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Fungi Kwaramba

Political Editor

Today Egypt commemorates its Revolution Day which marks the 69th anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 which led to the declaration of the modern republic of Egypt, ending the period of the Kingdom of Egypt. Our Political Editor Fungi Kwaramba (FK) sat down with Egyptian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Mahmoud Amir (MA), to discuss the significance of the day as well as how the two countries are confronting modern-day challenges. Below are excerpts of the interview.  

FK: Tell us about your National Day and its significance?  

MA: We are commemorating the 69th anniversary of Egypt National Day which took place in 1952, on the 23rd of July, it is a big day in Egypt. That day was the starting point of the building of a new Egypt as we know it and ending what was happening before, the discrimination of the majority in the hands of the occupiers.  

This marked a turning point for Egypt, the last seven years since the current administration of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi have seen Egypt going through a total transformation in everything. If you were in Egypt eight years ago, you would not recognise Egypt now, the new administration has changed the face of Egypt.  

There is construction everywhere — new roads, bridges, overhauling, the infrastructure, overhauling the energy sector. Previously, we used to have power shortages, but not anymore, we are now exporting.  

FK: What is your main source of energy?  

MA: We went into partnership with a German company, Siemens, and came up with an environmentally friendly way of generating power through the wind, plus of course the old sources of power.  

FK: Can you tell us the defining features of the current Egyptian government?  

MA: Four main features illustrate what has happened in Egypt in the past seven years, the first feature is the new administrative capital that Egypt has built, the whole government will be going there soon. This is ushering a new modern Egypt.  

The second feature will be the empowerment of women. Women in Egypt are living their best times. Empowering women economically by asking them to come forward and take loans at low-interest rates, empower women politically by having over 30 percent of parliament representation. 

The empowerment of women is a big factor. The third feature is the mega project that has just been announced by the government. This is the Gratifying Life Project, this will change rural Egypt where 58 percent of the population live, their lives will be changed and transformed for good. US$50 billion has been put into the project. The last, but not least, feature of modern Egypt is the attainment of comprehensive power, militarily, politically, or economically. This is in essence, the jewel of the current administration. We now have the 10th most powerful military in the world.  

FK: Egypt and Zimbabwe share a lot of history, how do you rate Zimbabwe’s response to Covid-19?  

MA: The Government is doing a great job in curbing the spread of Covid-19, the people should now go out there and get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity sooner rather than later. I hope that with the concerted effort of all nations we can overcome that. 

The African continent is reeling under the third wave and Zimbabwe is not immune to that, Egypt is not immune to that, so everyone should put the effort in fighting this pandemic, let’s go the extra mile to safeguard the people who are very much at risk.  

FK: Have you been vaccinated?  

MA: Yes, I received the Covid-19 vaccination and I urge people to go get the vaccine. It is important to be jabbed, as far as I know, it mitigates the effects of the virus. I hope Zimbabweans would heed the Government’s call and get vaccinated.   

FK: How has the issue of vaccination been received in Egypt?  

MA: The situation is under control in Egypt, we just passed the third wave, right now we have around 100 cases a day. The country is, however, open for tourism with strict safeguards measures to protect tourists. Egypt has also gone into a collaborative agreement with the Sinovac company, whereby we will be manufacturing the vaccine in Egypt because we are a 100 million-plus country, so we need the vaccines in large quantities.  

FK: What can be done to strengthen ties between Zimbabwe and Egypt?  

MA: We have a great political relationship and the challenge is to bring the economic aspect to the table. There is a tremendous amount of respect between President Al Sisi and President Mnangagwa. They meet on occasions of international conferences, they exchange notes and ideas. 

There is always a sense of respect and comradeship between the two leaders. The challenge is really to transform this excellent political relationship into an excellent economic relationship for the benefit of the people  

FK: What is being done to achieve that?  

MA: Recently, we had two important visits to Egypt by the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and Mr Doug Munatsi who is the head of ZIDA (Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority), the two represented the political and economic aspect of the engagements. 

My job and that of the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Egypt is to build on these two visits to boost ties. The ZIDA chief went and sold Zimbabwe to Egyptian investors, we will be building on that. In his own words, Mr Munetsi said the vaccination was a resounding success, I will have to work closely with him. He went and sold Zimbabwe. We had this meeting for all the heads of investment in Africa in Egypt in June.

He sold the projects that are available for investment and to lure investors from across the continent into coming to Zimbabwe. It was a very important indaba.  

FK: We have seen the two countries being criticised by Western countries for so-called human rights violations, what is your take and as you celebrate 69 years of independence, can Africa be lectured on human rights?  

MA: Human rights are broad. Part and parcel of human rights is securing people’s bread and butter needs, secure good health, jobs. Human rights are not only confined to political rights, there are there in Egypt and Zimbabwe, people can speak their minds but that cannot be confined into the narrow definition by some countries.