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Germany pledges to assist Zimbabwe to reduce debt

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Germany has pledged to continue supporting the constitutional alignment and economic reform processes if they prove to be sustainable and was willing to work with Zimbabwe on reducing its debt.

Germany has pledged to continue supporting the constitutional alignment and economic reform processes if they prove to be sustainable and was willing to work with Zimbabwe on reducing its debt.

By Phyllis Mbanje

Visiting German regional director for sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel of the German Federal Foreign Office Georg Schmidt however, said assistance would only be rendered if there were “positive signals” in the process of constitutional alignment. The alignment of the constitution has become an urgent matter and stakeholders have expressed the need to speed up the process.

Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda also weighed in on the debate saying there would be a constitutional crisis if there were further delays.

Addressing a public forum at the end of the Conference “Assessing Progress on the Implementation of Zimbabwe’s New Constitution: National, Regional and Global Perspectives” in Harare, Schmidt said the Constitution was a “new departure for Zimbabwe” which would protect individual dignity, grant democratic space and social rights.

“Should the positive signals in the process of constitutional alignment and economic reform prove to be sustainable Germany is prepared to enter into an open dialogue with the Zimbabwean Government on ways out of the economic crisis, including the burdensome debt problem,” he said.

Schmidt emphasized that it will be all citizens of Zimbabwe who will first and foremost benefit from a clear and transparent “rule of law” system protecting their political and economic rights.

“A successful process of constitutional alignment as well as economic reform will also have positive impact on the improvement of Germany’s economic relationship with Zimbabwe. Economic interaction needs legal protection; foreign investors in particular need guarantees and clarity concerning their investments,” he said.

Schmidt acknowledged encouraging signs like Zimbabwe’s performance in the Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During his visit to Zimbabwe, Schmidt met with Vice-President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, Christopher Mutsvangwa and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as members of the opposition. The Conference was organised by the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law (MPFDPR), Germany, in collaboration with the Development and Rule of Law Programme (DROP) at the Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and the Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust, Harare. The conference was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.