Zimbabwe’s re-engagement efforts are on track after
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration briefed the world about the
violent demonstrations that rocked the country last month, Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo has said.
Government is in contact with the world and many now
appreciate the circumstances surrounding the disturbances that the MDC-Alliance
and its partners engineered, stoking violent protests that prompted security
forces to step in.
The opposition sought to besmirch the image of security
forces by alleging that disproportionate force had been used against protesters.
In an interview yesterday, Minister Moyo, who is
accompanying President Mnangagwa to the 32nd Ordinary Session of the African
Union Assembly, said the politically motivated disturbances failed to derail
re-engagement efforts.
“That was an event and it is now behind us. We are in
contact with the rest of the world.
“Sometimes people can see through these events. They can
see through these events as time goes by and they realise that certain issues
which appear to be so negative may not be necessarily negative,” said Minister
Moyo.
The world, he said, is now well apprised on what transpired
in Zimbabwe. “We have engaged the whole of Sadc, we engaged the African
Union and we are actually engaging even the Americas, the Eastern countries like
China and it is quite clear that our re-engagement programme is going back on
and it is going to continue,” said Minister Moyo.
Re-engagement, he added, was a two-way process.
“It is not a fact that those people who were engaged are
those we want. They also want us. There is chemistry between these countries.
They have got serious interests in coming to Zimbabwe. It is a win-win
situation,” he said.
As part of re-engagement efforts, Minister Moyo is today
expected to meet representatives of the US government, China and Vietnam, among
many others.
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“We are persuading them to understand that what happened in
Zimbabwe is not a barrier to progress. It is not a barrier to investment. It
may only be a hump,” he said.
Minister Moyo has already met the African Union Commission
chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.
“The AU Commission chairperson wanted clarity on the
situation at home. I explained what happened. The cases, if they were workers,
unfortunately they were hijacked by people who had other sinister motives and
they ended up being mixed up with some political interests, which had been
taking place in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“We have explained the situation and he is (Mahamat) very
clear about that and now he says he can easily speak about Zimbabwe. I also
handed him a letter from President Mnangagwa so that he can read on his own
about the situation in Zimbabwe.”
The focus of the ongoing AU Assembly is on refugees.
“Focus is primarily on refugees, Internally Displaced
Persons, and they are looking at the causes of all these and how we can remedy
these causes or reverse this issue, which has caused the continent to have
about 6,5 million refugees,” said Minister Moyo.
He said reform of the AU and its financing were also agenda
items.
The summit, which starts today, runs under the theme
“Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable
Solutions to Forced Displacements in Africa”. Sunday Mail
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