Zimbabwe: EALS to hold consultative meeting

EALS TO HOLD CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON ZIMBABWE NEXT WEEK

East Africa Law Society (EALS) is calling for an emergency Pan-African Citizens’ Consultation next week to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis. The meeting which is supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) takes place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday, April 21, 2008. It brings together representatives of the civil society, legal fraternity, trade union, academia and other interested stakeholders in the Eastern and Southern Africa region and the rest of the continent and intends to advocate for action by the African Union (AU) in the Zimbabwe post election crisis.

The one-day meeting whose theme is: “An Emergency Consultation: Africa Taking the Initiative on the Zimbabwe Election Crisis”, seeks to foster reflective discussions on the impact of the recently concluded Zimbabwe elections and the delay in the release of results. It also expects to catalyze further initiatives and interjections by the AU, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and governments in the region.

70 participants drawn from 18 countries in Africa will participate in the consultative meeting. The countries represented are: the five EAC Partner States, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Botswana, Angola and DRC. Others are Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa. Regional organizations expected include: SADC Lawyers Association, Media Institute of Southern Africa, and Southern African Judges Commission among others.

Participants are expected to get accurate and detailed update on the current situation in Zimbabwe and to reflect on the possible options available to SADC, COMESA and, most importantly, the AU. The outcome of the intervention, it is envisaged, shall include procurement of a progress report for stakeholders, as well as a strong Communiqué and resolutions to be presented to President Jakaya Kikwete, the United Republic of Tanzania, in his capacity as Chair of the Summit of the African Union. Special emphasis will further be laid on messages that shall be delivered to the Peace and Security Commission of the African Union.

The meeting will take the opportunity to add its voice towards applying pressure on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately relay the results of the elections held on March 29, 2008. The People of East Africa, individually, and through various civil society organizations and caucuses have since the Zimbabwe elections joined forces with the rest of the continent in expressing deep concern at the pace with which the ZEC has handled the election results, precipitating a national crisis.

The reflective consultation comes hot on the heels of the recent SADC Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia, and attended by political leaders in the Southern Africa region. The meeting however did not produce quick solutions to the crisis and instead urged Zimbabweans to wait for the electoral body to finish its work. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also filed an application at the High Court to force the ZEC to officially release the results. The High Court rejected the bid in its ruling suggesting that the Electoral Commission needs more time for verification. ZANU PF and President Robert Mugabe insist on a second round of voting even before the results are officially released saying that none of the candidates wholly won the polls. The MDC on its part is laying its stake in claim for victory.

Consequently, the civil society and trade unions in the country are talking of a rollout of peaceful actions and strikes aimed at compelling the ZEC towards release of the results. According to EALS CEO, Don Deya, any further delays could lead to a situation where the country may degenerate into chaos triggered by the fear that ZEC is manipulating or tampering with the Presidential elections results. “We applaud the people of Zimbabwe for being patient yet very alert and vigilant to avoid the manipulation of results”, Deya recently noted.

While the immediate focus of next week’s meeting is on the Eastern and Southern African countries, its importance far exceeds those borders, and the lessons learnt are replicable continent-wide. There is an imminent need for the African Union to encourage the revision of electoral laws across the continent, adherence to the rule of the law and to constitutionalism.