Mbeki Stands By Zimbabwe Global Political Agreement

All that the Global Political Agreement has done is prolong the resolution of the political impasse in Zimbabwe. Mbeki may be convinced that the coalition is the only way forward - but has he not been watching what Mugabe is up to?

Mugabe has ignored the agreement and has used the impasse to build his own case - claiming sanctions are full and economic and illegal - whilst his people wreak havoc throughout the country, abducting, beating, incarcerating and torturing anyone they think represents or supports the MDC.

Yes, Mbeki did a wonderful job as SADC mediator - if you are on Mugabe's payroll, that is...

And Mbeki’s successor, Jacob Zuma, finds himself in a very difficult position. He and Mugabe are perhaps not as close as Mbeki and Mugabe, but Mugabe still acts as if the agreement was for his benefit and therefore can be ignored or implemented as he – and he alone - requires.

Whilst political commentators the world over point fingers at Mugabe’s activities and hoe they do not conform to the agreement, the more that the African states and the SADC body close ranks to afford Mugabe some room.

A pathetic response to a very serious problem.

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"Former South African President and the man who brokered a solution to Zimbabwe’s long drawn political crisis, Thabo Mbeki, said the Global Political Agreement (GPA) still remained the most viable route to end the country's political crisis.

Mbeki who shuttled between Johannesburg and Harare many times until the GPA was signed in September 2008, said he believed there was no other way out except the GPA.

The GPA was signed by the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) factions and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party. Mugabe was elected President unopposed in 2008 in a re-run of the Presidential election which the main MDC faction leader Morgan Tsvangirai had decided to pull out citing violence.

Mbeki told South African newspapers following the launch of his Thabo Mbeki Foundation and the Thabo Mbeki Africa Leadership Institute that if the country’s political parties stick to the GPA, Zimbabwe will soon find a lasting peace and stability."

The only problem being that Mugabe will NOT stick to the GPA and is more than happy to stand fast until February next year when the coalition supposedly ends. Elections will follow, and, if the information on the ground is in any way correct, then a rerun of the 2008 election violence will follow.

And Mugabe has done this sort of thing time and time again, to the point that no one seems to mind anymore.

"I would hope people are faithfully implementing what was contained in the GPA. And really what was contained in it was that they would put in place various measures which would help overcome the causes of conflict that had taken place in Zimbabwe and create a basis for national reconciliation."

Mbeki, who now leads a group of eminent Africa leaders and trying to chart a peaceful solution to the long drawn political crisis in Sudan, has been vilified for pursuing a quiet diplomacy towards President Robert Mugabe."

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man