Guebuza says Sadc will discuss Zimbabwe

Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) chairperson Armando Guebuza has hinted that the Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit scheduled for Lilongwe this weekend will discuss several issues, including Zimbabwe elections.

Guebuza, who is president of Mozambique and is winding up his one year tenure as Sadc chairperson at the end of the conference, made the indication on arrival on Thursday at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Malawian capital, Lilongwe.

Guebuza’s hint is in sharp contrast to an earlier indication from the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation that the Zimbabwe issue is not on the summit’s agenda.

Earlier on Thursday, Zimbabwean human rights activists alongside Malawian civil society organisations (CSOs) piled pressure on Sadc leaders to include the current Zimbabwe crisis on the substantial agenda during their Lilongwe summit which is opening Friday.

During a joint meeting ahead of the summit, the CSOs from the two countries resolved to petition the Sadc leaders to intervene in the crisis and call for fresh elections following discontent over the outcome of the July 31 elections which saw Robert Mugabe winning 61 percent of the vote.

Zimbabwe CSOs, led by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, argued that although the results of the elections have been said to be ‘free and peaceful’, the electoral process was marred with problems and irregularities and asked Sadc to come out in the open and declare whether the elections were ‘free and fair’.

One of the activists Dzimbabwe Chimbga, said the electoral process in Zimbabwe was dogged with a lot of irreg-ularities resulting in elections outcome that could not be recognised as fair, free, credible and unquestionable.

He said among several areas of concern is failure to fully implement and comply with the benchmarks set in a new constitution which was among the steps agreed after 2008 disputed elections.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokseperson Thabani Nyoni said the CSOs were surprised that Sadc sees no problem with the elections yet during a recent meeting in Mozambique members had a consensus that Zimbabwe was not ready for the elections.

Chairp-erson of the Council for Non-Gover-nmental Organis-ations in Malawi (Congoma), Voice Mhone, and Malawi Economic Justice Network executive director Dalitso Kubalasa pledged to support their counterparts.

However, Mhone observed that it was time the CSOs in Zimbabwe took the fight for human rights to the masses so that Zimbabweans themselves should learn to speak up and express their views openly.

On his part, Kubalasa said the issues raised by the Zimbabwean human rights defenders will be taken on board today during a People’s Summit organised by the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN).

Botswana, which is said to have sent an 80-member observer team, was the first to question the credibility of the elections and asked Sadc to institute investigations.

The call was later supported by 30 CSOs from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe that also called Sadc to include Zimbabwe on the agenda.

Meanwhile, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials are also in Lilongwe to lobby Sadc leaders to intervene.