ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe yesterday appeared in public for the first time since he was placed under house arrest, on Wednesday, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ Troika saying it is against the military takeover.
The President officiated during the graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Open University in Harare where he did not make any speech. The Zimbabwe President is the Chancellor of all State universities.
Yesterday, television stations showed pictures of President Mugabe wearing academic regalia, a traditional attire for a head of the university. Walking in the company of security detail, Mr Mugabe appeared calm.
As the political stalemate took its root, SADC Organ Troika has called upon stakeholders in Zimbabwe to settle the current political crisis in peaceful ways and in line with the country’s constitution.
The stand by the southern African regional body was reached in its emergency meeting held on Thursday in Gaborone, Botswana. The regional body noted with great concern the unfolding situation in the Republic of Zimbabwe, where President Mugabe was put under house arrest since Wednesday.
The meeting that was attended by ministers responsible for foreign or external affairs from SADC Organ Troika member states deliberated that Zimbabwean citizens should be treated with dignity and in line with human rights principles and laws.
Ambassador Innocent Shiyo from the Department of Regional Cooperation of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and East African Cooperation, told the ‘Daily News on Saturday’ yesterday that the leaders decided to remain seized with the situation in Zimbabwe and recommended convening of an urgent Extra Ordinary SADC Summit.
The senior official said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Dr Augustine Mahiga was represented by Tanzania’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr Sylvester Ambokile, who is as well tasked with SADC matters and along with other leaders, called for all parties to the crisis to adhere to the rule of law.
Ambassador Shiyo said the leaders reaffirmed the need for SADC member States to remain guided by their respective constitutions, reiterating SADC’s commitment to the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act and the SADC democratic principles as they relate to the unconstitutional removal of democratically elected governments.
Member States to the SADC Organ Troika are Angola, Tanzania and Zambia plus the SADC Council Chairperson who is the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Maite Nkoana- Mashabane, who chaired the meeting.
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) on Wednesday placed President Mugabe under house arrest, an act that translated as a plan to take over the leadership of the southern African nation.
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