Opinion / Columnist
President Mugabe - an ally to reckon with
22 Sep 2017 at 12:39hrs | Views
While President Robert Mugabe has always championed African issues at huge international foras, the ongoing 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will likewise provide one such platform for him to advocate key issues that need redress in Africa and beyond.
Some have sought to denigrate President Mugabe using social media platforms, claiming that he has nothing new to offer at the UNGA convergence. However Africa, for years has rallied behind President Mugabe's spirited fight for the emancipation of the continent from the hands of the super powers.
Of note on that list is Africa's plea for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, which President Mugabe has been championing for.
In 2012, President Mugabe challenged the UN structure which he professed to be outdated and definitely not reflective of the current world order, since Africa accounts for a third of UN's member states; and yet has no veto power in the Security Council.
In 2014, his noble intentions for Africa saw him calling for leveraging of Africa's natural resources.
"We continue to push for leverage of our diverse and abundant resources through the beneficiation and value addition of our resources," said President Mugabe.
"We must not spare efforts to push for industrialization of our countries and the regions with value addition and beneficiation at the core...implementation of the African Industrialization Strategy should be prioritized," he pleaded.
All in an effort to fight for African industries liberalisation, yet another key area which most European powers confess ignorance about, in an effort to continue exploiting African countries' raw materials.
In 2016, President Mugabe also took up the fight for people living under foreign dominance in areas such as Libya and Palestine when he said that Agenda 2030 recognized that sustainable development cannot be achieved without the full realization of rights of people living under colonial and foreign occupation and said that such places needed intervention to be emancipated from foreign dominance.
As if alluding to President Mugabe's 2013 peace call, "throughout the world, peace and development have remained the dominant themes of our times. People all over the world have been raising their voices in favour of peace, development and cooperation and against war, poverty and confrontation," he said; and this year's UNGA theme runs under "Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and Decent Life for All on Sustainable Planet."
So, again war zone African countries such as Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are banking on President Mugabe to deliver words fostering peace and driving off foreign invaders off their land.
Some have sought to denigrate President Mugabe using social media platforms, claiming that he has nothing new to offer at the UNGA convergence. However Africa, for years has rallied behind President Mugabe's spirited fight for the emancipation of the continent from the hands of the super powers.
Of note on that list is Africa's plea for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, which President Mugabe has been championing for.
In 2012, President Mugabe challenged the UN structure which he professed to be outdated and definitely not reflective of the current world order, since Africa accounts for a third of UN's member states; and yet has no veto power in the Security Council.
In 2014, his noble intentions for Africa saw him calling for leveraging of Africa's natural resources.
"We continue to push for leverage of our diverse and abundant resources through the beneficiation and value addition of our resources," said President Mugabe.
"We must not spare efforts to push for industrialization of our countries and the regions with value addition and beneficiation at the core...implementation of the African Industrialization Strategy should be prioritized," he pleaded.
All in an effort to fight for African industries liberalisation, yet another key area which most European powers confess ignorance about, in an effort to continue exploiting African countries' raw materials.
In 2016, President Mugabe also took up the fight for people living under foreign dominance in areas such as Libya and Palestine when he said that Agenda 2030 recognized that sustainable development cannot be achieved without the full realization of rights of people living under colonial and foreign occupation and said that such places needed intervention to be emancipated from foreign dominance.
As if alluding to President Mugabe's 2013 peace call, "throughout the world, peace and development have remained the dominant themes of our times. People all over the world have been raising their voices in favour of peace, development and cooperation and against war, poverty and confrontation," he said; and this year's UNGA theme runs under "Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and Decent Life for All on Sustainable Planet."
So, again war zone African countries such as Libya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are banking on President Mugabe to deliver words fostering peace and driving off foreign invaders off their land.
Source - Rufaro Gijima
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