The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Fredrick Shava, has said that Zimbabwe is likely to be accepted back into the Commonwealth at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, scheduled for October next year.
Zimbabwe had previously withdrawn from the Commonwealth in 2003 under the leadership of the late former President Robert Mugabe. This decision was made in protest after the Commonwealth imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2002 due to a disorderly and violent land reform program.
Following the removal of President Mugabe in 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government applied to rejoin the Commonwealth on May 15, 2018. Commonwealth has so far rejected Zimbabwe’s application to rejoin the organisation citing continued human rights violations.
Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of the handover ceremony of a training institute for diplomats, Shava said:
Those ones, they will always be ranting whenever they feel that their allies are losing ground. We have not done anything to the opposition except to present ourselves and them to the people and when the Americans look at the loss of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in terms of elections then they think that somebody is playing tricks.
No one is playing tricks. It is just that the people have a preference for Zanu PF and they have been voting for Zanu PF in this regard. So that cry that they want to punish people who are preventing ‘democracy’, their democracy to take place is their own cry. It is not our cry.
We have been engaging with certain countries in the Commonwealth. We had a lot of meetings with the Commonwealth secretariat and their last visit sometime this year.
We are hoping in the course of early 2024 or mid-2024 we should get an answer. Rwanda indicated to us that Zimbabwe may be accepted back to the Commonwealth before the next CHOGM.
The Commonwealth is a group of 54 countries that used to be ruled by Britain. It was formed in 1931 to bring together equal and independent nations. It focuses on things like democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The Commonwealth helps countries work together, develop their economies, and improve their societies. Members can share ideas, learn from each other, and help each other with things like education and healthcare. They can also take part in events like the Commonwealth Games, which celebrate sports and culture. The Commonwealth helps countries face global problems like climate change, poverty, and conflicts by working together. It gives smaller nations a chance to be heard on the world stage.