HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa Saturday walked into a SADC ambush over a damning regional observer mission report over Zimbabwe’s disputed elections, later confirming tough exchanges with his peers over attempts to “smuggle” the controversial issue into the day’s deliberations.
SADC leaders held an extraordinary summit initially set to discuss the DRC’s security situation.
In a communique following a physical meeting held in Angola on Saturday, SADC leaders “noted” the report although details of the deliberations were kept under wraps.
“Summit received an update on the elections in the SADC Member States and noted the report of the SADC Election Observation Mission to the Harmonised Elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe held in August 2023, and the General Elections in the Kingdom of Eswatini in September 2023,” read the report in part.
Signs however indicated Mnangagwa was bruised by the situation.
A sullen Zimbabwean leader hinted on acrimonious exchanges with his peers in an interview with ZBC, as he came close to painting those who put the matter on the agenda as evil.
“Excellent, very successful SADC summit,” he said when door-stepped to give comment over the summit.
Mnangagwa was quick however to contradict himself when he hinted his delegation fought to have the matter dropped from the agenda.
“No. These things happen in society. Not everybody is a priest,” he said of reported attempts to “smuggle” the Zimbabwe poll report onto the agenda.
“So, you find these things happen, but we are so alert that we had gone to deal with the things that were relevant to the summit which was called.
“This was extraordinary which mean there was a particular subject we had to discuss.”
The SADC Observer Mission (SEOM) to the country’s elections said the poll that saw Mnangagwa declared winner with a 52,6 percent majority vote came short of meeting both regional and international benchmarks set for a plebiscite to be considered free and fair.
The report invited an angry reaction from both government and Zanu PF officials who singled out former Zambian vice president Nevers Mumba, leader of the mission, for torrents of insults accusing him of being influenced by Zambian president Hichilema Hakainde to besmirch the Zimbabwe leadership.
Hichilema is considered an ally of Zimbabwe’s main opposition after the two parties closed ranks when the Zambian incumbent spent years in opposition politics in his country.
SADC is under fire for failure to take a stand against Zimbabwe, whose endless political and economic crisis has driven over a million citizens outside the country’s borders in search of greener pastures.
