Mugabe bangs on about ills of colonial past

It is important that people keep in mind that Africans fought for human rights from oppressive rule, Mugabe said in a speech at the summit.

There was no democracy in Zimbabwe for nearly a 100 years and we had to fight for one person, one vote, he said.

Mugabe criticised the arrogance from the EU side, saying a so-called gang of four — Denmark, Germany, Holland and Sweden — had no right to claim a better understanding of the situation in Zimbabwe than the African Union and the Southern African Development Community.

Mugabe’s comments came the day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed Mugabe for harming the image of the new Africa with his rights record.

Mugabe said the four countries’ leaders were acting as puppets for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who boycotted the summit over Mugabe’s presence.

He said Europe simply could not accept the democratic will of the Zimbabwean people.

Europe will not accept (the results of elections) that are properly held in our countries because they don’t like the winner, he said.

The SADC criticised the EU yesterday for bringing up the crisis in Zimbabwe at the summit, saying it was not part of the agenda.

Zimbabwe was not part of the agreed agenda of the summit, SADC secretary-general Tomaz Salomao told reporters.

Our position is that we are dealing with the issue. President Thabo Mbeki is dealing with the issue … Zimbabwe is our problem, we are dealing with it.

Despite the grandstanding, the EU-Africa summit approved an agreement yesterday aimed at forging a new relationship between the two continents, a European source said.

The 67 leaders signed an Africa- EU strategic partnership agreement to take their relationship to a new, strategic level.

The two continents will forge a new and stronger partnership that builds on their new identities and renewed institutions, capitalises on the lessons of the past and provides a solid framework for long-term co-operation, the joint declaration said.

The declaration was signed at the end of a two-day summit in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

The gathering — only the second-ever such meeting — had been billed as an opportunity to forge a relationship of genuine equals.

But the disputes over trade, Zimbabwe and Darfur exposed fault lines in their relations.