Zim exclusion threatens to tear Commonwealth apart

by Brian Mangwende published on November 27, 2003 in Fingaz

ZIMBABWE’S continued exclusion from the Commonwealth has caused a hue and cry among the country’s leadership amid reports of heightened fears of a major rift among the "Club" members of mostly former British colonies.

The country was suspended in March last year for 12 months on allegations that President Robert Mugabe stole the 2002 presidential election from the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, using the state machinery, ruling party youths and war veterans to perpetrate untold violence against dissenting voices.

The Commonwealth then ordered Zimbabwe, among other things, to restore the rule of law before it could be re-admitted into the "Club".

Australia, Nigeria and South Africa (the troika on Zimbabwe) were tasked to oversee the process which Zimbabwe’s critics say has not even started.

Zimbabwe had to fulfil at least five benchmarks before being re-admitted into the club. The country had to achieve national reconciliation and dialogue, repeal legislation that prejudices freedom of speech, of the Press and of peaceful assembly, end harassment of opposition and civil society groups, address the recommendations of two Commonwealth election observer reports and to engage the Commonwealth secretariat and the UN Development Programme on a proper land reform programme.

However, there is no consensus within the "Club" and the grouping now seems to be increasingly divided over Zimbabwe’s continued ouster with news from Tripoli that Mozambican Foreign Affairs Minister, Leonardo Simao, believes President Mugabe should be invited to the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja in December.

Simao, who heads the regional task force on Zimbabwe, was quoted by AIM in Tripoli as saying: "The experience we have accumulated shows us that isolation and exclusion doesn’t solve anything. Inclusion is the best way of solving anything. What we want to avoid is anything that contributes to dividing Zimbabweans. We want a solution that unites them, both for the present government and for the government that may come in future."

However, the Commonwealth premier human rights watchdog, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), sees the situation differently. It is adamant that Zimbabwe must remain suspended until the government has demonstrated that it is committed to the upholding of human rights.

CHRI urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo — who was in the country last week on a one-day visit to assess if there had been any progress on human rights violations — to show his solidarity and concern for the Zimbabwean people by refusing to invite President Mugabe to Abuja.

The "Club"’s human rights watchdog said: "Obasanjo should not succumb to President Mugabe’s cynical attempts to justify the suffering he has inflicted on Zimbabweans along racial lines" in an apparent reference to the acquisition of previously white commercial farms to resettle landless Zimbabweans.

But the government has since lashed out at its continued suspension, saying it was improper, racial and meant to reverse the gains of the land reform programme.

Scores of commercial farmers were driven off their properties to pave way for landless Zimbabweans as part of the government’s efforts to correct historic injustices.

Although Zimbabwe’s suspension expired on March 19 this year, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, head of the Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe, the "Club"’s secretary-general Don Mckinnon, the United Kingdom and New Zealand are of the opinion that the country should remain suspended until the outcome of the December CHOGM pencilled for Abuja, Nigeria. Their argument is that Zimbabwe has not yet addressed any of the conditions stipulated by the "Club".

Some local analysts this week felt that because of its failure to meet the conditions set by the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe should remain suspended from the "Club" while others thought it would not benefit either the Commonwealth or Zimbabwe if the exclusion continued indefinitely.

Asked why Zimbabwe insisted on being part of a group that had no respect for it whatsoever, political commentator Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said: "No nation can live in isolation. The world has become a global village and a nation’s development is now linked to international developments. If Zimbabwe continues to be excluded from the Commonwealth, then the country would be in position to access technical assistance derived from its association with other countries.

"It’s quite clear that the government has realised this, but it’s a long shot for it to be re-admitted because the conditions of suspension have not been addressed.

"In a way, the government acknowledges that it has been suspended and for them to say that the suspension has expired when they have not even started attending to the causes of the suspension is diplomatic immaturity."

Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge has since charged that Zimbabwe was never properly suspended and that the whole process was based along racial lines.

But Mukonoweshuro said: "As a Foreign Affairs Minister, Mudenge should act more seriously and stop expressing frustration over the inability to be rehabilitated back into the Commonwealth."

Heneri Dzinotyiwei of the University of Zimbabwe said: "Once Zimbabwe remains excluded from the "Club", the impact it will have on other nations is detrimental. Zimbabwe needs to be re-admitted into the Commonwealth for it to benefit from the proceedings of the group. It will not benefit either Zimbabwe or the Commonwealth if the country continues to be ostracised from the international community.

"I don’t believe Obasanjo is even sure yet what his consultations will yield. He is walking a tight rope," he said, expressing misgivings about the Nigerian leader’s prospects of succeeding in bridging the political divide in Zimbabwe.

Dzinotyiwei added that Zimbabwe’s continued exclusion from the Commonwealth would put the final nail in the coffin of the already faltering investor confidence in what was once Southern African’s strongest economies.

Chairman of Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe, Brian Raftopoulos, slammed the government saying Zimbabwe should only be re-admitted after addressing all key issues pertaining to the breakdown of the rule of law in the country.

"Zimbabwe should continue to be suspended from the Commonwealth because the conditions have not changed since its suspension," Raftopoulos said. "Zimbabwe would gain by being part of the grouping, but it seems the government wants the people to continue suffering. If re-admitted, the country will have access to a lot of resources, but the government has continued to defy procedures and there has not been any significant improvement as far as the adherence to basic democratic principles is concerned."