejection of the body's compromise proposal.
"We did not (reach the end of the road in mediation). SADC was asked to rule and SADC took a decision and that's the position of SADC. Now it's up to the parties to implement," he said.
The summit's final communique called for the Zimbabwean rivals to form a unity government immediately and to share control of the disputed home affairs ministry, which oversees the police.
But Tsvangirai, who defeated Mugabe in the first-round of the presidential election in March, rejected their proposal as unworkable.
"The MDC is shocked and saddened that the SADC summit has failed to tackle these key issues ... a great opportunity has been missed by SADC to bring an end to the Zimbabwean crisis," Tsvangirai said at a post-summit news conference.
He added: "Perversely, pressure was brought to bear on the MDC, a party that won an election but has shown compromise and political maturity in these negotiations rather than the party that lost an election and has flouted the spirit and substance of the agreement, namely Zanu PF."
"Mugabe is not the President of Zimbabwe without this agreement," he added, saying that the MDC "hope and pray that the guarantors of the agreement, in particular progressive members of SADC and the African Union, will now move very quickly to try and salvage this agreement".
A source inside the meeting described Mugabe as "extremely contemptuous" of Tsvangirai, interrupting him during his presentation. When the MDC leader said he had won the March 29 election, in which he came first but without a big enough margin to avoid a run-off, Mugabe shouted: "You didn't! You didn't!"
"Our situation is not a domestic issue, it is a foreign issue," Mugabe told the heads of state, expounding on his anti-Western mindset. "Home Affairs is part of security and I as President have greater superintendence."
The formation of a government of national unity has been deadlocked over the distribution of key ministries, especially the Home Affairs, which oversees the police.
Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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