A coalition government is an amicable solution to realizing democracy: Government of Zimbabwe 
The Zimbabwean government through its representative  David Mangota the Permanent Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs, and head of the government delegation at the 46th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR contends that the principle of governments of national unity / coalition governments, remains one of the ways to instill democracy in any country despite any misgivings that some Zimbabweans or any other people may have about them.

He made this remarks on the 13th of November 2009, during his response to the concerns raised by the Kenyan National commission for human rights, the South African Human Rights Commission as well as by Human Rights Institute of Southern Africa (HURISA), over their perceived phenomenon of governments of national unity which they described as a compromise of the exercise of the will of the people.
 
In her statement delivered to the ACHPR Session on 12 November 2009, the representative of the Kenyan National Commission for human rights Winfred Lichuma expressed her views of the effects of GNU’s particularly in light of the observations she has made on its negative effects in Kenya which she perceives are also affecting Zimbabwe. She described the phenomenon of GNU’s as “a compromise to the exercise of democracy” and as the cause of many of the recurrent problems, that Kenya is facing right now. Lichuma also called upon the commission to closely investigate on how coalition governments affect democracy.
 
The Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA) on the other hand, attributed Zimbabwe’s ongoing problem to lack of implementation of critical issues by ZANU PF especially. “...the GNU established in February 2009 has disintegrated in light of the MDC pulling out of the Coalition government. This breakdown was brought up as a result of the party´s failure to fulfill obligations of the agreement, especially ZANU-PF, it has blatantly contravened the agreement by dishonoring obligations to implement critical issues that seek to bring Zimbabwe to transition,” expressed Corlette Letlohane of HURISA during her statement of the human rights situation in Southern Africa.
She went on to call for the GNU to implement the outstanding issues as reiterated by SADC organ Troika on 4 November 2009 and went on to call for the release and seizing of prosecutions against Human rights defenders from ZCTU, ZESN and the NANGO board members. The South African Human Rights Commission also denounced the phenomenon of GNU’s which they described as”… half-baked political solutions under the guise of democratic transitions, like witnessed in Kenya, Zimbabwe and now Madagascar.”
 
In response to the above statements and pronouncements, Mangota expressed his displeasure at the interest by organisations from other countries, which he described as “interference” and as “meddling in affairs which are not theirs”. He went on to call the ACHPR to reprimand them for this “interference”. In his response to the concerns raised over the principle of GNU’s, he insisted that they remain “..an amicable solution to realising democracy,” and that there is nothing peculiar about Zimbabwe’s coalition government as it is not the first country to have it and neither was this the first time as such a coalition was also formed in 1987 between PF ZAPU and ZANU. 
 
Mangota’s comments resonated with his pronouncements in his statement to the commission wherein he stated that ” a lot of progress has been made to date” as regards the inclusive government and he cited the holding of a retreat in Nyanga, the commencement of dialogue between Zimbabwe and the European Union delegation, the commencement of the national healing process and of the of the constitutional making process, as some of the positive indications of the success of the inclusive government. Mangota is leading the government of Zimbabwe delegation at the 46th ordinary session of the ACHPR.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
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Windhoek
Namibia
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