Kikwete, who met with the African Union Commission deputy chairman, Erasto Mwencha, at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday just a day after attending a special Summit on Zimbabwe in South Africa early this week, said the Pretoria round-up was an opportunity to set things right for the better.
“The Pretoria decisions give great chance for two rivals in the Zimbabwe conflict to form a coalition government,“ said President Kikwete.
Mwencha had flown to Dar es Salaam for an audience with Kikwete, the outgoing AU chairman to discuss pertinent issues on the continent prior to the last Sunday summit.
During their discussion, Mwencha briefed Kikwete on preparations for the 2009 AU summit to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday.
According to him, the summit would also receive and discuss reports on the recommendations of the AU commission on the formation of an AU government, as recommended in the previous continental summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Rivals in Zimbabwe politics, President Robert Mugabe`s Zanu-PF and Prime Minister Tsangirai`s MDC failed to implement the last September power-sharing deal, seen as a chance to bring back harmony in the country currently facing humanitarian crisis.
Regional leaders, including President Kikwete, decided at the summit on Tuesday that a unity government should be formed next month.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he agrees to form a government with President Robert Mugabe, even though his party voiced disappointment with a deal reached at the summit, international media reported yesterday.
The contradiction suggested differences had emerged within Tsvangirai`s MDC over implementation of the September pact.
This added to uncertainty over whether a new Zimbabwea leadership would be united enough to tackle an acute economic crisis in which prices are doubling every day.
* SOURCE: GUARDIAN
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