Zimbabwe has nothing to hide, says Murwira

Zimbabwe is prepared to volunteer and expose itself to peer review for continuous improvement of good governance.  

This was said by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Professor Amon Murwira at the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) summit which was chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He said Zimbabwe had nothing to hide following its accession to a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) in February 2020.

"Zimbabwe is prepared to volunteer and expose itself to peer review for continuous improvement of good governance.  "This is basically in pursuit of our vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle income economy that is inclusive.  

"At the same time, this then meets the vision 2063 of the Africa we want, because Zimbabwe is part of the African building block," said Minister Murwira.  

The peer review mechanism was a self-correcting mechanism for Africa in its wish to become a continent characterised by good governance.

Prof Murwira said Zimbabwe was very pleased to be part of this mechanism, which showed that Zimbabwe was part of the family of nations.  

"Zimbabwe is engaging and re-engaging, Zimbabwe has nothing to hide, so it is free to engage with the world and we are improving along these lines and basically this is what the African peer review mechanism is all about.

"Zimbabwe joining this mechanism shows that it is promoting its image as a good citizen of the world, with absolutely no intention to have enemies but to completely develop friendship with the rest of the world starting with Africa," said Minister Murwira.  

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the APRM mission to promote the African Union's shared values of democratic governance and inclusive development remained a priority.

"The APRM is a firm statement of the resolve of the African countries to strengthen effective governance and inclusive development, also the rule of law, and social and economic development.  

"It is an important part of our efforts as individual states and as a continent to tackle instability, conflict, corruption and maladministration," he said.

President Ramaphosa said the strategic plan for 2020 — 2024 continued to drive towards accession by all AU member states.  

"Of the 55 member states, more than two thirds have already acceded to the APRM, this is a wonderful achievement," he said.  

"The most recent accessions are those of Zimbabwe, and Seychelles at our summit last year to bring our community to a total of 40."