Sadc Troika notes GPA progress at summit

“He came to Harare and unilater­ally decided that Prof Ncube is the MDC principal and that the MDC congress was valid and yet the matter is still pending before the Supreme Court which is the final legal author­ity.
“Anyone who undermines the Supreme Court by making a deter­mination on a pending issue is vio­lating Zimbabwe’s laws and Consti­tution. I am the one who appended my signa­ture to the GPA and it is high time we separated things that are legal from those that are political.
“I told the Troika that Mr Zuma should change his behaviour or recuse himself from the process and every­one acknowledged my point.”
MDC-T secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti told journalists that both the Troika meeting and yester­day’s summit deliberations went on well although there were still some issues to be ironed out.
Meanwhile, new Lesotho Prime Minister Mr Thomas Thabane said Sadc member-states should collec­tively call for the removal of sanc­tions against Zim­babwe.
He said the embargoes were under­mining the country’s sover­eignty.
Addressing regional leaders and hundreds of delegates after the open­ing of the 32nd Ordinary Sadc sum­mit here yesterday, Mr Thabane said progress recorded in the implementa­tion of the Global Politi­cal Agree­ment justified the need to lift the embar­goes.
He said Sadc should not brook any external interference in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs, adding that the recent partial lifting of sanctions by the European Union was inconse­quential.
“The progress that is being recorded in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement in Zimbabwe is not insignificant.
“We wish that sisterly country suc­cess in the full implementation of the agreement.
“Our region has consistently stood together to reject externally-imposed solutions that seek to undermine the hard-earned political and economic independence of Zimbabwe.
“Despite the limited relaxation of sanctions by countries of the Euro­pean Union, we must continue to call for the lifting of all sanctions against Zimbabwe.”
In his salutation before delivering his speech, Mr Thabane referred to the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zim­babwe Defence Forces, President Mugabe, as “our father” to applause from the summit delegates.
Mr Thabane, who became Lesotho’s Prime Minister on June 12, succeed­ing the long-serving Pakalitha Mosisili, also urged the regional bloc to urgently act to resolve the political crisis in Madagascar and the military conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo where government forces are battling insur­gents.
The new Lesotho PM was among three new regional leaders invited to make their maiden addresses to the Sadc leaders together with Zambian President Mr Michael Sata and Malawian President Joyce Banda.
The three took office after the last ordinary Sadc summit, with Presi­dent Sata assuming the presidency on September 23 last year while Mrs Banda was sworn in on April 7 this year fol­lowing the death of Professor Bingu wa Mutharika.
Mr Sata stressed the need for regional peace, stability and security say­ing these were necessary ingredients for sustainable economic devel­opment.
He said conflicts affected trade among member-countries, adding that there was need to pursue peaceful dialogue in the remaining conflict areas
Mrs Banda called for closer regional co-operation and thanked Sadc mem­ber-states for supporting Malawi fol­lowing the death of Prof wa Mutharika, for whom a minute of silence was observed at the start of the summit.
She said the region was enjoying peace, except for a few pockets of political instability, adding that sus­tainable economic development could not be achieved without tranquility.
Newly-elected African Union Com­mission chair Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and African Development Bank president Dr Donald Kaberuka also addressed the summit.
Mrs Dlamini-Zuma, the first woman and southern African candi­date to land the position, urged Africa to unite in confronting burning issues such as food and water security, cli­mate change, pandemics and the empowerment of youths and women.