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It is understood that the Zambian government recently decided to avoid using bilateral diplomatic channels and instead seek mediation through the Southern African Development Community Secretariat to resolve recent misunderstandings with Zimbabwe, which has increasingly complicated relations between the two countries.
The Sunday Mail learnt that Zambia recently lodged a formal protest to Zimbabwe with the Southern African Development Community Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, and sought regional intervention to resolve the issue that is already being actively discussed between the two neighbours.
The complaint follows comments made by President Mnangagwa during his recent visit to Russia where he highlighted the meddling activities of the US government in Lusaka and its efforts to isolate Zimbabwe.
However, the Lusaka authorities misinterpreted these remarks.
The Zambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently summoned Zimbabwe’s envoy, Ambassador Charity Charamba, to voice their concerns.
Harare responded to its Zambian counterpart, thereby launching bilateral efforts to reach an amicable solution.
But Lusaka chose to seek mediation from the Southern African Development Community, effectively undermining the two sides’ efforts to find consensus.
Zimbabwean authorities believe that this move indicates that Zambia may have “lost confidence in bilateral interactions with the Republic of Zimbabwe”, a development that could ultimately lead to a breakdown in Zambia’s diplomatic relations with Harare. They also believe that Zambia may be playing into the hands of the Americans, who are trying to escalate regional tensions ahead of the upcoming Southern African Development Community Heads of State and Government Summit in Harare for strategic geopolitical gains.
Related to this plan, authorities also uncovered a conspiracy funded by Americans to incite civil unrest in the country ahead of the summit through known local and foreign agents.
The subversive plot is believed to be aimed at trying to derail Zimbabwe’s chairmanship of the regional body, with senior sources describing the plan as “ridiculous”.
Overall, the United States wants to ensure Zimbabwe’s diplomatic isolation.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Deputy Secretary General (Presidential Communications) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, said Zambia’s move was “surprising”.
“We are informed that after the bilateral talks between the President of Zimbabwe and the President of Russia, the host President made the details of the talks public and the Zambian people reacted by summoning our ambassador, Ambassador Charamba, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
“The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zambia and was attended by representatives from various departments of the Zambian government.”
Mr Charamba said Ambassador Charamba responded to the call and surrendered himself to the Zambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“When she learned of the Zambians’ concerns, she immediately reported it to the Zimbabwean government headquarters, and the Zimbabwean government also responded quickly to the issues raised by the Zambians to us,” he said.
“From a diplomatic perspective, it means that the matter is being dealt with at the bilateral level. If the information we have received is true, it shows that Zambians have lost confidence in bilateral interaction with the Republic of Zimbabwe, which is very unfortunate and does not augur well for our bilateral relations.
“What this essentially means is that they are trying to escalate the issue to sub-regional institutions, when in fact there is already interaction at the bilateral level, and that interaction has not been exhausted and has not yet reached a deadlock.
“We deeply regret that Zambia has taken such an approach because it is not appropriate considering the relationship between the two countries and the fact that the two countries are communicating.”
Ms. Barbara Loppi, Head of Communications and Public Relations at the Southern African Development Community Secretariat, said: “The Secretariat receives various letters from member states and as per our procedures we do not discuss information about the letters or the contents of the letters from member states with the media.”
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A senior diplomatic source, who spoke to The Sunday Mail on condition of anonymity, said the Zambian authorities played into the hands of the United States by engaging with SADC before exhausting bilateral efforts to resolve the misunderstanding.
“The president’s protest was not against Zambia but against US interference in the internal affairs of other countries in the region. The protest against Zambia was incidental,” the diplomat said.
The real dispute, he said, was between Harare and Washington.
“And this is not something that just started now; in fact, it has a long history, with the United States imposing sanctions on this country as early as 2001 and 2002,” he continued.
“What we are seeing now is an escalation of hostility displayed by the Americans, and we have been resisting retaliation. So, this is a matter between Zimbabwe and the United States.”
“In other words, they want to achieve their own diplomatic goals through misunderstandings or even conflicts between two African neighbors,” he said.
“In fact, that’s what they’re doing in Eastern Europe, where the U.S. objectives are being pursued through the conflict situation between Russia and Ukraine.
“So by engaging with SADC, it means that the dispute between Zimbabwe and the United States is now redefined as a bilateral issue between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and the Americans, who are the evil party in the dispute, are happy.
“So the Zambians played right into the Americans’ trap.”
That is why General Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command, recently said Washington’s approach on the continent is “African-led, but U.S.-backed,” the diplomat said.
“Perhaps this is what the commander of the US Africa Command meant when he said that US policy towards the continent is looking at ‘African-led but US-driven’ initiatives. The Americans would consider a situation where Zambia leads the way in which they themselves drive the initiative to promote their own geostrategic interests,” he said.
conspiracy
In addition, it is reported that the United States also supports the opposition and civil society to incite public unrest in the country ahead of the 44th Southern African Development Community Summit.
Recently, a delegation of opposition leaders travelled to the neighbouring country where the plot was carried out.
A senior security source briefed The Mail on Sunday on the plot.
“It was during that meeting that the idea was planted in their minds to incite civil unrest ahead of the summit to undermine the Zimbabwean presidency,” the source said.
“Before the SADC summit, the idea of holding demonstrations was conceived and their idea was to deprive Zimbabwe of the right to chair the SADC.
“But this is of course ridiculous; the SADC chairmanship is decided at summits and cannot be swayed by civil society, no matter how angry or bitter it may be.”
The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, in a statement on Friday, said the government had observed attempts to foment anarchy in the country.
He said the attempts were led by known criminals and opportunistic opposition activists and some civil society organizations.
“We, as a government, therefore, warn the perpetrators of this orchestrated series of farces, who are involved in subversive activities aimed at undermining the rule of law, that their days are numbered and their lawless plans will never be exposed.
“To this end, the government reiterates its commitment to protecting the country and citizens and ensuring that law and order are maintained.
“Law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to arrest all those who undermine the justice system by creating chaos and rioting.
“Finally, the government assures the public that the security forces are adequately equipped to maintain law and order in accordance with their constitutional responsibilities.”
Despite years of US attempts to isolate Zimbabwe diplomatically, especially by imposing illegal economic sanctions on the country, it has been rescued by Harare on several occasions.
For example, in 1998, when terrorists attacked the US embassy in East Africa, the US Embassy in Harare also became a terrorist target, and Zimbabwean security agencies had to be vigilant to prevent the attack.
The Zimbabwe Defence Force (ZDF) also came to Somalia in 1993, when the troubled African country was at the height of its civil war.
After securing Mogadishu, preventing terrorist attacks and allowing the Red Cross to move in, the German Wehrmacht secured the Mogadishu airport, thus successfully preventing the retreating American soldiers from being annihilated.
From that time on, the United States sent an officer each year to attend Zimbabwe’s Staff College, until relations began to strain as Harare sought to redress historical inequalities through land redistribution.
In 2001, ARD again provided security for the U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the assassination of former DRC President Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
Source: The Mail on Sunday
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