SADC must read Zimbabwe factions the riot act

When the Southern African Development Community gathers on Sunday to try and resolve the deadlock between the Zimbabwean political factions they must focus on the fact that it is the members of the SADC, aid agencies and the masses of Zimbabwe who are paying an enormous price for these factions to continue refusing to reach agreement on implementing the power sharing deal.

Billions upon billions of rand have already been spent by South Africa alone on babysitting Zimbabwean exiles, loss of investment to the region and a human cost that has made Zimbabwean life expectancy the lowest in the world; while the Zanu-PF have been in control.

The fact of the matter is that Zanu-PF lost the election.

The fact of the matter is that despite the same, a power-sharing agreement was reached.

The fact of the matter is that unless the MDC have actual day-to-day control of the running of the country through the Council of Ministers and with at least the Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance as two of their 13 cabinet portfolios, the world will not step in to assist Zimbabwe and thereby rendering power sharing redundant. Whether the military or the Zanu-PF like it or not that is the reality and failure to accept it will force either another election monitored by the international community or forced removal of their government because this humanitarian disaster simply cannot be allowed to continue.

Importantly for Sunday’s SADC delegates is the fact that the entire Zimbabwean infrastructure is collapsing while five million of those who live inside the country are teetering on the brink of starvation. Yet incredibly the stories of brutality and corruption continue to abound with one of the world’s largest aid agencies, Global Fund, freezing their funds aimed at assisting in the fight against Aids, malaria and tuberculosis because millions had been diverted by the Reserve Bank to deal with “other priorities”. That was the version of Gideon Gono, governor of the Central Bank, with Western diplomatic sources calling it plain theft.

These aid agencies at present are all that stand between five million Zimbabweans and starvation, which should start manifesting itself as soon as January 2009 and yet the Zanu-PF are happy to simply carry on stealing. Mind you, if regard is had to the fact that they were quite happy to murder as many Zimbabweans as it took to derail the presidential run-off, theft is a petty crime.

The SADC delegates cannot continue to ignore the collapse of the economy and developing genocide because time has run out. January 2009 is a couple of months away and the luxury of navel gazing has already passed.

The SADC delegates also cannot ignore what it is costing this region to allow this situation to continue. Everybody but the Zanu-PF is paying a heavy price in order that they continue to bleed every last cent from that country.

In order to understand just how far Mugabe is removed from reality he sent a congratulatory note to Barack Obama suggesting that Zimbabwe and the United States could work closer together in the future. Mugabe forgets that Obama, just a few short months ago, made a statement lambasting Mugabe and his party, calling them an illegitimate government and lacking any credibility.

A copy of the statement made by Obama may be read here on Paul Mutuzu’s site:

nationalvision.wordpress.com/obama-blasts-mugabe/

If for no other reason than the costs to the entire region of running around blowing Mugabe’s nose for him, the time has come to warn the Zanu-PF that if they do not accept the minimum requirement of the international community for assisting Zimbabwe then the SADC will take whatever steps they and the international community deem fit the circumstances.

Enough is enough.