Zim Not Attending Commonwealth Events After Being Denied Observer Status

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Sibusiso Busi Moyo will not be attending any Commonwealth events at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London. This comes after Zimbabwe was denied observer status by the Commonwealth which said that such a status did not exist. State media had previously reported that Moyo would be attending the summit. However, the minister will take advantage of the summit to speak to delegates at the sidelines.

An official from the Brish Embassy in Harare told the weekly publication The Zimbabwe Independent,

Zimbabwe does not have formal observer status at CHOGM and we understand will not be attending any Commonwealth events. However, Foreign Minister Moyo is welcome in London and we are delighted he will take advantage of the CHOGM to meet a number of key interlocutors in the margins.

Both Moyo and President Emmerson Mnangagwa have made it clear that Zimbabwe wants to rejoin the Commonwealth and is currently negotiating. 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. Zimbabwe had been suspended after the country’s 2001 elections were found to be flawed by electoral observers who alleged that there were high levels of politically motivated violence. 

More: The Zimbabwe Independent