Zimbabwe’s opposition is to send delegations to several African countries to brief them on its efforts to end the political and economic deadlock in the country, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general Welshman Ncube told the Daily News on Sunday the party had ”invitations from the African Union countries to brief them on our situation”.
”This is an ongoing exercise which we began before the presidential election last year when party leader Morgan Tsvangirai visited African leaders to brief them on the party position and the situation in the country,” Ncube told the paper.
”The African leaders now understand the situation as they are hearing it from us, not from Zanu-PF [the ruling Zimbabwe party],” Ncube said.
Zimbabwe is deeply divided between supporters of Tsvangirai’s MDC and those loyal to President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power in the country for almost 23 years.
Efforts are being made by regional leaders and local churchmen to kickstart dialogue between the two parties.
All countries in the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) are to be visited, as well as Nigeria, Senegal and Benin, according to the Daily News on Sunday.
MDC officials were not available on Sunday to comment on the report. This week Ncube and senior MDC officials held meetings with Malawian President Bakili Muluzi in Blantyre.
The SADC includes Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The MDC issued a statement expressing dismay after Mugabe was greeted with applause and ululation at an SADC summit in Tanzania last month. — Sapa-AFP