The Zimbabwe regime's case against Botswana was dealt a major blow
Wednesday, when the SADC chairman disclosed the regional bloc does not
believe Botswana was training MDC 'militants' to try to overthrow Robert
Mugabe.
Briefing journalists in Pretoria, the SADC chair and South African President
Kgalema Motlanthe, made it clear the bloc 'never believed' the allegations
leveled against Botswana by Zimbabwe. Botswana has vehemently denied the
allegations, while the MDC described them as a 'joke'. Tendai Biti, the MDC
Secretary General, said the allegations were part of a plot to create a
pretext for declaring a state of emergency that would give Mugabe broad
security powers.
Journalists were of the view that what Motlanthe said Wednesday could be
read as criticism of Mugabe's leadership, but the South African leader
stopped short of an explicit denunciation.
Zimbabwe has been trying to build up a case against Botswana, accusing the
western neighbour of training MDC 'insurgents' to oust Mugabe and increasing
tensions between the two countries. Botswana's President Ian Khama is one of
few African leaders to publicly criticize Mugabe. He has called for new
elections, after Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai reached deadlock
over posts in a shared administration.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday told the Herald newspaper the
regime had evidence Botswana was giving military training to members of
Tsvangirai's MDC as part of a plot to remove Mugabe. Chinamasa added that
Botswana had 'availed its territory, material and logistical support to the
MDC-T, for the recruitment and military training of youths for the eventual
destabilisation of the country with a view of effecting illegal regime
change'.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi on Tuesday told the Herald newspaper that
Air Marshal Perence Shiri's 'assassination' attempt had been politically
motivated, and he said the shooting was part of 'a buildup of terror attacks
targeting high-profile persons, government officials, government
establishments and public transportation systems.'
His statement cited bombings in August of the Harare Central Police Station,
a road and railroad bridges, as well as November bombings of the criminal
investigation department's headquarters in Harare and, again, the police
station. It alleged that after investigations of the attacks, plastic
explosives were recovered from a senior MDC official.
But Motlanthe's statement in Pretoria put paid to ZANU PF's strategy of
concocting evidence based on alleged confessions by abducted MDC activists.
According to some reports the regime recently sent a dossier containing
hundreds of pages and three DVD's showing MDC 'insurgents' confessing to
training in Botswana. The MDC said the people featured on the videos were
party activists abducted from Mashonaland West a month ago, including their
director of intelligence who was abducted from his home in Harare.
The MDC said this is a strategy the regime has used countless times against
anyone who has dared challenge Mugabe's hold on power.
The party's chief representative in the UK Hebson Makuvise said SADC must
have grown tired with the same story line Mugabe has used for over two
decades.
'Remember these are the same allegations they brought against Ndabaningi
Sithole, Edgar Tekere and lately Morgan Tsvangirai. What do these men have
in common? They all have stood up against Mugabe's misrule and it just tells
you these are cooked up stories that they manufacture each time they are
cornered,' Makuvise said.
The chief representative said Motlanthe was the best placed person to
rubbish the allegations, taking into account that Mugabe last year made the
same allegations against the South African government.
'ZANU PF made similar allegations last year against South Africa to a point
were Thabo Mbeki invited them to search the so called MDC training camps on
South African soil. After weeks of searches they found nothing and nothing
was never heard of again about these allegations. So Motlanthe being part of
the South African government and head of SADC knows better,' Makuvise added.
Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the recent sequence of events
that have seen one of Mugabe's main architects of terror dying and two being
injured in unexplained incidents.
Elliot Manyika, who terrorized the whole country when leading the Border
Gezi green bombers, died in a mysterious car crash two weeks ago. Last week
the chief commander of farm grabs Joseph Chinotimba, sustained serious
injuries in another car crash. Reports say he is now paralysed after
suffering a broken back. and questions remain as to why details of the
incident were only released in the state media on Wednesday.
Last Saturday the most infamous of Mugabe's henchmen, Air Marshall Perence
Shiri, is reported to have survived an assassination attempt, although
events around the incident raise many questions. With ZANU PF well known
for eliminating its own opponents, many observers believe these three cases
clearly indicate in-fighting, jockeying for position and a party facing
imminent collapse, as it turns on it's own.
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