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Outcome of the 30th SADC summit in Windhoek, Namibia
Movement for Democratic Change
August 18, 2010

The 30th general summit of SADC has just been concluded in Windhoek, Namibia. That meeting was important in defining key milestones and signposts to the end-game of the Global Political Agreement.

It will be recalled that pursuant to the Maputo troika meeting of 5 November 2009, the negotiators of the political parties were asked to deal with 27 agenda items of dispute, a task they concluded on the 3rd of April 2010. Following this, the principals debated the negotiators' report on 8 June 2010, and forwarded a report to the SADC facilitator, President Zuma, on 10 June 2010.

Of note is that of the 27 dispute issues, the principals agreed on 24 leaving outstanding the deadlocked issues of:

(a) The swearing of Roy Bennett
(b) The appointment of the Attorney-general, Johannes Tomana
(c) The appointment of the RBZ governor, Gideon Gono.

Also significant is that on the 4th of August 2010, the principals agreed on an implementation matrix on the 24 agreed issues. These include among other things, the process of the land audit and security of tenure, the appointment of the board of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and the Mass Media Trust, hate speech, national heroes and issues of external interference. It will also be recalled that the facilitation team was extensively involved in the negotiation processes with all the political parties. In the run-up to the SADC summit, the facilitation team held meetings with all the principals and indeed received written submissions from the same.

On our part, in addition to the deadlocked issues, we raised concern on the lack of implementation of the agreed issues. Further, we raised concern with the issue of unilateralism as manifested in the unilateral appointment of judges and ambassadors in breach of section 21 of schedule 8 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Unilateralism was also reflected in the alteration of ministerial mandates, particularly that of the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology.

Our fourth set of issues related to what we termed "toxic" issues. These included the persistent and pernicious hate speech in The Herald and other State media, the infamous jingles and the continued debasement of the office of the Prime Minister.

Over and above this was the old issue of provincial governors whose term of office expired on 31 July 2010. Common to the issues raised by both parties was the need to define a clear exit strategy to the inclusive government. Self evident to all parties is the fact that the inclusive government is a transitional arrangement and therefore it was imperative to define an orderly process for exit. In short, an iron-clad roadmap to legitimacy.

These thus are the issues that were before the summit. The facilitator presented his comprehensive report to the Organ Troika on Defence and Security on 14 August 2010. The facilitator's report and recommendations were adopted by the Organ Troika. We are grateful for this.

In broad terms, both parties accepted that an exit strategy should be based on:
(a) The completion of the Constitution-making exercise
(b) The conduction of the referendum
(c) The holding of an election

From this the following explicit recommendations were proposed and adopted.

1. The parties, assisted by the Troika, should discuss the outstanding matters in keeping with the decisions of the Maputo Troika summit and resolve them within one month as part of a confidence-building measure, based on appropriate consultation in keeping with Zimbabwe's law and any other relevant legal instrument.
2. The inclusive government and the Zimbabwe political parties should find an uninterrupted path towards free and fair elections and the removal of impediments as and when they arise.
3. The Troika should persuade SADC to help Zimbabwe to draw up guidelines for a free and fair election where intimidation and violence will not play any part and where the result of such elections would be credible.

The facilitator's report and recommendations were endorsed and accepted by the full summit and we express our great appreciation to SADC, its chairperson President Pohamba and the outgoing chairperson, President Kabila.

It is now critical for flesh to be put into the summit decisions. In our view, the SADC decision is an important milestone and its successful implementation is the only answer to the successful restoration of legitimacy to this country.

However, it will be important for Zimbabweans and indeed the parties in the inclusive government to:

(a) Implement the GPA in general and the 24 items on the implementation matrix in particular.
(b) Strengthen JOMIC and indeed the SADC oversight on compliance.
(c) Deepen the work on national healing
(d) Deepen and enhance the work on reform and democratization of the media
(e) Deepen and consolidate the stabilization, growth and transformation of the economy.
(f) Consolidate and deepen democratic reforms, the rule of law and strengthening independence of State institutions.
(g) Completion and deepen electoral reforms and strengthening of electoral institutions
(h) Deepening work in the National Security Council and in particular dealing with security sector re-alignment.

Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to the leadership of SADC, the vision of the facilitator and the SADC secretariat. The people of Zimbabwe have long suffered and quest for real change. The SADC roadmap is an excellent foundational stone towards the fulfillment of this vision.

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