International Community Urged to Respect Zimbabwe's Sovereignty

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 25, 2001

International Community Urged to Respect Zimbabwe's Sovereignty

Olivia Muchena, secretary of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) for the commissariat in the League of Women, Saturday called on the international community to respect sovereignty of Zimbabwe and not interfere in its internal affairs.

There was also a call to have the ambassadors vetted before their credentials are accepted because some of them were art of the problem, according to the Herald on Sunday.

Speaking at a quarterly meeting of women's wing of the ruling party held in Mash central on Saturday, Muchena reminded the international community that their meddling caused suffering for women and children more than anyone else.

"The women are very aware of the political environment, the tensions and the manipulation and the women are also very aware of the happenings and the motives behind these happenings," she said.

The League of Women was also concerned about the use of youths in the country in dirty work as witnessed in political disturbances in Bulawayo in the southwest of Harare recently.

"The women are concerned as mothers at the rate of violence. When they speak, they speak with intense feelings as mothers," she said.

Women were responsible for the upbringing of the youths and therefore had an obligation to engage them in political dialogue that will make them understand their history, including the land issue, which the international community wants to punish Zimbabwe.

The other area of concern was the activities of some non- governmental organizations (NGOs). Women at the meeting agreed that some NGOs needed to be closely monitored. Accreditation of diplomats in the country was also an area of concern to the women, who called for a vetting exercise.

The ZANU-PF league of Women is aware that some officials of the embassies of countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, who were stationed in Yugoslavia and Ghana, were partly responsible for manipulating processes and political environment, leading to the ousting of the sitting governments, said Muchena.