Tsvangirai and Mutambara have officially asked SADC to intervene

By Tichaona Sibanda
28 May 2009

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara have finally sent a letter to SADC, officially asking them to break the talks deadlock over the appointment of the central bank chief and the attorney general.

On Wednesday we had spoken to two senior MDC officials who had told us that Tsvangirai would be writing to SADC before the end of the week.
But Gordon Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, told us on Thursday the letter, co-authored by the two leaders, was dispatched late Wednesday.

‘There is one letter that was sent via the South African embassy for onward transmission. This letter represents the views of the two principals (Tsvangirai and Mutambara). But what is important is what is contained in the letter rather than who wrote it,’ Moyo said.

This highlights the problems journalists face in trying to clarify issues with the government, given the lack of official press releases.

Before the SADC letter was officially delivered the MDC had been on a diplomatic offensive, briefing regional leaders about the deadlock. Following these consultations, they finally drafted the letter addressed to the SADC chairman, South African President Jacob Zuma.

It was reported on Thursday that a draft of the letter had been seen and in it Tsvangirai and Mutambara expressed dissatisfaction that the delays in solving the issue of Gono and Tomana were threatening the credibility of the coalition government.

The letter is believed to have referred to the summit held in January in which it was agreed that the appointment of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General should be dealt with by the coalition government.

Mutambara and Tsvangirai have pointed out in the letter to Zuma that despite innumerable meetings between the three principals, Mugabe has refused to budge on Gono and Tomana, despite the SADC ruling for all parties to agree on senior appointments.