Sadc recognises Welshman Ncube not Mutambara

The Sadc sumit resolved that Professor Welshman Ncube and not Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara is the MDC principal even though their party leadership dispute is still pending at the Supreme Court.

Sources who attended the closed session on Zimbabwe said the regional leaders decided to recognise Prof Ncube as the leader of MDC and therefore as the party's principal despite Prof Mutambara's strong objection at the Troika meeting held before the full summit.

The sources said the decision had been reached to expedite the implementation of the GPA but warned that this could precipitate a crisis if the Supreme Court ruled in Prof Mutambara's favour.

President Zuma visited Zimbabwe last week ahead of the summit and declined to meet Prof Mutambara, who went on to complain to the Sadc Troika about his exclusion from the GPA talks before his party leadership dispute with Prof Ncube was legally resolved.

Sadc, however, supported Mr Zuma's stance saying: "The facilitator and the chair of the Troika must engage on the Zimbabwe issues with the three political parties to the GPA through their Presidents and Principals, namely President Robert Mugabe, (Zanu-PF), Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and Professor Welshman Ncube (MDC)."