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December 08, 2003

CHOGM news - the summit's communique has been issued...

...but everyone's still talking about Mugabe. ABC news says CHOGM "limped to a close on a sour note of crisis and recrimination," the Age says Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth "stunned weary Commonwealth officials," while Channel News Asia points out that many countries, such as Singapore, have refused to give any opinion at all on the Mugabe issue.

The BBC's Paul Reynolds argues that many small countries have taken an anti-Mugabe stance, though some Africans are infuriated by the summit's outcome:

"The anger in southern Africa will no doubt persist. The memory of Robert Mugabe as the freedom fighter who overthrew the white minority regime of Ian Smith remains strong...

"But the attachment of some of the Commonwealth's smaller countries, especially those in the Caribbean and increasingly in Africa, to democratic values cannot be underestimated either."

There are some non-Mugabe stories... the President of Ghana has been talking about an African single currency; Commonwealth Foundation director, Colin Ball wants visa-free travel between Commonwealth countries; while Zenith Bank CEO, Jim Ovia has tried to focus attention on poverty...

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