United States won’t be fooled by Robert Mugabe


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The United States of America has said the success or failure of a government of national unity in Zimbabwe, hinges solely on the credibility of president Robert Mugabe.

In a statement, US Embassy spokesman, Robert Wood, said his country would only lift targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe once power had been shared equally between the three parties.

Under the Global agreement facilitated by SADC, Mugabe’s Zanu PF and opposition MDC formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Author Mutambara respectively, should form an all inclusive government by the end of next week.

“The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has agreed to join a unity government with Robert Mugabe under the conditions called for in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) January 27 Communiqué.”

The statement indicates that it is incumbent on Mr. Mugabe to respect his commitment to the powersharing agreement. “The success or failure of such a government will depend on credible and inclusive power sharing by Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. The international community must remain engaged and continue to scrutinize actions by Mr. Mugabe to ensure adherence to the letter and spirit of this agreement, including respect for human rights and the rule of law. We urge SADC to fulfill its obligation to guarantee that Mr. Mugabe proceeds on a new path toward reconciliation and genuine partnership with the MDC.”

According to Mr. Wood the United States will be monitoring the Zimbabwean political scene closely to make sure that there is “evidence of true power sharing as well as inclusive and effective governance” before considering “new development assistance and easing of targeted sanctions”.

In the meantime, the American government “will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the Zimbabwean people in their time of suffering,” .

Constitution Amendment Number 19 Bill which paves way for the formation of the inclusive government is expected to be presented and passed in Parliament today. This follows a meeting of negotiators from the three parties in South Africa yesterday under the facilitation of former president Thabo Mbeki.

The Bill, which gives legal effect to the inclusive government, was supposed to have been tabled in parliament yesterday but was deferred to today because of the negotiators meeting.

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