Drama as Ncube walks out of conference

By Tererai Karimakwenda

The 2nd All Stakeholders Conference got off to a dramatic and chaotic start in Harare on Monday, with the MDC-N leader Welshman Ncube walking out of the event, to protest the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

At the heart of his protest is the fact SADC leaders resolved at the last summit in Maputo that Ncube would be the third principal allowed to participate in GPA negotiations. But ZANU PF went against SADC and insisted Mutambara would remain the third principal to participate in government business.

But according to the Crisis Coalition, SADC later persuaded the MDC-N to participate in the Conference and submit a complaint afterwards. Crisis said the MDC-N took SADC’s advice and took part in the thematic sessions.

The delegates were addressed by the principals, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe in the morning. Both focused on the elections due next year and called for peace and tolerance from party supporters.

Mugabe once again insisted that presidential elections will be held in March 2013, which the MDC formations have not agreed on and civic groups have said is impossible, since key reforms are still pending. Mugabe also surprised delegates by saying the Principals would have the final word on the draft Constitution.

In his speech Tsvangirai addressed recent comments by ZANU PF and military officials, who made it clear they would not accept a victory by the MDC-T leader in next year’s elections. The PM said: “We cannot therefore be in contradiction with ourselves by preaching a coup or a military subversion of the people’s will.”

The Conference opening was also marred with logistical problems and ongoing bickering by the political parties, regarding how to proceed and what the purpose of the Conference really was.

Machinda Marongwe, deputy director of the National Association of Non-governmental Organizations (NANGO), confirmed reports that there had been some logistical problems with the printing of materials, which was done last minute.

Marongwe also confirmed that delegates from outside Harare had problems sorting out accommodation. But reportedly all was well by Monday morning when the Conference started.

However, the civic groups were not satisfied with their representation at the event. According to Marongwe, only 150 out of the 571 civic delegates had been chosen without input from the political parties. The rest were handpicked by the COPAC co-chairs, who belong to the three political parties running the process.

Marongwe told SW Radio Africa that the civic groups were more concerned with what will happen after the Conference, regarding who gets the final word.

“The significance of the All Stakeholders Conference is beyond tomorrow and whether the Principals will be able to stick to Article 6 of the GPA or whether they will circumvent the will of the people through further manipulation and tampering with the draft,” Marongwe explained.

He added that there were rumours at the Conference that the Principals were planning to have the last word by determining what changes are to be made to the COPAC draft.

This had also been suggested last week by the Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Eric Matinenga, who told SW Radio Africa that the Principals had summoned him to a meeting and suggested he take over the management of COPAC.

This was so they could have the final word. Matinenga said he refused and advised them not to interfere. SW Radio Africa