SADC Troika to hold summit on Zim

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Harare - The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defense and Security is to hold a Heads of State summit to iron out sticking points in Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The sticking points are threatening the future of the country's inclusive government, after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced recently he would no longer attend Cabinet meetings until all aspects of the agreement were fulfilled.

The head of a delegation of the Ministerial Troika of the SADC organ, Oldemiro Baloi said on Friday the summit would be held as soon as possible. The troika comprises Mozambique, Zambia and Swaziland.

"It will be soon, very soon, almost immediately," said Baloi, who is the Mozambican Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister.

The Ministerial Troika is in Zimbabwe to assess progress made in the GPA signed on 15 September 2008 by President Robert Mugabe who heads Zanu-PF, Tsvangirai who heads MDC-T and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

The document led to the formation of the inclusive government in February.

However, there remain sticking points which the principals want the southern African bloc to address. If the troika fails to break the impasse, a full SADC summit may have to be held.

"Simultaneously, SADC will continue in its efforts to support, to help Zimbabweans helping themselves by this troika finishing as soon as possible the report we are supposed to prepare, send it to the chairman of the organ, the troika [Mozambican President Armando Guebuza] and to do our best to convene a summit of the troika as soon as possible."

He said the current environment in which Tsvangirai's party had partially disengaged from the government was undesirable, vowing to seek ways to have the situation reversed.

The team, which began its work on Thursday when it met Mutambara and officials from the three parties to the GPA, met Mugabe and Tsvangirai on Friday, before concluding its mission.