South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday renewed his call for Western sanctions against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s regime to be lifted during a visit to Uganda.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the close of a two-day state visit, Zuma argued the sanctions created an imbalance in Zimbabwe’s national unity
government.
“One part of the government, which is the MDC, is functioning at full strength because they can travel abroad and mobilise while the other side cannot operate effectively because of restrictions, therefore these sanctions are an impediment,” Zuma said.
Govt fails to make headway
Both the European Union and the United States maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe, his wife and inner circle in protest at disputed 2008 elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government.
A power-sharing government between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has failed to make major headway since it was installed a year ago, following mediation by Zuma’s predecessor Thabo Mbeki.
“Zanu-PF has raised these issues that the sanctions are not allowing the unity government to operate at its full strength,” Zuma argued.
“If sanctions are lifted we can make faster progress,” he added.
Museveni endorsed Zuma’s position in a joint statement.
Zimbabwe’s descent into political and economic crisis began 10 years ago, when Mugabe lost a referendum on a new Constitution that would have expanded the powers of a man who has ruled since
independence in 1980.
Zuma travelled to Uganda with a delegation of Cabinet ministers and business leaders to discuss a range of bilateral issues, including investment in the East African nation’s new-found oil wealth. – AFP