Mumbengegwi is back

Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is finally back home safely after a week's ordeal in Mali where he and three other African Union Ministers of Foreign Affairs were caught up in the coup d'etat which overthrew Malian President, Mr Toumani Toure on Tuesday last week.

Mumbengegwi arrived on Monday morning aboard a Kenyan Airways plane.

Minister Mumbengegwi had travelled to the Malian capital, Bamako, for the AU Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting sanctioned by the AU Heads of State Summit in January.

Mumbengegwi said the ministers were also tasked to come up with a strategy to mobilise support for the region to fight hunger and starvation in the face of a serious drought ravaging that part of Africa, and little did they know that ironically, a coup was brewing right under their noses.

The Minister added that just like the AU and UN, Zimbabwe does not support any unconstitutional change of government.

He said AU will give the West African regional organisation, ECOWAS the priority to deal with the situation first before any external intervention.

He expressed hope that the region will be able to quell the disturbance, citing lack of organisation and order among the rebels.