OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Sunday 5.00pm
SOUTHERN African Development Community nations have not been sincere in their peace pledges, leading to extended conflicts on the subcontinent, a state-owned Zimbabwean paper said on Sunday.
The Sunday Mail accused some of the 14 member countries of the Southern Africa(SADC) of backing rebel groups trying to oust some governments in the region, failing to realize the organisation’s goal for regional economic and political unity.
In an editorial ahead of the SADC’s annual summit in Mozambique this week, the paper said that despite “boldly” declaring their resolve to end conflicts in the region at their last summit in Mauritius last year, peace had eluded the region. It said besides declaring Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi a war criminal and offering to do their best to help Angola end its 24-year war, nothing appears to have been done and fresh violence had erupted there.
“Since the last summit, not much appears to have been done to shore up the Angolan government,” the Sunday Mail bemoaned.
“We believe it is time SADC member states became sincere in their pledges for peace,” the paper said, accusing some countries of being sympathetic to Savimbi and most recently to Mishack Muyongo, Namibia’s separatist rebel leader. “The destabilisation taking place in Angola and Namibia would either not be there or be minimised if member states did not give audience to those elements bent on causing disharmony,” the paper said.
The paper urged the countries to “begin speaking with one voice on issues of security and, economic development and sovereignty of member nations” Southern African government ministers reconvened in Maputo, Mozambique, on Sunday morning on the last day of a three-day meeting to prepare documents for the regional leaders’ summit next week.
They are expected to produce discussion documents for the SADC presidents. One of these document is the Univisa — a common visa for tourists travelling within the SADC countries. Also high on Wednesday’s agenda will be the crises in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo — AFP.