The Sunday Mail
His EXCELLENCY President Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa’s address at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly cast him as a true statesman.
Dr Obert Mpofu
Correspondent
He was bold, precise and unwavering in his speech.
Indeed, he should be commended for representing our beloved country well on the global stage.
He touched on many issues of great concern that are not only important to Zimbabwe but the rest of the world as well. They include calling for reform of the UN Security Council, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus, to allow Africa to be part of making key decisions that bind the continent in the spirit of multilateralism, inclusivity and fairness; the need to honour the Paris Agreement on climate change to achieve climate justice; and the need to reform the current exclusionary architecture of the global financial institutions, as they are not fit for purpose.
The President further spoke of how Zimbabwe has been entrenching its democracy, as signalled by the holding of peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections.
In his address, he also took the opportunity to call for the unconditional removal of illegal and unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, as they are causing untold suffering on our people.
The President was also joined by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and President Hage Geingob of Namibia in condemning these sanctions.
In their addresses, they boldly castigated the coercive measures and rightly called for their removal as they harm all of us within our beloved region.
President Mnangagwa further condemned some powerful countries that are serving their narrow interests by sponsoring surrogate forces in Africa to cause unconstitutional changes of government.
He stated that some powerful countries have the tendency of preaching peace, human rights and democracy, and yet they clandestinely fund conflicts and the unconstitutional change of governments for their own narrow interests.
The President also emphasised the importance of channelling our collective efforts towards building peace and driving forward our development agenda for shared prosperity as “there is much more that unites us than that which divides us”.
His sentiments could not have come at a more perfect time as our detractors are seemingly on a mission to put to an end our unity and cohesiveness as former liberation movements and as the SADC region.
The tell-tale signs of this were seen in the Nevers Mumba elections observation report on Zimbabwe, which evidently showed that there was a third force behind it. He was not anywhere close to representing the views of SADC.
A united SADC is all that is required for us to withstand the incessant attacks from our detractors; we cannot afford disunity.
Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique played a crucial role as safe havens for our freedom fighters when we were fighting for our independence.
We sheltered and gave each other assistance until all of us managed to break the bonds of colonisation.
This should be the case now that we are facing a new threat and a fresh attack from our detractors, who have found their way amongst us like a thief in the night.
Another interesting development that has recently occurred, and which President Mnangagwa seemingly touched on in his UNGA address through calling out some powerful countries that are clandestinely funding unconstitutional changes of governments, is how the European Union (EU) has recently proposed to withdraw funding for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
It is clear that the EU’s agenda of manipulating our elections by pouring in dubious funding has failed.
As a matter of fact, going forward, I am of the view that when it comes to our electoral processes and critical State institutions, no funding whatsoever should ever be allowed to come from outside the country.
Therefore, the decision by the EU to withdraw their funding for ZEC is actually a positive step.
It leaves our institutions without any ties to our detractors and frees them from the threat of manipulation.
It should be borne in mind that our first election that delivered Zimbabwe’s independence was not funded by any outside donors.
Our own resources — which are raised from our own people through taxes — surpass any donations that may come our way, and are, therefore, adequate for funding our institutions.
As a political party that subscribes to the autonomy of ZEC in protecting the will of the people, we commend it fully for refusing to have its independence extracted from it by donor dictates, including its ability to conquer trinket luxuries from the West with its sinister agenda.
However, it leaves one wondering if the decision to provide such funding to ZEC in the first place was perhaps part of attempts to manipulate our electoral processes and influence the outcome of the just-ended harmonised elections, which my party, ZANU PF, and His Excellency President Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa won resoundingly.
The President was indeed clear in his message and spoke for, and on behalf of, our beloved country, Zimbabwe.
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is an academic and the Secretary-General of ZANU PF. He writes in his personal capacity.
