Get back to serious business and resolve the outstanding issues to unshackle sanctionsThe Sadc Troika summit meeting in Maputo on 5 November 2009 has left President Mugabe in a sticky spot over breaches of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
It is evident that the evasive tactics Zanu PF and President Mugabe have employed to evade accountability on unfulfilled GPA issues came to nothing at the Maputo meeting despite the elaborate planning that the party had done to dupe the Troika.
It is no exaggeration that President Mugabe was literally frog marched to the SADC meeting he had tried to avert by the decision of the MDC-T to partially disengage from the coalition government in protest to delays in implementing certain clauses of the GPA that aid weight to its effectiveness in the government.
President Mugabe and Zanu PF were effectively employing the, agree and do nothing else tactic, to avoid a walkout from the coalition by the MDC-T while denying the party any space to play a meaningful role in shaping government policies.
Going into the Troika meeting President Mugabe and Zanu PF had prepared to mislead the Sadc Troika into believing that the coalition government was well on course in implementing the GPA provisions and there was no need for the regional bloc to worry.
To back that up he had evidence of a government he had formed as directed by the Sadc summit of 26-27 January 2009.
In addition to that he had evidence that Constitutional Amendment No 19 was passed unanimously as directed by Sadc and government Ministries were shared as endorsed by Sadc and operational.
More, he had evidence that the coalition government principals had agreed in principle on the allocation of Provincial Governors, constituted the Parliamentary Standing Rules and Orders Committee which in turn had constituted the Constitution Making Sub-Committee and had already interviewed and recommended candidates for Appointment to the Electoral Commission, the Human rights Commission and the Media Commission and was just left with interviews for the Anticorruption Commission.
Despite all this President Mugabe and Zanu PF were disappointed that the travel sanctions imposed on Zanu PF members of the coalition government remained in place as if nothing had happened and pirate radio stations based in America and Britain were still broadcasting into the country illegally and the MDC-T in particular was hesitant or unwilling to forcefully speak out against these sanctions and illegal acts despite agreeing to campaign against these violations.
The Troika accepted all these impressive signs of progress in the coalition government and recorded its pleasure with the positives and displeasure with the continued sanctions on Zimbabwe.
In the past that would buy Mugabe and his Zanu PF the time he needed to delay ceding power he had agreed to cede to coalition partners and allow him and his party to act as they pleased as if they never signed agreements with the coalition government partners to share power.
Not this time though. Sadc wanted to know to what extent its January resolutions had been fully implemented by the Zimbabwe government.
It turned out that despite claims to the contrary President Mugabe had refused to comply with the requirement to swear an MDC-T nominee for Deputy Minister and thus failed to fully implement resolution 7 (iii) of the Sadc summit of 26-27 January 2009 and they wanted that complied with to the letter.
President Mugabe’s explanation for non compliance that the nominee he did not swear in was facing serious criminal allegations was rubbished by the Troika which insisted that it was not in the spirit and letter of the GPA and in any event the accused was yet to be tried and convicted or exonerated of the alleged criminal offences and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
It was in that sense that the Troika ordered the coalition government principals to go back home and comply with its resolution No 7 (iii) on 26-27 January 2009 which states that;
“The Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be sworn in by 13 February 2009, which will conclude the formation of the Inclusive Government.”
It was made clear that as long as one or more nominees remain excluded from the swearing into the coalition government then formation of the Inclusive Government was still an outstanding issue that the principals must address as directed by Sadc and this time within 15 days and no later than after 30 days.
Mugabe’s eyes nearly popped out with rage at this directive because he had no intention of swearing in Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture for which he was nominated by the MDC-T. Now he has 30 days to comply or face the wrath of Sadc and he is not amused with that.
Next SADC wanted to know what has become of its resolution No 7 (VI) in the same January meeting that reads;
“The appointment of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General will be dealt with by the Inclusive government after its formation.”
President Mugabe explained that the positions had been filled prior to the formation of the Inclusive Government and the contracts of the incumbents could not be terminated without the government incurring substantial damages and in any event the incumbents were the best qualified for the jobs and therefore there was no need for the Inclusive government to revisit the appointments of the incumbents.
The Troika reminded President Mugabe that the Inclusive government he now leads has every right to appoint the persons it feels are best qualified and competent to run these key positions but is not obliged to work with appointees of a previous regime unless there is consensus about their suitability to work in the new order.
No prize for guessing President Mugabe’s response to that but at the end of the day he was given no more that 30 days in which to comply with Sadc resolution No 7(vi) in letter and spirit and he was not amused.
The Troika tightened screws on President Mugabe by demanding to know why the agreements reached by the Principals were not being transformed into action in respect of appointments of Provincial Governors, Ambassadors, Commissioners yet Permanent Secretaries who outnumber these appointments were confirmed with minimum farce?
His frivolous and vexatious excuses that he was busy and still scrutinizing the recommendations were dismissed by the Troika and he once again was directed to ensure these and any other outstanding issues stemming from the GPA that were out of implementation times set were swiftly brought up to date and certainly no later than 30 days after the Troika meeting.
In light of these developments the MDC-T was ordered to rescind its decision to partially boycott the Inclusive government and duly complied on condition Zanu PF lived by the Sadc orders on outstanding implementation issues within the prescribed period.
The troika obliged by appointing South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma to closely monitor the progress in the Inclusive Government and make recommendations to it to expedite the implementation processes.
That is the fix Zanu PF and Mugabe is now in which it must shrug off somehow if it is to remain in breach as it intended to perpetually be.
It is not going to be as easy as it was before the Troika meeting and now the MDC-T has set the agenda for implementation of the GPA clauses in ways President Mugabe and his party had always sought to dominate the Inclusive government processes.
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