Zimbabwe Cabinet to Discuss Joint Monitoring Committee Report
The report covers issues of violence, intimidation, security matters and other areas
WASHINGTON DC —
A report by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) on the current situation in the country was Tuesday submitted to Zimbabwe's cabinet but the cabinet deferred discussing it to a special meeting on a yet-to-be-announced date.
A source who attended the cabinet meeting told VOA Studio 7 that issues raised in the report include political violence and intimidation, arrests of political party members and civil society workers, the electoral environment and other potential obstacles to a free and credible election.
The report comes at a time when there are disagreements among the political parties in JOMIC on whether to allow the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) to sit in on JOMIC meetings.
Zanu-PF says SADC’s facilitation team should interact with JOMIC only through the co-chairs while the two Movement for Democratic Change formations argue that they are comfortable with the facilitation team sitting in their meetings since they have nothing to hide.
During their regular Monday meetings, the principals reportedly also agreed that JOMIC must be allowed to work with SADC to make sure that all outstanding issues are resolved before the elections.
Elias Mudzuri of the MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, that holds JOMIC’s chairmanship for the month of March, said the report was produced upon cabinet’s request.
Mudzuri said it covers the issues of land, violence, and security matters and makes recommendations to address those issues.
