Mnangagwa ready to engage

Zimbabwe is ready to engage and re-engage with all countries of the world on an equal footing, President Mnangagwa has said.

He said his visit to Eurasia last month yielded positive results and the countries he visited were ready to assist Zimbabwe with machinery in various economic fields including mining and agriculture.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces made the remarks in his address during the third leg of the Meet the People Rallies in Rutenga on Saturday.

"We are open to re-engaging with those who had cut ties with us and we would like to engage on an equal footing," President Mnangagwa said in the Shona vernacular.

"To those we previously had no relations with, we are ready to open new frontiers," he added.

He explained that his Eurasian visit had won the country a lot of goodwill.

"Like I said, we received a lot of support. The people there said they admired the resilience of Zimbabwean people despite the challenges we are going through owing to the punishment being meted on you by those who envy your resources.

"They urged us to be strong and are going to support us through provision of mining, agriculture and construction equipment which will be delivered soon.

"Let us not look back," he said.

Speaking on illegal sanctions imposed on the country, President Mnangagwa said it was high time Zimbabwe utilised its resources to grow the economy.

"We have our policy of engagement and re-engagement. Yes, Zimbabwe has been under sanctions for 20 years. These sanctions have destroyed our economy. We are saying we cannot continue crying.

"Let us utilise resources given to us by God without borrowing to build our country. To those countries that imposed sanctions on us, ask yourselves what crime have we committed against you? We don't know anything wrong that we have done against them. We fail to understand it when a person in England or Scotland is aggrieved when we redistribute our land here.

"We don't listen to that. Our land is ours and our people and theirs is for them with their people. It will never happen that we lose control of our land. We fought for it and it will remain our forever."

The policy to engage and re-engage is President Mnangagwa's approach in the Second Republic in seeking to reposition Zimbabwe in the global family of nations, following years of isolation.

Progress is being made in that front, despite spirited attempts to scuttle the process by some local and foreign quarters with latest attempts being made to force the European Union to reinstate full sanctions on Zimbabwe.

Yesterday, however, the bloc eased some measures and pledged to progressively "adjust" decisions on Zimbabwe. An embargo against former president Mr Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace Mugabe and the Zimbabwe Defence Industry remains while the EU resolved to uphold suspended restrictive measures against the Vice President (not named), Commander of the Defence Forces, Minister of Lands and Agriculture, and to lift restrictions against two individuals that it did not name, among other measures.

"We keep monitoring the situation very closely and we stand ready to adjust our decisions accordingly," the EU said in a statement read at a Press conference addressed by vice president of EU Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.