Zimbabwe: Mugabe agrees to swear in Bennett BUT only after court acquittal

30 April, 2009 in Zimbabwe

source: SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
29 April 2009

The three principals in the unity government, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, have met five times recently to discuss the controversies surrounding the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, but they have still failed to come up with a solution. Observers say this ‘dilly-dallying’ has been part of ZANU PF’s strategy to wear the MDC down while not addressing the fundamental issues.

However, it has emerged that Robert Mugabe has agreed to swear into office MDC Deputy Minister of Agriculture appointee Roy Bennett, but only after the former commercial farmer has been acquitted of the charges hanging over his head. Bennett was arrested in February and spent a month in prison, charged with ‘conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services’. Although he is out on bail his trial has yet to start and could drag on for a long time.

MDC insists he is innocent until proven guilty.

Mugabe argues that Bennett is facing serious ‘terrorism’ charges, and that he is only prepared to swear-in the MDC official after his case has been finalised by the courts. Most analysts agree that these are [continue reading]

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