Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe was given a hero’s welcome on Thursday at the opening of a Southern African summit set to be dominated by international concerns over his country’s meltdown.
The embattled octogenarian leader received thunderous applause as he walked into the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) — in stark contrast to polite claps reserved for other heads of state.
In his welcome address before the meeting went into a closed-door session, the summit host, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, told delegates to be “mindful” of the difficulties Zimbabweans faced.
The incoming SADC chairperson, who had previously likened Zimbabwe to a “sinking Titanic”, also urged Zimbabweans “to retain unity and safeguard your hard-won independence”.
“My advice to my brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe is: maintain peace and stability at all costs.
“In the meantime, SADC is there for you. This organisation is always ready to assist where it can to resolve the problems affecting member countries.”
The 14-member regional bloc is under renewed pressure to seek a resolution to Zimbabwe’s woes, characterised by an inflation rate exceeding 5 000%, four in every five people jobless and 80% living under the poverty line.
The situation has caused thousands of Zimbabweans to flee daily to neighbouring countries, causing problems across the region.
Mugabe blames the current crises on drought and targeted sanctions imposed by the European Union against the ruling elite after the 2002 presidential election, which the opposition and Western observers say were rigged.
But critics say Zimbabwe’s problems started with land reforms in 2000 in which the government seized at least 4 000 farms from white commercial farmers for re-allocation to landless black Zimbabweans and state cronies.
South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, mandated in March by the SADC to broker a stalemate between Mugabe’s government and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, is due to report to the summit on progress made.
His Foreign Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, told Agence France-Presse that Mbeki’s report would be presented to a special ministerial committee comprising Tanzania, Angola and Namibia, which would refer it to the summit.
But the committee, due to have sat late on Wednesday, had not met by lunchtime on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, blamed his country’s economic problems on sanctions imposed on top business people and political figures and dismissed reports of government human rights abuses.
“There are no political reforms necessary in my country,” the minister told reporters shortly before the summit began. “We have a democracy like any other democracy in the world.”
He claimed that his government was the victim of a disinformation campaign.
SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao, a Mozambican, had said on Wednesday Zimbabwe’s economy was viable but “operating under sanctions”.
The sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States include travel bans on top officials and the freezing of their assets in overseas banks.
While Zimbabwe was expected to dominate the agenda, Angola also came under the spotlight as outgoing SADC chairperson, Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, urged the country to quickly hold democratic elections.
The former Portuguese colony has failed to hold successful polls since independence in 1979.
“Angola is the only country in SADC that has never held general elections,” Mosisili said in his speech outlining the challenges facing SADC member states.
President Eduardo Dos Santos (65) who has been in power since September 1979, made a rare appearance at the gathering of fellow countries. — AFP