Zimbabwe did not pay a single cent for President
Mnangagwa’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates as the trip was fully
funded by his host, it has emerged.
Further, Zimbabwe will continue with its engagement and
re-engagement policy with other countries in the global community of nations.
This was said by President Mnangagwa while officially
opening the 111 ordinary session of the Zanu-PF Central Committee in Harare
yesterday.
“…I was in Abu Dhabi where I was invited by the Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi,” said the President. “They (his hosts) looked after us
well then we hear some saying we have hired a plane for that visit. Forget
about that. They sent us their plane. We never paid anything as Zimbabwe. The
Crown Prince sent us a huge plane to carry us and it returned us (home). I told
him that we have a challenge of planes so every time I want to travel I will
just call and he will send us the plane. So those who don’t know were just
parroting what they don’t know and I just laughed it off,” said President
Mnangagwa.
Speaking on re-engagement in light of the recent Cyclone
Idai, President Mnangagwa said: “In the period under review, we continue with
the engagement and re-engagement policy. As a result, we have witnessed
concrete investment commitments from across the world. This will cumulatively
have a positive impact on our overall economic growth and the creation of jobs
for our people.
“It is a result of these engagement and reengagement
efforts that we receive overwhelming support from countries such as United Arab
Emirates which I visited earlier this month as well as Tanzania, Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa and many other countries that have supported us. It is
because that we have engaged them. So it is critical that engagement should
continue. You can hear some people saying why is the President travelling? If
we had not been travelling engaging these countries were we going to get all
the medicines that we have received? No.
“It is because we have elevated our relations with other
countries. Ticharamba tichidero tichisimudzira ukama vanotaura vachingotaura
tichingoenda mberi kuvaka nyika neukama. (The engagement and re-engagement
process will continue and critics will criticise but we will continue working
to develop the country).
“We are permanently and continuously shaking off the
isolationist approach in the manner we do things as a result of past history
which was necessary because we have been faced by the choice of do we proceed
with our land reform programme to avoid isolationism or we proceed with the
land reform programme whatever the world chooses to do.
“We chose to be masters of our destiny, masters of our
land. So we went ahead and got our land and as a result we were isolated but
today there is no basis for isolation because we now have our land and it will
never leave us and our land will never leave us. Those who are engaging us are
engaging us with our land. If a headman in Chipinge or Muzarabani is
redistributing land in his area and the county lord in Scotland got angry about
that. Is it his land?”
President Mnangagwa urged senior party members to respect
the people that they lead.
He said leaders should not be feared by the people they
lead.
The President assured the nation that the violent
disturbances that rocked the country in January at the instigation of the
MDC-Alliance would not be repeated again.
He also said Zanu-PF was a mass party but those who join it
should be prepared to do things the Zanu-PF way.
He said the will of the people should be guiding principle
in all party activities. Herald
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