The meeting sought to keep those who do not follow the political events back home abreast of what is happening. "We know that you don't know what is happening, whether MDC has completely withdrawn from the unity government or not, but what is happening right now is, (Morgan) Tsvangirai (Prime Minister) has re-joined government," one of the convenors of the meeting said.
"(President Robert) Mugabe's party controls the police, the army, the intelligence service, the courts and the people of Zimbabwe continue to be brutalised by this matrimony which doesn't produce children, rather kills those it was intended to protect," Sydney Chisi, spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said at the meeting.
Likening the state of affairs to the biblical story of the Israelites in Egypt at the brutal hands of King Pharaoh, Chisi said Zimbabweans are now in a more difficult Egypt than before the country went to elections last year.
"We were hungry, defenceless and most if not all of us came here through different and difficult routes I would not like to imagine; but now things are beyond our efforts," he said.
A human rights lawyer, Arnold Tsunga, said Zimbabwe needs more than elections to recover from the current political turmoil.
However, President Ian Khama has said the political stalemate in Zimbabwe is a concern that can be resolved through elections. In his State of the Nation Address, he said that if a genuine partnership eluded the signatories to the Zimbabwe power-sharing agreement, then the people should be allowed to vote to determine who should form the government.
Khama stated that at the core of Botswana's foreign policy is commitment to promoting good neighbourliness and respect for human rights. He said the support for the people of Zimbabwe, towards reaching political reconciliation and economic reconstruction, through the implementation of the power-sharing agreement is an example of this. "However, I must express concern at the continued failure of the ZANU-PF to fully honour the spirit of the power-sharing agreement," he said.
Khama fears that post-election power-sharing arrangements could become a trend in Africa if not stopped. He said that where individuals or political organs engage in unconstitutional and undemocratic actions to go into political office and then power-sharing is introduced to solve the problem entrenches one man rule. He said there should be no substitution for free, fair and credible elections. "Every country has a pool of people who have the ability to lead," he said.
