The Sunday Mail
Forward Nyanyiwa
FOR many years — a quarter of a century to put it into context — Zimbabwe’s pariah status prevented the country from having contact with the United Kingdom.
Relations between Britain and its former colony had broken down almost irretrievably.
Since at least 1997, the historical land question meant that Zimbabwe and Britain did not see eye to eye, something precipitated by the Labour Party and Claire Short’s renunciation of British responsibility to fund the land reform in Zimbabwe, and the subsequent fast track land reform programme.
Goodwill and co-operation just died, and in came acrimony and UK’s mobilisation of the West to impose illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. The acrimony, the public fallout – best personified by the fiery speeches of former President Mugabe – and the impasse that followed, all spelt doom for relations between Zimbabwe and the West. It was like a coma — a diplomatic one. Those familiar with the medical field know of a phenomenon known as the Glasgow Comma Scale, which signifies consciousness in a person.
According to this scale, any mark below eight signifies the lack of life and death, at the zero mark. On the other hand, when one scores 15 on the scale, they are deemed to be fully conscious.
For many years, Zimbabwe’s relations with Britain and the West were comatose.
Under the First Republic, presided over by the late former president Robert Mugabe whose outbursts at international fora saw him being snubbed by influential world leaders while facing blackouts in various television networks around the globe, Zimbabwe’s place among the global family of nations was denied.
At the international stage, it became a norm that whenever the late leader took to the podium to address delegates at various global functions, many Western leaders would simply walk out.
It became an impasse, a deadlock and a mutually hurting stalemate.
In game theory, this is known as zero-sum. Enter the Second Republic, and everything changed!
Zimbabwe has been given a new lease of life by President Mnangagwa through his engagement and re-engagement policy in diplomacy and international relations. Under this policy, Zimbabwe has sought to become a friend of all and enemy of none. More concretely, the country has made overtures to the international community to make friendship and review stalled ones.
Reversing a diplomatic coma
The just-ended UN climate summit in Glasgow was symbolic in one big way, as Zimbabwe revived its diplomatic relations with the West. President Mnangagwa rubbed shoulders with global leaders such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and British Royalty in Princes William and Charles.
The President ticked all boxes right to score a 15 mark as he endeavours to revive Zimbabwe’s asphyxiated relations with the world. His eye movement, motor and verbal responses resembled a fully conscious mind which had one goal and one goal only, re-engagement.
This was a complete reversal and change of fortunes from what we had become accustomed to. While the country suffered embarrassment at previous global interactions, President Mnangagwa joined the league of global leaders and he looked pretty much at home.
This is what should be!
Zimbabwe is at an historical moment. The overwhelming success at Glasgow came hard on the heels of another diplomatic victory when the visiting United Nations envoy, Alena Douhan, made important findings that sanctions hurt the ordinary people of Zimbabwe and should be removed unconditionally. This buttressed SADC and African Union’s position on the embargoes and strengthened Zimbabwe’s cause on the international arena.
It is unsurprising that the Zimbabwe delegation to Scotland had another brief of seeking the removal of sanctions and they canvassed the support of the international community, something that fell onto the hands of a diverse and powerful team that President Mnangagwa assembled for the trip.
What’s next for Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe cannot afford to waste the glorious diplomatic gains it has achieved lately. The country must build on the successes it has notched to win over the international community so that our motherland can fully overcome the scourge of banishment and sanctions.
As such, a number of domestic and foreign policies need to be aligned to achieve the vision.
Regarding the former, Zimbabwe still faces significant challenges domestically because of the polarised nature of its politics. The forthcoming elections will typically bring the worst of it.
There is no doubt about it — we have been down that road before.
How the country navigates the fractious situation is a make-or-break affair.
It is made worse by an agent provocateur opposition that seeks to foment violence and strife to justify Zimbabwe’s continued isolation from the international community.
Other issues that need to be dealt with include corruption, that has conveniently been raised by those who want sanctions maintained.
President Mnangagwa has already declared war on corruption, and progress on this front has been commendable but now is the time to up the ante and shame detractors.
In seeking re-engagement, no stone should be left unturned.
President Mnangagwa’s legacy depends on it and he should build on the Glasgow revival.
Forward Nyanyiwa is a Zimbabwean nurse and trained journalist based in Northern Ireland. He is studying towards a Masters’ Degree in Health Communication.
