Pan African Parliament to host special debate on Zimbabwe

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 April, 2007

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) opened its seventh session on Monday and Zimbabwe was already high on the agenda. Parliamentary clerk Murumba Werunga announced that a motion would be introduced Tuesday on the deteriorating human rights crisis in Zimbabwe. The motion was expected to be introduced by Suzanne Vos, an MP with South Africa’s Inkatha Freedom Party. Botswana MP L. Boyce Sebetla was to second it. This unprecedented debate is scheduled to take place on Friday.

South Africa’s Business Day paper quotes Suzanne Vos saying:
"We are also responsible for consolidating democracy and ensuring good governance. We cannot ignore the pictures on television of Zimbabwean police beating opposition supporters and the bloody faces of Zimbabwe opposition MPs."

According to Business Day, the Ghanaian president and African Union chairman John Kufuor addressed the opening ceremony, saying the Pan African Parliament should have more to say about what he called "sister nations” that do not uphold or respect human rights.

Kufour was in South Africa Tuesday, where he is reported to be holding brief talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki. Speaking as he arrived at the Union Building, Kufour said there should be concern about the crisis in Zimbabwe. He is quoted saying: “When the leader of the opposition gets beaten up, for good or ill, naturally all concerned should be worried."

Mbeki was appointed the key mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) last month. So far he has still not criticised the Mugabe regime publicly.
Kufour was forced to speak about the Zimbabwe crisis during a visit to London last month when activists from the Free Zim Youth group interrupted his address to diplomats and Ghanaian students. At the time, he said the situation in Zimbabwe was embarrassing.