Church urges Zim talks

2004-03-17 21:40

Blessings Mambara

Harare - Church leaders in Zimbabwe have renewed their attempts to initiate negotiations between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Members of the MDC and Zanu-PF visited South Africa over the past few days - apparently on invitation of President Thabo Mbeki - to discuss the possibility of negotiations.

Senior officials of the MDC confirmed that Welshman Ncube, Gibson Sibanda and Gift Chimanikiri, members of the party's executive committee, met with Mbeki in South Africa. Attempts to set up a meeting between this group and Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwean minister of justice, in Pretoria were unsuccessful.

Bishop Trevor Manghanga, head of the Evangelical Community of Zimbabwe and spokesperson for the church leaders, said his group was in contact with Mbeki to inform him about the progress they were making in their attempts.

President Benjamin Mkapa from Zambia, chairperson of the South African Development Community (SADC), and President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi were also involved in these attempts, Manghanga said.

The issue of negotiations to find a political solution for Zimbabwe took a backseat recently after the announcement of the election date caused renewed tensions between Zanu-PF and the MDC.

The MDC is threatening to boycott next year's election if a list of reforms is not implemented.

Mebki assured international leaders last year that plans to get negotiations going were progressing well. A target date to find a political solution was set for June 30, which many saw as "unrealistic".

Recent changes within the MDC also influenced the negotiation attempts. The party's shadow minister of foreign affairs, Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, and Sekai Holland, secretary of international affairs, were dismissed. Their dismissals allegedly came because of a dispute over the effectiveness of the party's foreign strategy.

Paul Themba-Nyathi, MDC spokesperson, said the two posts were temporarily being filled by Sibanda, the party's vice-chairperson.

- Media24 Africa