This follows an application by Zimbabwe in 2018 to be
readmitted into the Commonwealth which it left 19 years ago.
Led by Commonwealth Assistant Secretary-General, Professor
Luis Franschesci, the four-member team spent the greater part of yesterday in
closed door meetings finalising their itinerary which will start with more
meetings in Harare this morning.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade said the team will hold an engagement meeting at a hotel in
the capital this morning.
“They are finalising their programme today and starting
tomorrow, they will kick off their engagements,” said the official.
He said the team’s main brief was to assess the country’s
readiness to rejoin the Commonwealth after Harare pulled out in 2003 at the
height of a bilateral dispute between Britain and Zimbabwe over the land reform
programme, which the Government had embarked on to correct historical and
colonial imbalances in land ownership.
On touching down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International
Airport, the delegation pledged to do its work professionally as directed by
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mrs Patricia Scotland, at the invitation of
President Mnangagwa.
Meetings have been lined-up with stakeholders that include
President Mnangagwa, Government Ministers and civil society representatives.
The delegation was received by Special Advisor to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador Grace
Mutandiro.
In a brief interview at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International
Airport, Prof Franschesci said it was important to continue fostering a culture
of unity and co-operation which was promoted by Africa’s founding fathers.
He noted that no country in the world could be an island
and live in isolation of others.
Prof Franschesci said they will submit their report to the
Commonwealth for the consideration of members led by Heads of State and
Government.
The visit dovetails with the Second Republic led by
President Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement thrust anchored on the
premise that Zimbabwe is a “friend to all and an enemy to none”.
In a statement last Friday, Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Minister Frederick Shava said the delegation will be in
Zimbabwe to assess the progress that the country has made following the
application it submitted in 2018 to rejoin the organisation.
He said the visit was in line with Zimbabwe’s re-engagement
thrust that seeks to reset and rekindle its foreign relations in order to
create a conducive and supportive environment for the successful implementation
of NDS1 and the realisation of Vision 2030.
President Mnangagwa met Mrs Scotland in 2019 on the
sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly where the Head of State
and Government outlined several steps, including reforms, that had been
undertaken by Zimbabwe.
In his address at the UN General Assembly, President
Mnangagwa said it was important to note that Zimbabwe had not been expelled
from the Commonwealth, but had withdrawn and the issues that led to its pulling
out, among them the land reform programme, had since become water under the bridge.
The land reform programme was meant to address historical
imbalances that saw rationalisation of land ownership from whites who owned
large swathes of land to the black majority who, hitherto, had been on arid and
unproductive land. Herald
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