This follows reports of continuing violence unleashed by President Robert Mugabe on his political opponents, despite a recent order by the SADC for the octogenarian leader to stop the crackdown, mainly targeted at the mainstream MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The SADC Troika summit in Zambia on March 31 noted with grave concern the polarisation of the political environment as characterised by the resurgence of violence, arrests and intimidation. It resolved that there must be an immediate end of violence, intimidation, hate speech, harassment, and any other form of action that contradicts the letter and spirit of GPA. But a civil rights leader here said Mugabe and his junta continued to destabilise the GNU.
There has been very little change and we are worried that hate speech is continuing in the state media, while violence has not subsided, said Munjodzi Mutandiri of the National Constitutional Assembly. A dossier with credible evidence will be released just before and during the SADC meeting. For example, ZBC is still being dominated by Zanu (PF) propaganda, with no other party getting coverage.
Among a number of measures that the groups will demand is the immediate suspension of Zimbabwe from the regional grouping, which gave Mugabe a lifeline when he faced rejection by the majority of Zimbabweans.
Post published in: Politics