ANC asks Zimbabwe to honour Abuja Accord

By M. S. Prabhakara

CAPE TOWN, SEPT. 29. As the Abuja Accord on Zimbabwe's land crisis threatens to unravel, Dr. Pallo Jordan, a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC) and a Member of Parliament, has called upon the Zimbabwean Government to ``fulfill the letter and spirit of the Abuja agreement to restore stability in that country and to ensure the continued stability of this region.''

Dr. Jordan's statement came in the form of an ANC resolution in the National Assembly on Wednesday. This is not the first time that senior ANC leaders have expressed their concern about the situation in Zimbabwe without however endorsing the more virulent criticisms of the President, Mr. Robert Mugabe, by his political opponents.

Cosatu, a member of the tripartite alliance and a close ally of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has been more outspoken in its criticism.

The ANC's intervention follows the breakdown of talks earlier this week in Harare between the Government and representatives of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union.

During the talks, which was part of a follow-up to the Abuja Accord, no progress was made on the issues of political violence and the distribution of white-owned land to the landless. In the Abuja Accord, clinched on September 6, it was agreed that Britain would partially finance Zimbabwe's land reform programme and that in return Zimbabwe would curb the incidence of agrarian violence, particularly attacks on white- owned farms.

In these incidents, reported over the last year and a half, nine white farmers were killed though no careful count was kept of the number of black farm workers who were killed or injured.

However, earlier this week, Mr. Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's Information Minister and official spokesperson, rejected the linkage in the accord, saying that there was no ``condition'' attached to the Abuja deal.

At issue is the interpretation of a passage in the Abuja agreement in which Zimbabwe provides assurances of its ``commitment to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution of Zimbabwe and to take firm action against violence and intimidation''.

Zimbabwe's Government has always maintained that all its actions have been within the framework of its Constitution. This interpretation has not always been upheld though never summarily rejected by the country's Supreme Court and other courts.

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Section  : International
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