Harare - Zimbabwe has no control over when western countries would remove sanctions imposed on President Robert Mugabe and his cronies, Deputy Prime Minister Author Mutambara Mutambara said all the parties in the inclusive government could do was to appeal for their lifting.
Principals to the GPA agreed that outstanding issues must be implemented concurrently and simultaneously with efforts to have the sanctions lifted. This means that Governors should be appointed but all parties must genuinely work towards ensuring that the sanctions are removed, he said.
Mutambara went further to accuse Zanu PF of peddling propaganda and misinforming the nation that governors would only be appointed when sanctions are removed.
He said provincial governors should therefore be appointed regardless of whether sanctions are lifted or not.
Governorship appointments have been one of the contentious issues threatening to choke life out of the fragile inclusive government after Zanu-PF took an entrenched position not to prematurely terminate the contracts of the officials appointed on August 24, 2008.
Despite the three popular parties in the country agreeing on a 5:4:1 formula in the appointment of the governors, the agreement has failed to see the light of the day and Zanu-PF has been blamed for being intransigent on the issue.
Under the formula, it was proposed that the MDC-T would take charge in five provinces, while ZANU-PF governs in four and MDC-M in one
The Governors should be appointed simultaneously with efforts to have the sanctions lifted, he said.
Last year, the parties agreed that the party with the highest number of votes in each province would claim the governorship of that province. MDC-T had the highest number of votes in Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland North.
Zanu PF had the highest votes in Midlands, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central while MDC-M won in Matabeleland South.
Post published in: News