Secret moves within SADC to get Mugabe to retire

Secret  diplomatic manoeuvres are being made by key leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to persuade President Robert Mugabe to retire before the next elections are held.

It is becoming increasingly clear that polls are likely to be held only in 2013, when Mugabe will no longer be capable of standing as a candidate.

SADC diplomats at the United Nations (UN) mission in Geneva, Switzerland, told the Sunday Times this week regional leaders had been exchanging notes on how to approach Mugabe to offer him an "irresistible package", which includes the necessary security guarantees and benefits for him to retire.

Top Zanu-PF officials are pressing Mugabe to call for an extraordinary congress to choose a new party leadership and candidate for the elections.

Zanu-PF is due to hold an annual conference in Bulawayo from December 6 to 10, but senior party leaders want a special congress instead. Mugabe is expected to again be endorsed as party candidate at the December meeting, hence demands similar to those of 2007 for a congress to elect a new leader.

SADC leaders are said to be thinking of getting countries Mugabe considers friendly to be involved in the deal. One such country is Ghana, where Mugabe lived for years and married his first wife, Sally. Ghana is said to have come more into the picture after revelations that Mugabe had put out feelers in the West African country to view the prospects of living there, if the need arises.

One of Zimbabwe's governors is said to have been dispatched to Ghana recently to check the prospects of securing a plot for Mugabe, should he need it.

A senior SADC diplomat said: "There are very secret discussions going on now in the SADC, involving South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, to approach Mugabe to offer him an irresistible deal to retire before the next elections. The idea is to help Mugabe to retire with dignity.

"Although most SADC leaders are not necessarily close to Mugabe, the same way at one time [former Mozambique president Joaquim] Chissano was, or [former South African president Thabo] Mbeki or [ex-Namibian president Sam] Nujoma, they agree Mugabe needs to be treated with respect and deserves an honourable exit," he said.

Mugabe used to be close to Chissano, who was best man at his wedding. But it is doubtful their relationship remains the same after Chissano was quoted in Wiki-Leaks as saying Mugabe was behaving "like a mad dog". Mbeki and Nujoma remain on friendly terms with Mugabe.

Diplomats said there was a strong feeling within the SADC that what former SA president Nelson Mandela tried a few years ago, when he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Mugabe to quit, should be revived. Mandela tried to secure Mugabe's retirement before the 2008 elections, but to no avail.

"There is some consensus that Mugabe is part of the founding fathers - although he has messed up his own record and legacy - and thus must be treated with respect and helped to retire with dignity," another diplomat said.

"Exploratory talks are under way involving officials in SA, Mozambique and Namibia. The Ghanaians are seen as people who could help in this situation. There is a desire in the SADC to help Mugabe achieve a soft landing."