Principals agree to start GPA implementation
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 20:03
Faith Zaba
THE three political principals in the inclusive government have agreed to
start implementing the 24 agreed principles in the Global Political
Agreement in accordance with timelines set out in the implementation matrix
they adopted in August last year.
This comes as South Africa, the Sadc-appointed facilitator of the Zimbabwe
political crisis, said this week it will not allow President Robert Mugabe
to hold elections until outstanding issues of the power-sharing agreement
are resolved, including the enactment of a new constitution.
Marius Fransman, South African International Relations deputy minister, on
Tuesday said disputes over the appointment of provincial governors and
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, hiring of central bank governor Gideon
Gono, and the swearing in of MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett as deputy
agriculture minister should be resolved before polls are held.
“The South African position and that of Sadc is to ensure that the next
elections as envisaged in the GPA are held under a new constitution that
would have the product of the constitution-making process supported by the
Zimbabwean electorate through a referendum,” he said. “In this regard, any
calls for elections without the finalisation of the constitution-making
process are in breach of the GPA as well as the constitution… which gives
legitimacy to the inclusive government.”
Top government sources said Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his
deputy Arthur Mutambara agreed at their meeting last Friday to follow the
implementation matrix they agreed on in August during the Sadc Summit in
Windhoek.
The inclusive government failed to meet the timelines they set out in the
implementation matrix after Zanu PF said it would not make any more
concessions until sanctions are removed.
Zanu PF said the implementation of the agreed principles should be done
concurrently and simultaneously with the removal of sanctions.
Mugabe has said he will never swear-in Bennett and neither will he fire
Tomana and Gono.
“The principals agreed to implement the 23 agreed issues as these form the
basis of the roadmap to elections. These will be done within the timeframes
they set out and some of these should be done within a month. Implementation
was supposed to start this week,” one of the sources said.
According to the implementation matrix contained in a document sent to Sadc
mediator South African President Jacob Zuma on August 5 2010, the three
principals agreed to implement most of the 23 issues either immediately or
within a month.
They agreed to implement the sanctions removal strategy on a continuous
basis.
All media issues, which include regularisation of the Broadcasting Authority
of Zimbabwe (BAZ) board, the appointment of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH) board and the constitution of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust
(ZMMT) are supposed to be done within a month.
Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu in September last year
appointed boards to various state-run media institutions without consulting
his deputy, who then was Jameson Timba.
MDC-T lambasted Shamu for what they described as the militarisation of BAZ
and ZBH.
In addition to the appointment of several retired military personnel to the
institutions, Shamu appointed former chairperson of the disbanded Media and
Information Commission, Tafataona Mahoso, to chair BAZ, which is responsible
for issuing broadcasting licences.
The principals agreed to end hate speech in the media and put a stop to
attacks on ministers implementing government programmes. This, they said,
should be done on a continuous basis.
According to the implementation matrix, security sector reforms should be
implemented on continuous basis. They agreed to ensure that the
commissioner-general of the police, state security organs and the
Attorney-General should comply with Articles 11 and 13.
Article 11 deals with the rule of law, respect for the constitution and
other laws and Article 13 states that state organs and institutions do not
belong to any political party and should be impartial in the discharge of
their duties.
Some of the issues they agreed to implement within a month include the
appointment of a land audit commission, ministerial mandates ––assignment of
Acts –– and appointment of a national economic council.
The principles which are supposed to be implemented immediately include
endorsement of cabinet and council of ministers’ rules, guidelines and
procedures as agreed on by the negotiators and rectification of the Prime
minister’s transport arrangements.
They also supposed to immediately speed up the process of vetting, training
and engagement of security personnel for the Prime Minister and his
deputies, regularise the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and appoint the
Anti-Corruption Commission and ensure that the permanent secretary of
information is apolitical.
The Minister of Justice is supposed to immediately gazette the full text of
the Constitutional Amendment No.19 as approved by parliament, while the
commissioner-general of the police and co-Home Affairs minister are supposed
to reaffirm the right to freely organise political activities.
The amendments to the Electoral Act are supposed to be immediately
finalised.
Government is supposed to implement within two months the following –– land
tenure systems, expedite adoption of non-partisan and inclusive principles
and framework for the selection of national heroes.
Meanwhile, sources in the negotiation teams told Zimbabwe Independent that
only MDC-T and MDC-N have presented their proposals to the roadmap on
elections, with Zanu PF saying they should follow the roadmap outlined in
the GPA.
According to the GPA, the processes leading to elections include drafting a
new constitution, a referendum followed by elections.
In statements issued by Zanu PF no mention has been made on the roadmap,
which Zuma is supposed to present to the Sadc troika meeting expected end of
March.
Mugabe this week said: “Things must be done properly within the GPA.”