First, Southern African Development Community (SADC) citizens will have
to pop out funds to get the country going for the coming months before
digging deeper to lobby Western countries like United States of
America, (US), United Kingdom (UK), and Germany, including China and
Russia, to assist Zimbabwe to move forward. The West will also be
requested to lift the sanctions against Zimbabwe, said Minister of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Phandu Skelemani in
Gaborone yesterday. Skelemani attended a special SADC Summit in
Mbabane, Swaziland, on Monday. Zimbabwe needs at least US8.4 billion
(about P67 billion) to get the economy running again. At the moment, he
said, the country makes US20 million per month from tobacco and alcohol
sales while the public service needs US30 million per month. "This is a
US10 million deficit and hospitals and schools need to be functional,"
he said. Zimbabwe now pays all its citizens in US dollars. Skelemani
said the summit appointed a committee comprising Botswana, South
Africa, Zambia, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to go around the
world lobbying the big countries and international financial
institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
to bail out Zimbabwe. SADC finance ministers will also meet to discuss
what their countries can pledge for the collapsed Zimbabwean economy.
Skelemani said that they still have to brief President Ian Khama on
what to do but things might be tough for the region because of the
impact of the global recession on their economies. "We all agreed that
we should do everything possible," he said. Botswana will talk to her
friends to assist Zimbabwe, even if it means loans with conditions, he
added. Skelemani is confident that they will get a positive response
from the big countries especially since assuming power, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has brought hope for economic recovery. He also
expressed satisfaction at the cooperation President Mugabe showed
during the Mbabane summit. He denied reports that there are farm
invasions in Zimbabwe saying it was just a misunderstanding that the
unity government has agreed to deal with as a matter of urgency. He
further said that the unity government is sorting out issues of
political prisoners and Mugabe has promised cooperation on many others.
Meanwhile, the minister sent a stern warning to Andry Rajoelina, who
recently assumed power illegally in Madagascar, saying that he must
step down and return power to President Marc Ravalomanana as a matter
of urgency. "It is unacceptable, he must go back to the mayorship and
hand over power to a constitutionally elected leader," Skelemani said.
He accused the 34-year-old Rajoelina of using the military to take the
presidency, only to claim that Ravalomanana had resigned. "He shouldn’t
be recognised by anybody, he is illegitimate. He must go immediately,"
the minister said. Skelemani said that SADC and the African Union (AU)
will take serious steps against Rajoelina if he does not comply
immediately, but ruled out military intervention. "There is no need for
military intervention because people in Madagascar are now rising
against him. If you look at our protocol you will see that military
intervention is the last resort," he said. He cited the Comoros Islands
and Lesotho as examples where SADC and AU military interventions
succeeded without being challenged. "Rajoelina is aware of SADC
capabilities," he said. Botswana and Madagascar have non-residential
relations.
Mmegi
Post published in: News