HARARE – Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has revealed that he was aware of the arbitrary arrests of opposition and human rights activists in Zimbabwe prior to the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit held in Harare.
In an interview with DW journalist Josephine Mahachi, Chakwera said he has since engaged in discussions with his Zimbabwean counterpart, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, regarding this matter. He, however, added the details of their engagement was not for public consumption.
“I have heard about it, and sometimes I talk to my brother,” Chakwera said.
“It’s not necessarily for public consumption because it’s a stance that I have taken when dealing with each one of my brothers in southern Africa. I personally take responsibility to discuss such even when it’s not necessarily for the media.”
Zimbabwe attained the rotational SADC chairmanship at the summit held on August 17, 2024.
Mnangagwa’s regime arrested more than 100 political activists a few weeks before the summit fearing public demonstrations. Pro-democracy campaigners Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere and former cabinet minister Jameson Timba are also victims.
Besides being slapped with different charges, the ruling Zanu-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa recently confirmed that the activists were detained deliberately to keep them from protesting during the summit.
“Now that the summit is over and was a success, those who were held as a preventative measure can be released. The most important aspect of a country is order,” he said.
“And when everybody else is trying to put on a good show on a particular occasion, you decide to become a champion of disorder. You are a deviate.
“So if you are a deviate, you are going to be dealt with in the right way, which is to put you in jail so that you don’t create a sideshow which takes the attention away from the event.”
The United Nations Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor called for the immediate release of the activists, citing concerns that some have been tortured while detained by Zimbabwean authorities.
“The disrespect shown by the ZANU-PF spokesperson who laughed and joked about such a serious matter at his press conference is telling,” Lawlor said.
“The President, (Emmerson) Mnangagwa, has shown how little he believes in the rule of law and how little in SADC’s commitment to human rights as chairman. He wants to pretend that everything in Zimbabwe is rosy and fine. But it is not fine. These charges were a travesty.”
SADC leaders have been accused of being toothless bulldogs by failing to denounce human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
