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Fungi Kwaramba

Political Editor

ZIMBABWE, in pursuit of national interest, will not be bulldozed by so-called developed nations which hypocritically preach about human rights when they trample on same in their backyards and also pursue narrow development goals that do not benefit the world at large, President Mnangagwa said.

Speaking after briefing the country’s ambassador designates to Mozambique Cde Victor Matemadanda and the United Nations (UN) Ambassador Albert Chimbindi at the State House, the President said in terms of international peace and security, Zimbabwe will be guided first by national interests, secondly the SADC position and thirdly that of the African Union (AU).

“He (Ambassador Chimbindi) is going to New York at the United Nations and I briefed him that there are three pillars that are critically important at the United Nations. The first pillar is that of peace and security that occupies most of the work at the United Nations. The world is divided on the issue of peace and security,” he said.

Divisions on the peace and security in the global village, the President added, are clear with certain nations coming together on different matters. “As far as Zimbabwe is concerned, on matters of peace and security, my Ambassador must look at the national interests of the Republic of Zimbabwe, secondly the position on that particular issue taken by SADC and thirdly, the position taken by AU (African Union). Those are the guiding principles to the pillar of security and peace at the United Nations.

Apart from the critical pillar of peace and security, the other important mainstay of the country’s foreign policy relates to the development of nations, which however has seen some nations such as the so-called G7 fragmenting the world according to economies and also trying to unilaterally influence the direction that the world should take.

“The world is divided into various groups, the big boys have their club, there is no criteria of choosing, but they choose themselves.

“The first group of big boys is the G7 who say they have the seven biggest economies in the world, whether that is true or not but that is what they say. They meet as a group of seven, they determine what development thrust the world must follow and what influence they must-have in the development of the entire world.

“Then beyond the G7, there is the G20, the G7 will now expand and look at other nations or economies which they feel are coming up and should not be allowed to be free, so they harness and expand the Group of 7 into a group of 20,” the President said.

The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States and between them, they have often sought to impose their views especially on the global south.

Although the majority of world nations came together under the Non-Aligned-Movement, with more than 70 nations part of the group, over time the movement has waned, leaving some nations to abuse their power through sanctioning disagreeable nations such as Zimbabwe.

“As far as Zimbabwe is concerned, under the current economic environment we are living in, over two decades of sanctions imposed by these big boys Zimbabwe is surviving on the basis of three issues; attending to our own domestic resources to survive, secondly the support we receive in our own region as SADC, both at the economic and political level, and thirdly under the auspices of the AU.

“Beyond that, we have other countries at the United Nations that have not imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe so we continue to relate to them.

‘‘So on matters of development my Ambassador should not think that the G7 will ever think about promoting Zimbabwe. He must realise that our survival is on the basis of our own resources, support in SADC, support by AU and bilateral relations with other countries,” he said.

On the issue of human rights, the President said the Western world has a holier than thou attitude that seeks to conceal their own abuses.

“I told my ambassador that one tool which the big boys use is the issue of human rights. They ignore human rights violations in their own backgrounds, in their own countries, in their own jurisdictions, but go around talking about human rights violations in developing countries when there are worse human rights violations in the jurisdictions of these powers.”

The President said the appreciation for human rights is so clear in Zimbabwe, which waged a protracted liberation struggle to bring majority rule and ensure human rights flourish.

“We suffered under human rights violation of oppression for decades and we had to go to war to bring democracy, so we cherish it. No one can lecture us about democracy so he must be aware, he must be aware that as SADC we stand together on issues of that nature and the AU. He mustn’t be bulldozed by the big boys because they have worse human rights violations in their jurisdictions.”

On the deployment of Cde Matemadanda to the Republic of Mozambique, President Mnangagwa said the two nations are sister republics that will stand shoulder to shoulder against any adversity.

“We are brothers and sisters, our independence came on the basis of the sanctuary which we received from Mozambique. An attack on Mozambique is an attack on us.

“However, because of two decades of sanctions our capacity to assist Mozambique in the fight against aggression is now limited as a result of the two decades of sanctions.

“But he must assure our brothers and sisters in Mozambique that Zimbabwe stands solidly with Mozambique on the challenges they are facing,” the President said.