Monday, 14 December 2009 14:23
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe looks headed for a clash with South African
President Jacob Zuma after his Zanu (PF) party told the new SADC-appointed
mediator to be “patient” with Zimbabwe’s political crisis and insisted it
would resist attempts to reform the country’s partisan security forces.

Fresh clashes also loom between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
after last week’s Zanu (PF) national congress resolved that any issues
agreed so far in power-sharing negotiations that have been taking place in
Harare would only be implemented when the MDC-T has successfully called for
the lifting of a travel ban and asset freeze imposed by the West on Mugabe
and 200 of his loyalists.
“There should be no movement on the concerns of the MDC formations without
corresponding and simultaneous redress of Zanu (PF)’s concerns such as the
illegal Western sanctions, Western-funded pirate radio broadcasts and
Western interference in Zimbabwean internal politics through the funding of
parallel government structures,” read part of the resolutions adopted by
Mugabe’s party last Saturday.
Such ranting against “foreign interference” is to be expected from a Zanu
(PF) meeting but in the backdrop of Zuma’s entry as new mediator and his
reported intent to push for quicker resolution of outstanding issues, the
congress resolutions look like they were specifically meant for the South
African President’s ear.
Of particular interest is one resolution that talks of “no foreigners,
individuals, corporates or national (sic) in whatever capacity or any from
time to time find themselves involved in aspects of Zimbabwe’s bilateral
disputes have the right to impose a constitutional order on Zimbabwe.”
The resolution gives the impression that Mugabe and Zanu (PF) would not
accept a new constitution unless the document reflects the wishes and views
of their own party – regardless of what Zuma and the rest of the
international community think.
Constitutional reform is in fact the most important task for the
power-sharing government formed by Mugabe and Tsvangirai in February and
which was guaranteed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Patience
Zanu (PF) asked Zuma to be patient with Zimbabwe’s political crisis and to
understand that the parties have “delicate, sensitive fundamental concerns
that cannot be resolved overnight”.
The call for patience appears to suggest Mugabe’s party is not too happy
with the way Zuma has gone about trying to have the outstanding issues
resolved quickly.
Zuma, who replaced former South African president Thabo Mbeki last month as
SADC-appointed mediator in the Zimbabwean crisis, is said to be anxious to
see a quick resolution of the problems in Harare.
The South African leader is said to be keen to have the Zimbabwean political
dispute resolved quickly to avoid bad publicity that could cloud the World
Cup tournament that is happening on African soil for the first time.
To show that he was serious about a fast-tracked resolution of Zimbabwe’s
crisis, one of his first tasks as mediator was to sack the old facilitation
team appointed by former South African President Thabo Mbeki and putting
together his own group of people.
The new three-member team is headed by Zuma’s political adviser Charles
Nqakula and includes special envoy Mac Maharaj and the president’s
international relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu.
The appointment of a new facilitation team completed the removal of Mbeki
and his envoys since Zuma assumed the facilitator’s role at last month’s
SADC defence and security organ summit in Maputo.
Since the start of the inter-party negotiations between Zanu (PF) party and
the MDC-T, Mbeki has been accused of adopting a softly-softly approach
towards Mugabe.
The MDC has on several occasions requested that Mbeki be relieved of his
mediation role in the Zimbabwean crisis.

Security sector
Another potential clash-point between Mugabe and Zuma on the one hand, and
Mugabe and Tsvangirai on the other, is the Zimbabwean leader’s insistence
that he would never allow any move to change or reform the security forces
as demanded by the MDC-T and the international community.
The MDC-T is pressing for reform of the security forces that the Prime
Minister’s party says have been heavily politicised and have virtually
become a security arm of Zanu (PF).
“May I state this clearly and categorically, (that) as Zanu (PF) the defence
of our sovereignty rests with us and with no other. Any manoeuvres to tamper
with the forces will never be entertained by us,” said Mugabe, who has had
to rely on the security forces since 2000 to prop up his waning political
career.
Many senior security officers have vowed never to recognise Tsvangirai as
leader.
The remarks by Mugabe came just days after Tsvangirai announced last
Thursday that his office had embarked on reforms of the security forces
despite resistance encountered from some quarters of Zimbabwe’s fragile
coalition government.
The premier said his office was working with relevant ministries on a
programme to train members of the security forces on key governance issues
such as human rights as part of efforts to turn the army, intelligence
service and police force into non-partisan outfits that respect the laws of
the land and enforce them impartially.
“Within the GPA (Global Political Agreement), there is a commitment to train
all security personnel in human rights and my office has already begun to
work with the relevant ministries on these programmes regardless of any
resistance we may encounter,” Tsvangirai said during a presentation at an
event organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights in Harare.

Security Council
The move by Tsvangirai appears calculated to beat hawkish elements in
Zimbabwe’s armed forces and Zanu (PF) who have deliberately frustrated
efforts to regularly convene meetings of the National Security Council
(NSC).
The council, which replaced the Joint Military Command (JOC) which was
allegedly behind last year’s bloody run-off election campaign to retain
Mugabe, is supposed to meet monthly but has only met once since the
formation of a coalition government by the 85-year leader, Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara in February.
The NSC is the new security think tank of the country and comprises Mugabe
as chairperson, the two Vice-Presidents John Nkomo and Joice Mujuru,
Tsvangirai, Mutambara, co-Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe as well as
ministers responsible for finance, defence and the police Force.
All the country’s top security commanders are ex-officio members of the
council.

The Zimbabwean