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Zim Will Rejoin Commonwealth This Year: Mnangagwa Tells UK Minister

6 years agoSun, 04 Feb 2018 04:49:43 GMT
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Zim Will Rejoin Commonwealth This Year: Mnangagwa Tells UK Minister

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has formally informed the British government that Zimbabwe will be rejoining the Commonwealth this year. Mnangagwa will be sending technical teams to start the re-engagement process although he is reported to have told British Prime Minister Teresa May that her country still has an obligation to fund the land reform process so that former white farmers who lost their land can receive compensation.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is reported to have communicated this position to the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Africa, Harriet Baldwin, who was recently in the country on her visit to Africa. A senior government official told the Sunday Mail,

President Mnangagwa articulated the land issue at length, affirming that while the programme was irreversible, Government was committed to bringing finality to the matter which sparked the fallout between the two countries spanning nearly two decades.

Minister Baldwin listened attentively as President Mnangagwa explained the position on the land issue and she promised to deliver the message to her principals in London. The meeting went well and yes, the President declared Zimbabwe’s intention to rejoin the Commonwealth.

It was significant that the Head of State himself made such a commitment. Britain appreciates that this will go a long way in mending relations between the two countries.

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Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in December 2003, after former President Robert Mugabe pulled the country out of the organisation when he refused to accept the decision made at the Abuja summit, to maintain Zimbabwe’s suspension indefinitely. Said Mugabe then,

Anything that you agreed to on Zimbabwe which is short of this position – no matter how sweetly worded – means Zimbabwe is still the subject of the Commonwealth.

It is unacceptable. This is it. It [Zimbabwe] quits and quits it will be.

Before leaving the country, Baldwin said that the United Kingdom had contributed £5 million (US$7 million) to non-governmental organisations to ensure that all voices are heard and that the 2018 harmonised elections will be free, fair and transparent.

More: Sunday Mail

 

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