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Caesar Zvayi in LILONGWE Malawi
Botswana President Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama yesterday made a climbdown from his earlier call for an audit of the harmonised election results, saying he now stands guided by Sadc. Speaking to journalists after holding a closed-door bilateral meeting with President Mugabe at the Bingu waMutharika International Conference Centre here yesterday, Lt-Gen Khama said his country was happy with the election outcome.
“We say the election was free and peaceful and we are very happy,” Lt-Gen Khama said in response to a question on Botswana’s position on the harmonised elections in Zimbabwe.
Last Friday, Botswana made an 11th hour climbdown from its earlier intransigence of diverting from the rest of Africa over the credibility of Zimbabwe’s harmonised elections with its Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Minister, Mr Phandu Skelemani, claiming to have been misled by MDC-T and some elements of civil society at home and abroad.
Prior to yesterday’s meeting with President Mugabe, Botswana was the only Africa country that had taken the stance of the British and America of condemning the elections in Zimbabwe.
A source close to developments said Mr Skelemani requested a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi on the sidelines of the Sadc Troika meeting on Friday night as it became clear that Botswana’s position was becoming ridiculous in light of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s failure to back his allegations of rigging in court.
Mr Tsvangirai withdrew his court application challenging President Mugabe’s victory from the Constitutional Court due to lack of evidence to back it among other reasons.
After being apprised of developments, Mr Skelemani is said to have professed a Damascene moment, saying his country had been misled by the MDC-T and some non-governmental organisations and also chided Zimbabwe for not effectively rebutting the claims over the voters’ roll.
The 573-member Sadc Election Observer Mission, which included observers drawn from Botswana, endorsed the harmonised elections along with the Sadc Electoral Commissions Forum that consisted of electoral bodies drawn from 10 Sadc member states, among them Botswana.
The Sadc ECF also endorsed the harmonised elections as free, fair and credible and held according to Sadc principles and guidelines used in conducting democratic elections.
Lt–Gen Khama missed the opening ceremony where cheers for President Mugabe brought the house down, prompting him to stand up to pump his right fist in the air in acknowledgment of the chants of ‘‘Comrade! comrade!’’ that reverberated through the packed auditorium.
However, as fate would have it, Lt-Gen Khama was put right next to President Mugabe when the leaders went for the traditional group photo.
Online Reporter