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Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor

The dispatching of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe to Guinea Conakry as a special envoy of President Mnangagwa yesterday shows the Second Republic’s eagerness to consolidate relations with the outside world.

The move is anchored on the engagement and re-engagement policy being pursued by President Mnangagwa’s administration. Minister Kazembe delivered a special message from President Mnangagwa to Guinean President Alpha Condé, and discussed matters of mutual interest with him.

The visit to Conakry by Minister Kazembe follows his similar visit to Kigali, Rwanda, on November 6 where he met President Paul Kagame.

In Kigali, Minister Kazembe delivered a special message from President Mnangagwa and held discussions on matters of mutual interest and solidarity.

Minister Kazembe told The Herald from Conakry yesterday that he was delivering messages of solidarity given the relations between Zimbabwe and Guinea.

“The purpose of the visit was to bring a message from my President, His Excellency Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa,” he said.

“Basically, it was a message of solidarity in recognition of the relationship that exists between the two countries. As you can appreciate, President Mnangagwa was here last year.  “We are also expecting to receive the Guinean President in Zimbabwe in the near future.”

Minister Kazembe is expected to visit several other African countries as part of Zimbabwe’s engagement and re-engagement policy, which President Mnangagwa has been pushing since assuming office in 2017.

The President wants Zimbabwe to continue relating well with other countries and consolidate the relations.

Through the re-engagement policy, Zimbabwe also seeks to re-establish cordial relations with countries in the West such as the United States and European Union (EU) member states.

The re-engagement policy reaches a milestone next week when the second session of the Zimbabwe and EU formal political dialogue is elevated to ministerial level.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo will co-chair the meeting with EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Timo Olkkonen.

The meeting will focus on areas of cooperation between the two parties.

Zimbabwe and the EU resumed formal dialogue on June 5 this year, but at that point, the meeting was co-chaired by Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador James Manzou and Mr Olkkonen.