Kokorwe happywith Zim progress

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Friday April 13, 2012 00:00

 

Speaking in an interview yesterday, she said that the situation in Zimbabwe  has improved significantly compared to three years ago before the establishment of the government of national unity between the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

She said that they are watching the constitutional drafting process with keen interest and hope that there would be no violence in the run-up to the elections that are likely to be held this year.  She added that all the leaders have been urging their followers to promote peace and stop attacks on their opponents. She however admitted that there are reports of pockets of violence in some sections of the country. She said that many delegations from Botswana have visited Zimbabwe recently and were surprised at the improvement and normalcy they witnessed.

'Many of them were surprised after seeing the situation and asked whether this was the true Zimbabwe they hear horrifying stories about,' she said. On reports that President Robert Mugabe was on his deathbed, Kokorwe said: 'It was reported this morning that he is as fit as a fiddle. He must be in a cabinet meeting as we speak'.

At the time of the interview she had not yet gone out, but she maintained that the mood was calm in the capital, Harare. News of Mugabe's ill health and hospitalisation broke out on Tuesday following the death of the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika last Thursday. The Zimbabwean government media denied the reports, stating that Mugabe was in Singapore with his family preparing for his daughter's higher education.

The country is in the process of drafting a new constitution that will pave way for elections. However, Mugabe has reportedly insisted that there should be elections with or without the new constitution.

The mediator in Zimbabwe, South African President, Jacob Zuma was recently reported as having cautioned that there will be no elections in the absence of a new constitution. The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salomao said at a press briefing in Gaborone last year that there will be no hurry to hold elections in Zimbabwe in the absence of a new constitution.