Media leaks cause friction at SADC talks

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 December 2007

There is heightened tension at the ongoing SADC sponsored talks among the negotiating parties, who are blaming each other for leaking ‘sensitive’ information to the media.

A source in South Africa told Newsreel on Monday that leaks to the media were creating a lot of friction between the negotiating teams, as much of the time was being spent haggling over who was responsible for leaking confidential information.

‘The leaks are not being helpful at all. Some of the reports are totally not true and they are causing more harm than good at the talks. I wish the media could refrain from reporting such falsehoods,’ said our source.

An agreement from the talks is expected to be ready by Friday but there are lingering doubts as to whether the Tsvangirai led MDC will sign it or not. Secretary for International Affairs Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro said the Accord is expected to come in two parts.

He said the first would be the actual text of agreed measures between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the two factions of the MDC. The second would be a memorandum of understanding between the same players.

‘Once we get a copy of each the two pacts, we will convene a meeting of the national council and study the two documents. But we should emphasize from the beginning that we have kept our bargain from the start and Zanu-PF has failed to implement any of its concessions,’ Mukonoweshuro said.

Mukonoweshuro told us from Lisbon, Portugal on Monday that they had fruitful discussions with many European Union delegates on the sidelines of the EU-Africa summit. The SADC sponsored talks however dominated most of their meetings.

‘Almost everyone we met from Foreign Affairs ministers to high ranking government officials from the European Union wanted to know how the talks were progressing. It shows this is a big issue which Zanu-PF is unfortunately undermining,’ he said.