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Africa Moyo in VICTORIA FALLS

President Mnangagwa arrived in Victoria Falls yesterday where he is expected to deliver a keynote address and officially open the 10th ordinary session of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) plenipotentiary conference.

The conference was preceded by the 39th ordinary session of the Administrative Council of the PAPU that ran from June 21 to 23.

President Mnangagwa touched down at the Victoria Falls International Airport shortly after 5pm yesterday.

He was welcomed by Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Richard Moyo, Information Communication Technology, Courier and Postal Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere, Minister of State for National Security Owen Ncube, ICT Deputy Minister Dingumuzi Phuthi and Airports Company of Zimbabwe vice chairman Dr George Manyaya, among several other senior Government officials.

Apart from the President’s keynote address and official opening, the conference is expected to elect the PAPU general secretary and the assistant secretary-general.

Zimbabwe is fielding Mr Sifundo Chief Moyo for the position, whose candidature has been endorsed by SADC.

He will slug it out with Mr Sameh Soliman of Egypt, Mr Amadou Abdou Waziri of Niger and Mr Sibiri Michel Kabre of Burkina Faso.

The Herald established last night that the election had been marred by allegations of widespread vote buying and brazen attempts to manipulate the ballot in favour of Mr Soliman.

It is alleged that Mr Soliman filed nomination papers well after the due date, but the papers were accepted under unclear circumstances.

The Government recently met ambassadors from the African continent in Harare to drum up support for Mr Moyo.

Mr Moyo is presently the postmaster-general of the Zimbabwe Posts Private Limited (Zimpost).

During the engagement with African ambassadors, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava, requested support for Mr Moyo.

Ambassador Shava said the presentation of Zimbabwe’s candidature was guided by the principles and shared values of the African Union.

The southern region has never led PAPU since its inception 41 years ago, and the election of Mr Moyo would be in line with and respect for cardinal principles of the African Union, namely rotation as provided for in the relevant decisions of the African Union Assembly and the Executive Council.

Recently, Pan African Parliament polls for the president failed to take off as SADC solidly demanded that there should be rotation of leadership.

The PAP polls had to be postponed.

Some SADC representatives were last night threatening to cause the postponement of the election of the PAPU secretary-general’s post by demanding that there be rotation.

Mr Moyo is a qualified and extensively experienced postal expert whose proficiency and leadership are complimented by his strong academic background. 

He has received extensive postal technical training and international industry experience, and has participated in various engagements on the postal sector growth and development for over 25 years. 

Over the years, Mr Moyo has participated in international postal events, forums, meetings and conferences under the auspices of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), PAPU, and the Southern African Postal Operators Association (SAPOA) and other international postal bodies. 

He holds a Masters’ degree in Business Administration (NUST), a BSc Economics Degree (UZ) and an Advanced Diploma in Transport and Logistics (UK) amongst the local and international postal training sessions he has been exposed to.

Zimbabwe has been a member of PAPU since 1980 and has actively participated in the union’s activities, meetings and activities led by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz).