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'Obama's Africa Summit a non-event,' says Prof Moyo
24 Jan 2014 at 05:19hrs | Views
Government has dismissed the US-Africa Summit slated for Washington in August as a non-event to Zimbabwe as the country prides in ownership of its resources more than trips to Washington, a Cabinet minister has said.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said, if anything, America had taught Zimbabwe not to respect it through its punitive and unjustified sanctions on the country.
Prof Moyo said this while addressing students doing a Joint Command and Staff Course Number 27 in Harare yesterday. This was in response to reports that US president Barack Obama snubbed President Mugabe by excluding him from the list of African leaders invited to the summit.
"It is a non-issue to us," he said, adding: "We understand this to be America pursuing its interests, afraid that China has made headway."
He went on to say, "The countries that have a serious relationship . . . with China are not part of it and we do not mind because what matters most to us is the sovereignty over our resources and not a trip to Washington, especially to be paraded in Washington to say 'haa look at them all, it is only me and I have invited these 47 people'.
"That is old politics, old economy because the bottom line is resources. They can have that summit, what we know is America, the business community wants to come and do business with us over these resources under our soil."
He applauded the media for noting Western hypocrisy on the matter.
"Now they (media) see the hypocrisy of it and yes they will put that headline (Obama snubs Mugabe) and if you read the copy you will see that the story is a grounded one," he said.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said, if anything, America had taught Zimbabwe not to respect it through its punitive and unjustified sanctions on the country.
Prof Moyo said this while addressing students doing a Joint Command and Staff Course Number 27 in Harare yesterday. This was in response to reports that US president Barack Obama snubbed President Mugabe by excluding him from the list of African leaders invited to the summit.
"It is a non-issue to us," he said, adding: "We understand this to be America pursuing its interests, afraid that China has made headway."
He went on to say, "The countries that have a serious relationship . . . with China are not part of it and we do not mind because what matters most to us is the sovereignty over our resources and not a trip to Washington, especially to be paraded in Washington to say 'haa look at them all, it is only me and I have invited these 47 people'.
"That is old politics, old economy because the bottom line is resources. They can have that summit, what we know is America, the business community wants to come and do business with us over these resources under our soil."
He applauded the media for noting Western hypocrisy on the matter.
"Now they (media) see the hypocrisy of it and yes they will put that headline (Obama snubs Mugabe) and if you read the copy you will see that the story is a grounded one," he said.
Source - herald
