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Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (in blue suit) accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (left), listens as National Heroes Acre resident curator Ms Rumbidzayi Bvira narrates the life history of Father Zimbabwe, the late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo at his grave in Harare yesterday

Lovemore Mataire Senior Reporter
Visiting Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita yesterday almost had an emotional breakdown as he recounted his impressions of Zimbabwe and President Mugabe’s exemplary leadership as a true African.

Speaking to journalists soon after touring the Heroes’ Acre, President Keita said people buried at the National Shrine deserved respect for their selfless sacrifice to the well-being of the country.

He paid tribute to the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo and President Mugabe, praising them for forming the Patriotic Front that averted a potential civil war in the country.

“I couldn’t come to Zimbabwe without coming here to pay tribute to the memories of those who lost their lives in the liberation of this country . . . Dr Nkomo’s intelligence and that of President Mugabe have given the chance for this country to avoid a civil war. So a tribute to him (Dr Nkomo) was well deserved,” said President Keita.

President Keita is on a three-day State visit to Zimbabwe.

He was overcome with emotion as he recounted how President Mugabe has remained steadfast in the face of vilification by detractors.

He said it was difficult for him to talk about a country that he deeply loved.

“It’s difficult to talk about a country you love.

“I am not a young man. I know African history and I know who is genuine and who is an impostor. President Mugabe is a true African,” said President Keita.

Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, President Keita was taken on a tour of the shrine by resident curator, Ms Rumbidzai Bvira, who chronicled the history of Zimbabwe from colonialism to independence as depicted on the two murals that flank the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He was shown the tomb of the first chairman of Zanu-PF’s Dare ReChimurenga, Cde Herbert Hamandishe Chitepo, and other liberation icons like Father Zimbabwe (Dr Nkomo), Cde George Silundika and Senator Chief Rekayi Tangwena.

Affectionately known as IBK in Mali, President Keita served as prime minister from 1994 to 2000 before heading the country’s National Assembly for five years after assuming the role in 2002.

He was born in Koutiala in central Mali and was educated at Paris’s Sorbonne University and Lycée Askia-Mohamed in Bamako, the Malian capital.

After completing his studies, Keita worked as a researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (known in French as Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique — CNRS), a public organisation under the responsibility of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Keita returned to Mali in 1986 and worked as a technical consultant for the European Development Fund, launching the first small-scale development programme for the European Union’s aid activities in Mali.

He founded the Rally for Mali (RPM), in 2001 and was elected president in the July–August 2013 presidential election. He was sworn in on September 4, 2013.