It is set to participate at that meeting as a full member.
The development will mark the attainment of a major
milestone for President Mnangagwa’s signature foreign policy of engagement and
re-engagement, which seeks to, among other things, reintegrate the country into
the international community.
The Sunday Mail has gathered that the Commonwealth
secretariat is presently finalising official formalities that will lead up to
Zimbabwe’s readmission into the 56-member grouping of mostly former British
colonies.
In August, Zimbabwe conducted a peaceful, free-and-fair
election, clearing the last hurdle that stood in the way of its readmission.
The Commonwealth Election Observer Mission gave the polls a
clean bill of health, praising the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for
managing the plebiscite efficiently.
In an interview, Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava said Zimbabwe’s readmission was now a
foregone conclusion.
“We have been engaging with certain countries . . .
re-engaging with those who were members of the Commonwealth in 2000, and
engaging with others that have since joined as members,” he said.
“And we have also had a lot of meetings with the
Commonwealth secretariat. They had their last visit here sometime this year.
“We are hoping that during the course of early 2024, or up
to midyear, we should get an answer of what their verdict is.
“We were talking to the current chair . . . my counterpart
in that country — Rwanda — the current chair. As the current chair of CHOGM,
they did indicate to us that Zimbabwe may be accepted back into the
Commonwealth before the next CHOGM.”
Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003 at the
height of tensions between Harare and London over the land reform programme.
Former President Robert Mugabe announced Zimbabwe’s
withdrawal from the group following the Commonwealth summit in Nigeria that
suspended the country indefinitely.
In 2018, Government submitted a formal application for
readmission, marking a sharp departure from the previous Government’s policy of
rancour with the group.
The Commonwealth then initiated its four-step process to
assess whether the Southern African nation met the requisite membership
criteria.
Since then, the Commonwealth secretariat has dispatched
several missions to assess the country’s eligibility to rejoin the group
following the nation’s formal expression of interest to return to the bloc.
The procedures entail an informal assessment, undertaken by
the secretary-general, following an expression of interest by an aspirant
country; and consultation by the secretary-general with member states.
This will then lead to the extension of an invitation to
the interested country. The country then lodges a formal application, which
should present evidence of functioning of democratic processes and popular
support in that country for joining the body.
Commonwealth secretary-general Mrs Patricia Scotland has
held several high-level meetings with President Mnangagwa to discuss the
country’s impending readmission.
The two last met in May on the sidelines of the coronation
of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London, UK.
Amb Shava said Government’s engagement and re-engagement
drive had borne fruit for Zimbabwe this year.
“Starting with the SADC region, I think we have
consolidated our relationship with our neighbours in the sub-region.
“This is very clearly indicated by their support of our
election results, where ZANU PF won resoundingly.
“Quite a good number of them came or sent representatives
to the inauguration of His Excellency, President Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa,”
he said.
He said Zimbabwe had also consolidated its relations with
other countries on the continent.
“With respect to Western Europe, we have seen the fight
that they are having in Ukraine and it is not our fight.
“We have also seen the devastation that Israel is causing
to Gaza.
“We are unhappy with that because there is a United Nations
approach for a two-state solution for the people of Palestine and the people of
Israel.” Sunday Mail
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