They can't agree on critical issues these coalition government principals in zimbabwe now they have to appear before a reinforced SADC Troika for panelbeatingThere is apparent confusion and or genuine misunderstanding in Zimbabwe in respect of the role the regional bloc should execute its influence in Zimbabwe.
Basically Sadc is a political and economic cooperation union of Southern African countries that aims at promoting Social, political and economic cooperation in the region.
To do so Sadc uses persuasion and conciliation as opposed to physical cohesion to ensure its members live within acceptable norms.
The Sadc Supreme Council which equates to the Non Executive Board of Directors in a company comprises of Heads of State of member States and like in companies its sole responsibility is to give directions on any areas of interest between member states.
The day to day execution of the policies and procedures of the SADC are the responsibility of the Secretariat headed by Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão which is the current Secretary General a position with similar powers to those carried by the position of Chief Executive in a company.
The Chairmanship of the SADC supreme council rotates among the various Heads of State every six months.
The Chairman has no extraordinary executive powers to compel any member state to behave as he deems fit from his interpretation of Sadc protocols but he holds immense powers of persuasion in that he uses the grouping to threaten punitive measures against errand member states.
That is why Sadc guaranteed the Zimbabwe GPA. It relies on power of the consensus in the grouping to bear on any errand member state and modify behaviours.
Sadc like any other company is divided into strategic business units the most commonly known of which is the organ on politics, Defence and Politics which is commonly referred to as the Sadc Troika.
The dispute in Zimbabwe has been escalated to the SADC executive for mediation. It is a reference of the dispute to Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão’s team and he has decided that the best way to deal with the grievances before him is to table them before the Troika.
Zambia Mozambique and Swaziland are the current members of the Troika and have been invited to deal with the Zimbabwe disputes in Maputo starting Friday 6 November 2009.
Since Sadc has no military unit to force its members to comply with agreements when disputes arise in member States in areas where Sadc is directly involved as is the case with the Zimbabwe GPA, the grouping taps into its strategic business units to cobble out an acceptable resolution for the challenges brought before it.
Zimbabweans expect SADC to decree certain courses of action to resolve the Zimbabwe impasse but if that was to happen, it would need a force to enforce compliance which SADC does not have at present.
At best what can be expected from the planned Sadc Troika meeting in Maputo is persuasion of President Mugabe to implement forthwith the agreements so far reached by the coalition government principals and that includes the swearing in of Roy Bennett, The appointment of Provincial Governors in the ratio MDC-T 5 Zanu PF 4 and MDC-MM 1, The appointment of recommended Human Rights, Media and Electoral commissioners, the reversal of Dr Gono and Johannes Tomana’s appointments and or the renegotiation of their appointment to find a consensus.
The MDC-T in particular will most likely be compelled to take a leading role in campaigning for the lifting of travel bans imposed on Zanu PF members of the coalition government.
The MDC-T has no problem with doing that if Zanu PF shows total commitment to the GPA by reining in its errant hardliners and it ceases all forms of hostilities they are currently directing towards MDC members and sympathizers alike.
Because of the seriousness of the threat to the continuation of the Zimbabwe coalition government the SADC secretary general has considered it expedient at this juncture to bolster the Troika with the inclusion of the current Sadc Chairman DRC President Joseph Kabila and immediate past chairman South Africa President Jacob Zuma.
Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão appears to have received intelligence that this meeting will be no stroll in the park for the Troika and wants to ensure success at the first attempt by bringing in top guns Zuma and Kabila whom both President Mugabe and Premier Tsvangirai know they must respect if they are to get their way in Sadc should the issues remain unresolved and are to be escalated to the SADC supreme body.
What this means is that the long awaited mediation of the Zimbabwe GPA problems by Sadc as guarantour of first instance, has started in earnest following the threat posed by the MDC-T disengagement that has been in force over the past 3 weeks.
This preliminary stage will be crucial in managing tension and conflict within the tottering Zimbabwe government and who knows with the inclusion of the top guns invited to the Troika may surprise the nation by finding an amicable resolution of the thorny issues that have dragged for 9 months after the consummation of the government.
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