The Southern Africa Development Council (SADC) has stood firmly behind the Government (of Zimbabwe) and called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country by theWest.
In a communiqué released (on March 29, 2007) at the end of a one-day extraordinary summit attended by 10 heads of state and government here, Sadc also appealed to the British government to honour its obligations and release funds to compensate former commercial farmers whose land was acquired for resettlement.
The summit “noted and appreciated the briefing by President Robert Mugabe on the current political developments in Zimbabwe”. “The Extraordinary Summit recalled that free, fair and democratic presidential elections were held in 2002 in Zimbabwe. The Extraordinary Summit reaffirmed its solidarity with the Government and people of Zimbabwe.
“The Extraordinary Summit reiterated the appeal to Britain tohonour its compensation obligations with regard to land reform madeat Lancaster House.
“The Extraordinary Summit appealed for the lifting of all forms ofsanctions against Zimbabwe,” read the communiqué. (reportcontinues for this related news report, below).
Call for Africa to deal with Zimbabwe’s Mugabe.Harare: Western powers sought to persuade Africa to confront Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe mid-March 2007 and one African leader said quiet diplomacy had failed in a country he likened to a “sinking Titanic”.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Mugabe’s regime was”appalling, disgraceful and utterly tragic for the people of Zimbabwe” and damaging the whole region’s reputation. “Let’s be very clear: the solution to Zimbabwe ultimately will not come simply through the pressure applied by Britain. That pressure has got to be applied within Africa, in particular within the African Union,” Blair told legislators. “We will continue to do all we can to make sure that Africa realises this is the responsibility of Africa as well as the Zimbabwean government.” Zimbabwe is a former British colony.
Few African governments have joined the criticism of Mugabealthough leaders meet in Tanzania next week to discuss Zimbabwe where inflation has soared to 1,700 percent, unemployment jumped to 80 percent and there are frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.
The SADC heads mandated Sadc executive secretary Mr Tomaz Salamaoto undertake a study on the economic situation in Zimbabwe andpropose measures on how the regional bloc can assist the country torecover economically.
This is the first time that Sadc has collectively called for thelifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe and come up with a proposal on howthe effects of those sanctions on the country can be countered.
The sanctions against Zimbabwe by Britain and her allies follow abilateral dispute between Harare and London after the countryembarked on land reforms in 2000.
The British government of Mrs Margaret Thatcher promised torelease funds for land reforms at the Lancaster House constitutionalconference that culminated in Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 after aprotracted armed struggle.
However, the Labour government of Mr Tony Blair has refused tohonour that obligation and has instead mobilised its allies — theUnited States and some countries in the European Union — to imposesanctions on Zimbabwe.
Sadc has previously made it clear that the problems in Zimbabweare a result of a bilateral dispute with Britain, mainly arising fromthe land reform programme, but had not pronounced itself explicitlyon the need to have the sanctions lifted.
The Government has said it will not compensate the formercommercial farmers for the land because it does not have the money todo so, but that it will pay for the improvements on the land such asdams and other infrastructure.
On the political situation in the country, the summit mandatedPresident Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to continue to facilitatedialogue between the MDC and the Government and report back to thetroika on Defence, Politics and Security on progress.
“The Extraordinary Summit also encouraged enhanced diplomaticcontacts which will assist the resolution of the situation inZimbabwe,” read the communique.
The summit was held in the wake of a protracted media onslaught onZimbabwe by the West, with the international media, particularly theBBC and CNN, speculating that President Mugabe had been “summoned” bySadc leaders to be “dressed down” or “shown the exit”.
But sources who attended the meeting’s closed-door session saidPresident Mugabe briefed the leaders on the political situation inthe country and the MDC terror campaign that has seen the oppositionparty petrol-bombing police stations in Harare, Chitungwiza, Gweruand Mutare.
Suspected MDC supporters also petrol-bombed a Bulawayo-boundpassenger train and a supermarket in Warren Park.
Speaking to reporters on arrival at Harare International Airport,the President said the summit had also urged the MDC to desist fromviolence and to recognise him and his Government as he waslegitimately re-elected by the people of Zimbabwe in 2002.
He said President Mbeki would talk to the opposition and seewhether there is need for dialogue with them, but warned them againstengaging in violence.
The summit also got briefings on the political situation in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo and Lesotho by the leaders of thosecountries, President Joseph Kabila and Prime Minister PakalithaMosisili respectively.
The leaders resolved to render unconditional support to MrKabila’s government in its quest to restore law and order,maintaining peace and stability and spearheading nationalreconstruction.
It reaffirmed the sovereign right of the DRC to have a singlenational army and urged former Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba tointegrate his remaining armed elements into the national army or tobe demobilised. They also appealed to other armed groups in the DRCto do the same.
The summit reiterated that the rule of law in the DRC must beobserved and respected by all parties in conformity with acceptedinternational conventions. It expressed concern on the loss of livesand urged all parties to respect the sanctity of human life and theprinciples of human rights.
The summit also expressed support to the ongoing efforts for theeconomic reconstruction of the DRC.
On Lesotho, the summit agreed to send a Sadc delegation atministerial level to assess the situation as requested by theopposition political parties who want the regional bloc to help indealing with post-election tensions.
The other leaders who attended the summit were host PresidentJakaya Kikwete, President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, PresidentArmando Guebuza of Mozambique, President Hifikepunye Pohamba ofNamibia, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini of Swaziland and PresidentLevy Mwanawasa of Zambia. Botswana was represented by its VicePresident, Mr Ian Khama, while Angola was represented by its Ministerof External Affairs, Mr Joao Bernardo Miranda. Madagascar andMauritius were represented by their ambassadors.
President Mugabe returned home last night and was met at HarareInternational Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru, the Minister ofState Security, Land Reform and Resettlement, Cde Didymus Mutasa, theMinister of Information and Publicity, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, servicechiefs and senior Government officials.
Why Chinua Achebe, the Eagle on the Iroko, is Africa’s writer of the century. By ChidoNwangwu
.Summary: Africa’s most acclaimed and fluent writer of the English Language, the most translated writer of Black heritage in the world, broadcaster extraordinaire, social conscience of millions, cultural custodian and elevator, chronicler and essayist, goodwill ambassador and man of progressive rock-ribbed principles, the Eagle on the Iroko, Ugo n’abo Professor Chinua Achebe, has recently been selected by a distinguished jury of scholars and critics (from 13 countries of African life and literature) as the writer of the Best book (Things Fall Apart, 1958) written in the twentieth century regarding Africa.
Reasonably, Achebe’s message has been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime. He’s our pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and lovers of the fine
art of good writing.
Achebe’s cultural contexts are, at once,pan-African, globalist and local; hence, his literarycontextualizations soar beyond the confines of Umuofia and any Igboor Nigerian setting of his creative imagination or historical recall.
His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures)this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce,juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of thevitality of the individual/self. In Achebe’s works, the centrality ofChi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology…
itis a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude whiletaking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community.I’ve studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, therigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed inmost of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, becauseI share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a briefsentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity.
Here,folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle onthe Iroko, may your Lineage endure! Therehas never been one like you!
