Zim election verdict, its now Africa versus the West

SADC facilitator Jacob Zuma, Kenyan President  Uhuru Kenyatta and the Chinese government have congratulated President Mugabe and Zanu-PF on their landslide victory in the just-ended harmonised elections and urged all parties to accept the result.

Zuma said the result should be respected as observers said it was an expression of the will of the people.

The UN, AU, Sadc, Comesa and other observer groups from Africa have endorsed the elections while the United States, Britain and its dominion Australia - who were not invited to observe - have joined MDC-T in condemning the election.

This has effectively put MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his Western sponsors on one side, and Africa and Zanu-PF on another side aping the contestation in Zimbabwe over the past decade.

A Sadc diplomat, who declined to be named, said the issue was no longer just about Zimbabwe.

"It's now Africa versus Britain, the US and Australia. What is now on trial is Africa's own verdict over its own poll versus European interests," he said.