PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has suggested that Sadc countries must force their people to undertake compulsory HIV tests as a way of curbing Aids.
Elias Mambo/Nqobile Bhebhe
Addressing heads of States and government at the 33rd Sadc summit in Lilongwe, Malawi, at an Aids Watch Africa meeting on Saturday, Mugabe said the region should come up with methods to compulsorily test everyone in the battle to stop the spread of the pandemic.
“While there is need to respect rights of individuals, there is need to subject everyone to examinations because those who volunteer are not the ones who have been infected,” the Zanu PF leader said.
Mugabe also urged Sadc member States to adopt Zimbabwe’s Aids levy model, which he said was an effective method of funding the fight against the disease.
“In my country we are paying a levy, a small percentage, but it goes a long way in making sure that the drugs are found as demand increases,” he said.
However, Malawi President Joyce Banda (the new Sadc chairperson) said taxing for Aids would be difficult to implement in some countries.
Meanwhile, there was drama as Mugabe almost missed the meeting, only appearing half an hour after it started.
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Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, his Foreign Affairs counterpart Simbararshe Mumbengegwi and Central Intelligence Organisation boss Happyton Bonyongwe had an ad hoc meeting and decided Mumbengegwi should stand in for Mugabe.
However, when he arrived, a visibly tired Mugabe stole the media limelight as attention was directed at him as he struggled to walk.
For a change, Zimbabwe’s political problems did not feature prominently during discussions at the summit.
This angered Sadc Community Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who accused regional leaders of weakening the body.
According to media reports Sadc Council of NGOs executive director Boitshoko Ditlhake said the body was now “aloof” and no longer accountable to the people. “Over the years Sadc has behaved as if they are aloof and not accountable to the people,” he was quoted as saying by the Malawi media.
“The closure of the Sadc Tribunal is a case in point.”
The Sadc Council of NGOs was formed in 1998 to facilitate engagement of the people of the region with the Sadc secretariat at regional level and with the member states at national level through national NGO umbrella bodies.
To push its agenda, the group has launched a campaign titled the “Sadc We Want” calling for setting up of a regional Parliament by 2015, a court of justice and the complete ratification of the protocol on the facilitation of movement of the people.
