Zimbabwean Prime Minister as well as civil society leaders tour Europe
Prime Minister Tsvangirai has been
touring European capitals to raise funds and re-establish relations between the
unity government and the EU, normalizing the frozen relations of the past 10
years.
Following meetings in Brussels on 18 -19 June 2009, between
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the EU troika, the EU and
Zimbabwe will re-open the political
dialogue. The dialogue takes place under
Article 8 of the Cotonou Convention between the EU and any African, Caribbean
and Pacific state party to the Convention, including Zimbabwe. Talks are expected
to proceed between Zimbabwe's unity government and EU representatives in the
country's capital, Harare. Travel restrictions on some members of the unity government
and the current freeze on long-term development aid under the European
Development Fund (EDF) remain.
Fambai Ngirande, Lobby and Advocacy
Manager of the National Association of Zimbabwe's NGOs responded: "Our message
to the EU is simple. Zimbabwe is broke and cannot sustain itself; we therefore
need European support. But give your money directly to the people and don't
disburse it through government, as there are no guarantees that this money will
be used for the right purposes. First the government must undertake key reforms
itself, and then you can provide government-to-government support. Otherwise
you might fund the continued oppression of the people of Zimbabwe."
Zimbabwean
civil society leaders travelled European capitals as well, preparing the ground
for the official delegation's visit, on a tour prepared by the Zimbabwe Europe
Network. The European Partnership for Democracy co-organised a Roundtable for
Brussels-based civil society, European and African governments and EU
institutions, at which four Zimbabwean civil society leaders - McDonald
Lewanika Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Gideon Shoko, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, the afore mentioned Fambai
Ngirande National Association of Zimbabwe's NGOs, and Abel Chikomo, Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum - shared their insights on the situation in Zimbabwe, the
challenges for the democratic transition and how Europe could assist this.
What is the situation in Zimbabwe like at the
moment?
"The picture
is definitely changed from the bad situation in Zimbabwe last year. Today one
year ago, a terror campaign was ongoing, many people died or disappeared and the
offices of organizations like ours were flooded with victims of the violence.
Some sense of stability and security has returned. The humanitarian situation
though is still very poor: we're feeding half of the population on food aid,
people still die from cholera - a preventable
and easy curable disease, unemployment has gone up to 95%, we have many
orphans. Over 3.5 million Zimbabweans have meanwhile become economic or
political emigrants."
Which results have the current political
agreement and the Inclusive Government produces for the Zimbabwean public?
" The mere
fact that we can address questions like these without fear of retributive
attacks results from the new political dispensation. Only 3 torture cases were
reported to us throughout the month of April, which is an all-time low. Inflation
figures were astronomical last year, prices would change 3 times a day, this situation
was only saved when the GPA (Global Political Agreement) was signed and the GNU
(Government of National Unity) came into place, inflation went down to 3%. Civil
society is able to do its work in the country again, people enjoy more freedoms,
but Zimbabwe still has a long way to go.
The
Inclusive Government doesn't need donor money to free the media, to respect
court orders, repeal oppressive legislation and to adhere to the rule of law,
this only requires political will. Institutional reform is critical, we have to
rebuild our confidence in the police forces and the security sector. Our
235.000 civil servants are not receiving salaries, but an allowance of 100 USD
a month, workers in the private sector are getting 20 - 50 USD. Due to past
experiences, we still do not trust our banks to put our money there. "
How does Zimbabwe's civil society see the way
forward and how can the European Union contribute to that?
" The Inclusive
Government has a clearly laid out agenda for democratization and economic stabilization.
Reforming our constitution and democratic institutions so they can serve the
interests of the citizens of Zimbabwe is an important area where Europe can
help the Inclusive Government succeeding. We need more business investments too
and stop the Economic Partnership Agreements to stop muddling up our markets.
Donor support is necessary for the short term, but it has to be delivered in a clever
way, addressing the strategic questions,
to prevent us from having to come back for more money next year or the year
thereafter. We need to make a mind shift from donor support only to trade,
investment and partnership.
Any
re-engagement must be against a set of principles, as provided for in the GPA. A
continuation of the opening up of the democratic space, freeing the media. We
as civil society have concerns about the inclusive character of the
constitutional reform process and a lack of safeguards against an executive
edit of the outcomes of the consultative process, as happened in 1999. We
advocate for a self-executing clause which allows the Constitution to come into
action.
Our people
have become very violent people, suffering from the state violence. The state
still employs 34.000 youth militia and the war veteran base camps are not
dismantled. No we might not be very well positioned for a peaceful transition.
We need structural changes right now, a new constitution and a culture of constitutionalism,
protecting our people from the military to take over."
Related article on EPD website :
If we would have wanted a revolution, we should not have started negotiating (7/6/2009)