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December 04, 2003

CHOGM news. The Mugabe issue is going away? Yeah, right.

Readers with long memories may recall Daily Summit's coverage of the Zimbabwean President's performance at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, when his speech was met with laughter and applause from many of the world's journalists (the only leader to get any reaction from the hard-bitten media).

What South Africa's News 24 dubs a "quasi-racial divide" between the "white Commonwealth" and African countries seems certain to remain a major talking point in Abuja.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that support for Mugabe is growing with Zambia's President, Levy Mwanawasa, lobbying hard on Mugabe's behalf. Tanzania, meanwhile, is threatening only to send a low-level delegation to CHOGM in protest, while South Africa continues to argue for a rapprochement with Zimbabwe.

There is undoubted support for the President in Africa, with one commentator praising the "commendable bold steps taken by President Mugabe to free his people from serfdom and bondage," steps which "did not go down well with Britain, the so-called mother of all Commonwealth countries."

Just as Britain has ganged up with "other white supremacist countries," so should African countries "unite, put their heads together, be strong and never let that old wolf Britain dictate to them who to invite and who not to invite to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)."

More fireworks expected...

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