Mnangagwa Blocks Ramaphosa’s Envoys From Meeting Chamisa’s Delegation
Zimbabwe’s opposition party, MDC Alliance on Monday released a statement saying President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoys had at the last minute canceled a meeting with the party’s representatives.
The Nelson Chamisa led party said the special envoys which consist of had notified them that they would be returning to South Africa without seeing the opposition party’s delegates.
Read: Pictures: Mnangagwa meets Ramaphosa’s special envoys
MDC Alliance added that they assume that the failure by the envoys to meet its delegates was a result of demands made by the Zanu PF delegation.
Savanna News publishes the full statement by MDC Alliance below:
The MDC Alliance was formally requested to be available for a meeting today, the 10. of August 2020, with the special envoys that were deployed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to Zimbabwe. A delegation remained on standby from 10am this morning only to be advised at the end of the day that the special envoys would be returning to South Africa without meeting the MDC Alliance delegation. in order to brief President Ramaphosa on the outcomes of their meeting with Mr Mnangagwa.
We can only assume that the failure to meet the MDC Alliance delegation was as a result of demands made by the Zanu PF delegation.
We reiterate that Zimbabwe is in a state of crisis that has been characterized by a de facto state 0 emergency, a crackdown on citizens, abductions, arbitrary arrests of government critics and the political persecution of journalists.
The Government in Harare is incapable of resolving these challenges because it lacks legitimacy. We are of the firm view that any solution to the ongoing socio-economic challenges lies in resolving the political crisis and answering the outstanding legitimacy question. It is clear that Mr Mnanangagwa is not ready to resolve the national crisis through genuine dialogue. However, the deteriorating plight of the Zimbabwean people means that a political settlement is more urgent than before.
We will continue to mount pressure on Mr Mnangagwa to engage in sincere dialogue until the national crisis is resolved.
On Twitter, Zimbabwe’s Secretary for Information Nick Mangwana said it was not necessary for the envoys to meet the opposition saying:
Earlier today I was talking to some former diplomats about Special Envoys. We were recalling HE President sending Special Envoys in the region including when he sent Hon Kazembe Kazembe to Conakry. All these Special Envoys met the Head of State briefed him/her and went back.
Read: Full Statement: AU urges Zim government to protect human rights