The United States this week said it would welcome efforts by former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa to mediate in Zimbabwe’s crisis only if he was able to convince President Robert Mugabe to accept responsibility for his country’s crisis.
The Tanzanian would also have to persuade Mugabe to accept sweeping political and economic reforms necessary to rescue Zimbabwe from its problems, the US embassy in Harare said in a statement on Wednesday.
“If former president Mkapa is able to convince the government of Zimbabwe to acknowledge its responsibility for the crisis and to embrace the need for reforms and national dialogue focused on Zimbabwe’s present and future rather its past, this initiative could make a meaningful contribution,” the statement read in part.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called off a visit to Harare after Mugabe told him on the sidelines of an African Union meeting held in The Gambia last month that Mkapa had been appointed to mediate between Zimbabwe and its former colonial power, Britain.
Mugabe claims Zimbabwe’s economic and political problems are a result of the Southern African country’s dispute with Britain, which he accuses of using its clout on the international platform to punish his country and sabotage its economy. London denies the charge.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change and civic groups in Zimbabwe also reject Mugabe’s claims that Zimbabwe’s problems are caused by Britain and instead blame the 82-year-old leader of ruining what was once one of Africa’s most vibrant economies through repression and wrong policies.
Annan had been expected to use the visit to Zimbabwe to persuade Mugabe to leave power, a development most political analysts say is vital for any plan to rescue the Southern African nation to succeed.
In return for Mugabe agreeing to step down, the UN chief would have offered substantial international aid for Zimbabwe and guarantees that Mugabe would not be prosecuted for crimes committed while in office.
The US said it saw no evidence to suggest that Zimbabwe’s “real and growing problems” could be resolved through bilateral talks between the country and Britain, warning Mkapa that his mission would achieve little if it mistakenly focused on diversionary claims by Mugabe that his country’s problems were authored in London.
Failure to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law, misguided economic policies and high-level corruption were the root causes of Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis, the US said.
The US said: “As a sovereign and independent nation, it is up to the government and the people of Zimbabwe to recognise that the roots of the country’s current crisis lie within Zimbabwe, and equally to assume their responsibility for devising viable solutions internally.”
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, was not available for comment on the matter.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic crisis characterised by shortages of fuel, food, essential medicines, electricity, hard cash and just about every basic survival commodity, while inflation is beyond 1Â 000 percent.
Mugabe has in the past spurned attempts to mediate a solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis by presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigerian as well as by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano. But he seems to have warmed up to Mkapa. — ZimOnline