Government has dismissed statements carried in the Herald Newspaper of Zimbabwe alleging that some SADC Heads of State and Government quashed President Mwanawasa’s attempts to convene a special meeting to the review the political developments in Zimbabwe prior to the presidential run-off elections set for June 27, 2008, during the 4th TICD meeting in Yokohama, Japan.
Chief Government spokesperson Mike Mulongoti says government further strongly refutes a report carried in the same Newspaper on June 2, 2008, stating that Britain had engaged the leaders of Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia and other African countries to press for a speedy regime change in Zimbabwe.
Mr. Mulongoti said the truth is that President Mwanawasa convened a SADC consultative meeting on the margins of the 4th summit of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) held in Yokohama, Japan to review the political developments in Zimbabwe before the presidential run-off elections scheduled for June 27, 2008.
Briefing the press in Lusaka today, Mr. Mulongoti, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, named those in attendance as King Mswati 111 of Swaziland, the presidents of Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, the Vice President of Botswana, the Prime Ministers of Lesotho and Angola, as well as the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
He said during the meeting, President Mwanawasa as the current SADC chairperson reminded the several SADC Heads of State and Government present about the resolutions passed at the SADC Extraordinary Summit that was held in Lusaka on April 13, 2008, during which a decision was made to send an observer mission to Zimbabwe to observe the run-off elections to ensure the elections were free and fair and to avoid possible disputes over the results.
Mr. Mulongoti said this was in the aftermath of the delay by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission releasing the results of March 29, 2008 in Zimbabwe as after the results were announced, it was clear there was no outright winner, calling for a rerun.
He said it was unfortunate to observe during the consultative meeting that some leaders concentrated on a procedural debate, with the Zimbabwe Minister of Foreign Affairs by referring to the Dar-Es-Salaam organ summit in March, 2008 during which President Mbeki of South Africa was as mediator to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe, instead of giving an update on the electoral process in Zimbabwe as was expected.
Mr. Mulongoti said President Mwanawasa was not wrong in raising the matter of sending the SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe without further delay and therefore it is not proper to allow bureaucratic considerations derail efforts aimed at finding a solution to end the political problems prevailing in Zimbabwe.
“To say the least, as President Mwanawasa realized, the procedural debate was counter productive and an indication that some members present did not want the situation in Zimbabwe to be discussed during the consultative meeting in Yokohama, Japan,” he said.
Mr. Mulongoti said it must be realized that Zambia, through President Mwanawasa’s leadership, was among the country’s that were against the isolation of Zimbabwe by the Western World.
He said Zambia has made several attempts to advise some government leaders in Zimbabwe to stop the uncalled for attacks on President Mwanawasa and his administration as well as the protest by Zambia through a notevebal by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Mulongoti said President Mwanawasa found it difficult to reconcile with his conscience when some Heads of State and Government spoke at length deliberating on the procedural debate and consequently ended the meeting inconclusively.
And Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande dismissed allegations that Zambian leader and SADC Chairperson President Levy Mwanawasa threatened to resign as SADC chairperson.
Mr. Pande said at no time did Dr. Mwanawasa indicate to resign.
Hmmm this fight between BOB & LPM is still ongoing? BOB save yoself & retire
I think that the sooner Africa isolates Mugabe, the sooner we will see meaningful development in this Region. I mean, here is a quack that still inculcates in it’s people’s mind that nations still get colonised! What nonsense! What do these guys discuss at SADC and AU meetings. I think Mugabe has been an embarassment to Africa for too long!
Levy Patrick Mwanawasa has demonstrated great leadership by bieng at the forefront of attempting to discuss the Zimababwe situation by African leaders.
This is in contrast with Thabo Mbeki’s approach which unfortunately has not been very frank with the Zimbabwean situation. History will judge Mbeki as a failure both with regard to his domestic approach and international politics. Mbeki has not situated South Africa to be the leader that it is supposed to be.
Welldone Mwanawasa and we need more pressure applied on the old BOB. While I may not know the answer to that question, at least one thing is clear, Mwanawasa has demonstrated leadership and judgement
why cant the US invade Zimbabwe and remove this crown Mugabe.Its to much.There is no way this i.diot kolokombwa can hold millions of people at ransom
Yet again the Zimbabwean government, with the complicit approval of its state controlled megaphone the Herald newspaper, continues to bury its head in the sand. When will those sycophants in the leadership of that sinking ship get it through their thick skulls that no amount of finger-pointing and blaming outsiders is going to resolve this mess of their own making?
#4, its suprising that you are still leading a life of insults even after learning the basics of computer. if you were not able to put your contributions here we wud have called you a villager of the worst kind. stop the game of insults or you will not be any different from Mugabe whom thou insulteth. mind you, ba Mugabe bakalamba! even if he is wrong he deserves respect. chimochine nabashikulu bobe iwe ka!
#4 clown not crown
Mulongoti sets record on TALKING. Does this guy know what diplomacy entails?
Ithink am not coming back to Africa .We are failing to sort out BOB
Isolation is the way to go, this guy cannot hold everyone to ransom, what else is he going to accuse us of, that LPM is sleeping with his wife!? These press briefings cost money, we cannot be having press briefings everytime stupid Mugabe coughs, let him talk and he will stop when the country has stopped functioning afterall they will be the first to make history of grinding a country to a halt, haven’t they made history that they have the highest inflation, highest denomination, even Zaire at it worst was not like this.
Kicks of a dying horse are usuallly strong at first but later ..she just falls asleep.
Ba Mulongoti stop responding to everything the Zimbabwe Herald prints. If the Zimbabwean leaders are so cowardly to accuse LPM to his face then they are not worth bothering with. Bwana Mulongoti and other mouth pieces of the MMD government have made a habit of responding to every criticism. UK newspapers routinely ridicule George Bush but the American ambassador in London does not hold a news conference every time this happens. Try and rise above some of these things. As information minister, you should be explaining government policies to the people, including to those who cannot understand English – not just rebutting criticisms. You should set the agenda, not just follow it!
im so tired of this BOB fool, now he is picking on MY prezo? awe mayo, i give kudos to LPM for stepping up to the plate when many other african leaders are too scared to make a move. they are giving us crap when like Mulongoti says they are flooding our streets. im the 80s and 90s werent they busy acting up for Zambians.. im so tired of their crap and wish they could all just leave our country. we try help and they give us stick for that..awe mwe!! LPM keep the spirited leadership, ur making us proud
when is match commissioner LPM coming back home?
Well done my President LP Mwanawasa on this Zimbabwe issue. However, let us minimise or stop responding to the HERALD NEWSPAPER issues on Zambia and Mwanawasa.
Someone said, “respect a fool to avoid noise, for the onlookers my not notice the difference.”
This is not to equate Zim to being a fool. It is meant to caution our, the Zambian, government approach towards the Zimbabwean problem. Please, let us learn to keep quiet sometimes and ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. As a matter of fact, Zambia has already notified our Zambabwean counterparts of our displeasure at the outbursts on our main man, Presid. LPM.
Utilise people skills carefully.
On #15, ‘Zambia and Mwanawasa… Someone said, “respect a fool to avoid noise, for the onlookers my not notice the difference.”’ must read as ‘Zambia and Mr President Mwanawasa… Someone said, “respect a fool to avoid noise, for the onlookers may not notice the difference.”’
Why waste time with Bob..just plant the stuff mined on the c/b in his heard…!!
once again its zimbabwe……..bollocks!!!
New Passports next month
The Issuance of new passports is expected to start next month.
Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, Susan Sikaneta said the government has already put into place necessary logistics such as equipment for the entire process which kick start’s in July.
She told ZNBC news that training and recruitment of staff who will mann the new office is expected to start this month end.
The Home Affairs Permanent Secretary noted that Zambia decided to join the international community by bringing in a new passport with sophisticated features that cannot be forged.
One has to be very blind in the worst extreme not to see that Mugabe and the ZANU-PF are history. These dodos are hanging to power literally by the skin of their teeth. I salute Levy for his stance, Mugabe Kuya bebele, zwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Oflate this Mulongoti is not straight