Mugabe deploys an advance 15-member strong delegation for AU-Summit

ACCRA - President Robert Matibili Mugabe has deployed an advance 15-member strong delegation to defend the ageing tyrant at the African Union summit which opened here Monday.
Spiwe Ncube (in Accra)

Mugabe

The delegation, which comprises Mugabe’s press secretary George Charamba, Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and five intelligence officials, flew into Accra Ghana aboard an SA flight SA 52 at 11 pm yesterday.

The delegation was in the “Glass House” or A Class of the A340 Airbus which flew them into Accra from Johannesburg at 18:00 hrs Monday.

The Zimbabwe government paid US$1,800 for each person's flight ticket at a time the country is hardpressed for forex.

The delegation left Harare aboard a South African Airways flight which left the Zimbabwean capital at 13:15 hrs Monday.

The delegation is expected to vigorously defend the Zimbabwe government,, which has been placed firmly on the AU summit agenda. Sudan is also on the agenda.

The MDC has also sent an advocacy delegation, which is being led by Vice President Thokozane Khupe and Elton Mangoma. The pre-AU summit will also comprise a Zimbabwe Solidarity day on Thursday.

The Heads of State summit is expected to open next Monday. AU commissioners are expected to hear testimonies from Zimbabwe’s civic and opposition groups about the deteriorating situation in the country.

Meanwhile all Bar Associations in Africa have passed a resolution urging President Thabo Mbeki to put the breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe on top of his mediation efforts. Mbeki is expected to provide feedback on Monday about the snail pace of his mediation in the Zimbabwe crisis.

There is a strong presence of Zimbabwean civic society activists and representatives of the Zimbabwean pro-democracy groups here.