Wade proposes a broader mediation team to resolve political impasse

By Henry Makiwa
29 November 2007

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has told Robert Mugabe and the MDC to engage a broader team of mediators to solve the country’s political crisis.

Although the precise details of Wade’s meetings with both parties have been wrapped in secrecy, sources in the opposition say the Senegalese leader has questioned the impartiality of South African President Thabo Mbeki as the mediator of the current talks. Numerous attempts to contact the MDC on Thursday were in vain, while a statement by Wade at a press conference in Harare avoided mentioning specific details.

The information blackout once again underlines the continuing secrecy in the ongoing talks between the ruling party and the opposition. Zimbabweans have been kept in the dark about the details and denied the right to participate in a process that will shape their future.

It is however understood that Wade suggested to both Mugabe and the MDC that a five-member heads of state committee should be set up to look into the country’s political crisis. Wade also proposed that the same group of African leaders would help heal Zimbabwe's rift with its former colonial power, the UK. Wade says efforts to end the country’s crisis cannot be left to Mbeki alone and Africa as a whole must do more to help.

Wade’s assertions reignited the widespread argument that questions the impartiality of South African President Thabo Mbeki in the mediation talks. Although Wade said Mbeki would be part of the suggested 5 member group, the South African leader may view such an arrangement as an attempt to diminish his influence in Zimbabwe.

At a press conference in Harare, Wade said: “I am going to propose the creation of a committee of five heads of state, which will include Thabo Mbeki, of course, to try to resolve relations between England and Zimbabwe. I come to Zimbabwe to meet my brother Mugabe because I think that in Africa we should help each other. You know that this country has some problems with the British and I think all African countries should help Zimbabwe.”

Observers say Wade's bid to broaden mediation efforts in Zimbabwe, beyond the ongoing Mbeki process, is unlikely to be supported by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which has mandated the South African head of state to end the political impasse in Harare.

Analyst Brian Kagoro said: “I do not want to sound like one endorsing the Mbeki process, but the deadline most people are working towards, is the election date. So broadening the mediation team may not really bring the desired effects and it can at worst, slow down a process already in motion.”

While Wade was in Harare his opposition at home was raising it’s voice against him in Dakar. The Senegal-based Pan-African Human Rights Group RADDHO criticised Wade for flying off to Zimbabwe while so many social and economic problems are unresolved in his own country.

"Wade has absolutely no business involving himself in this mediation. He's going to make a fool of himself. Because no one is better placed than Mbeki and he hasn't been able to manage it," RADDHO secretary general Alioune Tine told a news conference in the Senegalese capital.