A challenge the EU and its ACP partners in the Cotonou agreement, are still faced with, is the establishment of credible mechanisms and modalities for a genuine political dialogue. They have already had a bad start, Zimbabwe.

2 November 2004
Visa for Mr. Kumbirai Kangai, member of ZANU (PF) Politburo; violation of sanctions against Zimbabwe

Letter to Minister Bot and Van Ardenne on allowing ZANU-PF Politburo member Mr. K. Kangai to attend the upcoming ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in The Hague, 20th November. Kangai is one of the persons on the EU sanction list on Zimbabwe.

12 October 2004
Zimbabwe 2005 Parliamentary Elections- International community has to act now
"If you are an Al-Qaeda you can not be expected to be given access to the public media. You cannot expect the MDC to be given the right to say ‘Mugabe must go’ in the public media," said Patrick Chinamasa (Justice Minister) in Parliament after being quizzed by MDC legislators on access to public media by the opposition.

29 June 2004
Open letter to Mbeki
An open letter in South African newspaper Mail and Guardian urges president Mbeki to change his strategy on Zimbabwe.

1 April 2004
I write as I please - weekly column by Wilf Mbanga
"I had bought the tickets months ago and was getting excited as the date drew near. But my Tilburger friends all laughed at me when I told them where I was going. Only one open-minded colleague encouraged me to go ahead and enjoy myself – but even he looked at me dubiously..."

18 March 2004
I write as I please - weekly column by Wilf Mbanga
"Last week I wrote about my heartache over the appalling revelations about youth training camps in Zimbabwe where thousands of youngsters are being trained to torture, beat and kill members of the political opposition – including their relatives; where thousands of young girls are systematically and repeatedly raped and where government officials discuss murder and death as carelessly as though they were talking about a soccer game..."

15 February 2004
One year before the general Zimbabwean Parliamentary elections:
conditions for free and fair elections are absent.

14 February 2004
I write as I please - weekly column by Wilf Mbanga
"I traveled to Amsterdam recently at the invitation of a Dutch publisher who has just published a translation of a remarkable book by a young Welshman, Owen Sheers..."

10 February 2004
I write as I please - weekly column by Wilf Mbanga
"Tough as it may seem, I applaud the recent decision by the Dutch Government to stop all aid to Zimbabwe. In fact, I wish this had happened sooner - and I hope other European Union states and the American government will shortly do the same..."

3 February 2004
I write as I please - weekly column by Wilf Mbanga
"I have become spoilt living in the first world. Everything works here. Ever since I arrived I have had electricity and running water all day, every day..."

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