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SADC
disregards calls to address Zimbabwe's problems
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)
September 10, 2009
The Southern African
Development Community's (SADC) predictable stance on Zimbabwe
on the just ended Summit held in the Democratic Republic of Congo
leaves a lot to be desired. Despite the calls from the MDC and civic
groups to have Zimbabwe tabled at the summit, the guarantor to the
troubled coalition government dismissed the Zimbabwean crisis as
less pressing.
The decision
not to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the Kinshasa summit leaves
Mugabe and ZANU PF as the victors at the expense of the people of
Zimbabwe. Mugabe and his party will continue to enjoy the status
of a problem child in the absence of a checks and balance system
in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement between
the three political parties.
Six months after
the formation of the coalition government, its full implementation
has been stalled by Mugabe's refusal to agree on the appointment
of the Reserve bank Governor and the Attorney General, swearing
in of Roy Bennett as the deputy minister of Agriculture. Although
these are the pressing issues from the Movement of Democratic change's
point of view, as succinctly noted by Irene Petras director of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) ,'democratization remains a challenge.'
Since the formation of the coalition government no repressive laws
have been repealed.
Draconian media
laws POSA
and AIPPA
are still intact. The public is starved of object information and
left to vitriol messages and ZANU PF propaganda from the state media.
The apparatus of violence which manifested during the period preceding
the June election period still remains intact; there is no genuine
effort towards reforming state institutions.
The plight of prisoners
in state prisons is cause of concern. Zimbabwe Prisons Service is
currently operating below the minimal standards set by the United
Nations amidst fears that prisoners are dying of starvation, diseases
and torture.
It still remains
to be seen if Mugabe and ZANU Pf have genuine concerns for the people
of Zimbabwe that surpass their narrow partisan interest in this
marriage of convenience at a time when Zimbabwe is in need of a
visionary leadership. The disruption of the All Stakeholders Constitutional
Convention at the Harare International Conference Centre by ZANU
PF party thugs is a testimony of party politics at the expense of
the nation as a whole.
Foreign aid and investment
will remain a far cry as long as the government fails to guarantee
the rule of law, respect human rights, exercise good governance
and honor property rights under bi-contractual agreements with other
member states from the region. The refusal by the justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa to honor the ruling by the SADC Tribunal in favor
of 78 white farmers facing eviction under the chaotic farm evasions
is a bad precedence on the part of the Zimbabwean government. Not
only does it further dent the country's battered image on
the failure to uphold the rule of law, but it also undermines the
integrity of SADC as a body in its endeavor to finding solutions
to African problems.
What ZANU PF
does not understand about the targeted sanctions is that, it is
they not the MDC, who need to rebuild a credible brand, convince
the world that they have now repented from their oppressive rule
and are now sincere about democratic reforms. Readiness to accept
the people's right to choose leaders of their choice is also
a critical pre-requisite in installing aid confidence.
Visit the ROHR
fact
sheet
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