By Tatenda Chitagu

MASVINGO-It is a confusing back and forth, both on social media and mainstream media platforms, over whether the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tabled the Zimbabwean issue in its extraordinary meeting held last Saturday in Angola.

SADC leaders initially held a virtual summit last Tuesday and proceeded to meet for an extra-ordinary summit physically in Luanda.

Following the two meetings, there has been raging debate on whether Zimbabwe’s controversial and disputed August 23 and 24 elections were discussed by the regional body.

The SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) issued a damning report on the polls, saying they ‘fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.’

On social media, ZANU PF cyber troopers, popularly known as ‘Varakashi’, have been saying the Zim issue was not tabled. The basis of their argument is that an extra-ordinary summit has only one pressing issue on the agenda, and in this instance, the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between government forces and rebels that has displaced thousands of people since October.

To buttress their claims, and adding to the intrigue is that SADC Chairperson and Angolan President João Lourenço, belatedly congratulated Zimbabwe and Eswatini for having ‘exemplary elections’ which he said “constituted a major victory for democracy and contribution to peace and stability amongst everyone in the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Kingdom of Eswatini.”

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after the Angola meeting, hinted that Zimbabwe was not discussed.

On the other hand, neutrals and opposition CCC supporters are saying the damning SADC electoral observer report, though not on the agenda, was raised and discussed by the regional body and that the Zimbabwean issue is still much topical in the region.

Mainstream newspapers have also reported differently on the issue.

Two days before the Saturday physical meeting in Angola, the privately owned Newsday reported that Zimbabwe remained on the SADC agenda.

The state controlled Herald used the DRC crisis as a scapegoat to mask Zimbabwe’s discussion at the summit.

“President Mnangagwa is expected to arrive in Luanda, Angola, this morning to attend the SADC Extraordinary Summit that will tackle the security situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where over 260 000 people have been displaced.

“Zimbabwe is not on the agenda, contrary to unfounded claims by some Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) officials on social media, who are deliberately misleading their supporters. An extraordinary summit discusses just one issue, and in this case, it is the security situation in the DRC, where thousands of people have been displaced in North Kivu since the beginning of October due to violence,” reported The Herald on November 4, 2023.

Our verdict:

Apart from DRC, the meeting in Angola discussed the Eswatini recent elections, as well as the Zimbabwean case, contrary to the disinformation and misinformation prevalent on social and other mainstream media platforms.

SADC, in its communique after the meeting, said it ‘received an update’ the Zimbabwean electoral report, meaning the country came under discussion.

Part of the communiqué issued after the Luanda emergency summit said: “Summit received an update on the elections in the Sadc member states and noted the report of the Sadc Election Observation Mission to the harmonised elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe held in August 2023, and the general elections in the Kingdom of Eswatini in September 2023.”

This could pave way for more action on Zimbabwe’s political crisis by the regional body following the controversial elections.