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Reply With QuoteAnother summit will be a waste of time and money; Mugabe has repeatedly shown that he cocks his snoot at advice and he does not show any inclination to brook interference in what he considers to be his sole domain!
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Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe What are we to make of the rising tensions between Botswana and Zimbabwe? It's an open secret that the Botswana government is not exactly in love with Mugabe and ZANU-PF and has not been for many years now.
The latest news is that Botswana has recalled attaches to Harare as tensions rise in a diplomatic row. This is apparently after Robert Mugabe snubbed Botswanan Vice President Mompati Merafhe when he sought a meeting with Mr. Mugabe at a recent African Union summit
According to the VoA, Botswana has recalled two diplomats from its Harare embassy, saying that the process of resolving bilateral security security issues has broken down.
VoA reports:
Gaborone sources said President Robert Mugabe snubbed Botswanan Vice President Mompati Merafhe when he sought a meeting with Mr. Mugabe at a recent African Union summit. He wanted to discuss the continued detention of three wildlife officers arrested after they strayed into Zimbabwe.
“Efforts by Botswana have included phone calls by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Phandu Skelemani and the Botswana Police Commissioner, Mr. Thebeyame Tsimako to their counterparts in Zimbabwe to resolve this issue," a Botswana statement said.
The statement said the phone calls were not returned, leading the Botswanan government to conclude Zimbabwe did not want to resolve the issue.
Sources in Gaborone said the country's ambassador in Harare has visited the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Harare several times seeking intervention, and the Zimbabwean ambassador in Gaborone has been summoned twice to seek the cooperation of the Zimbabwean government in resolving the issue.
The statement said that given the Zimbabwean government's seeming desire to "rebuff all attempts by the Government of Botswana to find diplomatic and amicable solution to the problem, Botswana has taken a decision to recall its Defense and Intelligence Attachés" from Harare by the end of February. The corresponding Zimbabwean officials in Gaborone will be sent home.
Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi could not be reached for comment. But a Zimbabwean government official called the move by Gaborone a "provocation." The government of Botswana was one of the most outspoken critics of the former government of President Mugabe, and declared that his re-election in June 2008 was not legitimate given the widespread violence that followed his first-round defeat.
Botswanan government spokesman Jeff Ramsay told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga that he hopes bilateral tensions will not escalate.
Personally I think Botswana should be commended for taking a stand on the zimbabwe issue, and has been doing so since it became clear that neither Mugabe nor ZANU-PF are really interested in taking their country forward and resolving the myriad problems our neighbour faces but merely to play for tyime and prolong their stay in power and continue looting the country's riches.
I know this is a strong opinion, but one that I think is informed. What do you think? Will SA intervene to calm things down? Will our Government continue to blindly support Mugabe and ZANU-PF or start taking a stand on its won? Is there a chance of further escalation of tensions between the two countries? And where is SADC? Is it not time ot call another emergency summit on Zimbabwe and call Mugabe to order once and for all ? He and his cohorts have been making fools of every leader in the region for years now!!!
"Nothing is complete and thus nothing is exempt from criticism." - James Luther Adams:
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Re: Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe Another summit will be a waste of time and money; Mugabe has repeatedly shown that he cocks his snoot at advice and he does not show any inclination to brook interference in what he considers to be his sole domain!
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Re: Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe it's getting worse as Mgeni Online reported today?
Botswana Recalls Diplomats From Zim
By Ephraim Keoreng
Staff Writer
Botswana has called for the removal of Zimbabwean defence and intelligence attaches from Gaborone. The attaches are expected to be out of the country by the end of the month.
The recall is a sequel to the recent diplomatic tiff between the two countries after three Batswana wildlife officers were arrested and tied by Zimbabwe for crossing over into its territory.
Despite efforts by Botswana to have the case resolved diplomatically, Zimbabwe has gone the judicial route. Since last week, the Botswana officers have been held in a Zimbabwean jail pending sentencing, which is expected today.
In a statement released last Friday, the Botswana Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disappointment over the detention of the trio despite continuous efforts to find an amicable diplomatic solution. The efforts include repeated phone calls by Botswana Foreign Affairs Minister Phandu Skelemani and Botswana Police Commissioner, Thebeyame Tsimako to their counterparts in Zimbabwe. A last ditch attempt by Vice-President Mompati Merafhe to discuss the issue with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was also unsuccessful. "Phone calls remain unreturned, giving the impression that the government of Zimbabwe does not want to discuss this issue with Botswana.
Additional efforts have included our ambassador in Harare going to the Zimbabwe Foreign Ministry several times to seek their intervention on the matter as well as the ambassador of Zimbabwe to Botswana being summoned twice to the Foreign Ministry to seek the Zimbabwe government's intervention in finding an amicable diplomatic solution to the problem.
As a last endeavour, Vice-President Merafhe, attempted, through the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, to meet with President Mugabe at the recently held African Union meeting in Addis Ababa Ethiopia but was unsuccessful," the statement said.
In retaliation, Botswana has decided to recall its defence and intelligence personnel based at its embassy in Zimbabwe. This means they would come back home at the same time when their counterparts from Zimbabwe return home.
"Botswana has taken a decision to recall its defence and intelligence attachŽs from Zimbabwe by the end of February 2010. The government of Botswana expects the government of Zimbabwe to reciprocate by recalling its defence and Central Intelligence Organisation attachŽs from Botswana by the same date," the statement said.
The position of the government of Botswana is that the two posts in Gaborone and Harare should be frozen and never filled.
Skelemani told Monitor that the positions have been rendered useless by the Zimbabwean government's refusal to act on the information gathered by Botswana's defence and intelligence attaches in Harare. "They established facts that the Department of Wildlife officers strayed into the Zimbabwean side by accident. We told the Zimbabweans and asked them to release our people but they are not budging," he said.
Skelemani said that he expects the issue to be resolved at the bilateral defence and security meeting between the two countries at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe at the end of the month.
The minister insists that the officers are not guilty and that the issue can be resolved diplomatically.
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Re: Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe Storm in 'n koffiebeker, die - except die koffie is glad nie so lekker nie. Humour aside, mense: Dié story wys nou net wat 'n waste of time SADC is. Ek meen hoe sulke ding to t so 'n stadium kan kom is ongelooflik. Mieskien wys dit ook net hoe chaoties dinge is in Zim.
En nou gaat ek vir koffie met 'n sawwe lyf!
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