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The world awaits Mugabe's UNGA speech

by Nobleman Runyanga
21 Sep 2017 at 15:43hrs | Views
The American President, Donald Trump delivered his maiden United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech yesterday and most people would remember it more for its threat to deal with North Korea despite his "we want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife" utterances. The speech was marked by name-calling rather than extension of a hand to engage countries such as North Korea and establish their concerns in order to build lasting world peace.

When the American President, the host of the assembly, has delivered his speech the world normally regards it as the pacesetter for the event but this years' failed to do that with Trump complaining that his country was sustaining the UN financially more than any other country. His speechwas also about telling the world in no uncertain terms that, contrary to the American tradition, the country, going forward, would be inward-looking, selfish and self-serving if Trump's "I will always put America first" is anything to go by.

Trump's speech is all history now and the world is now looking forward to other key speakers. While some are looking forward to listening to the French President, Emmanuel Macron's maiden UNGA speech, this casts a pale shadow compared to most people's expectations on Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe. The majority of Africa and the world are waiting for his speech tomorrow. Over the years, they have come to expect him to tackle those issues, which some African and third world leaders skirt around in order to keep their places in the West's good graces. President Mugabe has taken the mantle from the late Ethiopian President, Haile Selassie in playing the "people's voice" when it comes to the way the UN is run or how the West treats African and third world countries.

Some critics of President Mugabe have been stating that there is nothing new to expect from him this time around - and they were right. This is because for as long as the West continues to turn a deaf ear to less powerful countries' anxieties, President Mugabe is going to continue hammering the same message home. His unwavering stance against powerful countries' treatment of African and third world countries and his consistent message on how the UN is being run has become his hallmark. Some unconfirmed reports even indicate that some first world leaders who want an issue spoken about at the international stage, but may not be courageous enough to present it themselves, they surreptitiously broach it to Zimbabwean embassy staff in their countries in the hope that it would reach President Mugabe. Such is President Mugabe's candour. Some of the so called first world leaders even dread meeting him on a one on one basis at such events for fear of being told off their bad ways. Writing in the online magazine,Prospect, British author and former diplomat, Tom Fletcher, disclosed that, "At another (UNGA) I had to shoulder-charge (former British Prime minister,) David Cameron, into a side room to avoid an unwanted encounter with Robert Mugabe".

This time around Africans and the downtrodden of the world are expecting President Mugabe to continue calling for the reform of the UN Security Council to make it more democratic, accountable and transparent in the discharge of its mandate. He has said it before and is set to stress it again, the need for the Security Council not to interfere in the normal UN functions. As he addresses UNGA tomorrow, President Mugabe carries Africa's message. Those for whom he has become spokesman are also expecting him to tackle the need for Africa to have a permanent seat in the powerful Security Council.

For Zimbabweans, who have endured nearly two decades of illegal sanctions imposed on their country by America, Britain and the European Union (EU), they are pinning all their hopes on President Mugabe to tell the world of how the two powerful nations and the European bloc have blatantly breached the diplomatic tenets of non-interference in Zimbabwe's affairs by imposing sanctions against it for a bilateral matter which concerned Zimbabwe and Britain. President Mugabe has spoken about this in previous UNGAs and other fora and will continue to speak about it to expose the West's double standards. He is expected to lay bare America's cheek, in promulgating a law, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001, for use in interfering in the affairs of an independent and sovereign Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are expecting President Mugabe to tell America in the presence other world leaders to repeal the repugnant legislation.

During the 2015 UNGA, President Mugabe told the assembly that Zimbabweans were not gays. This was because the West had sought to impose its values on the people of Zimbabwe to accept homosexuality as a right and social value. The Western countries even attempted to politicise the matter by accusing the Zimbabwean Government of treading on gay people's "rights" but President Mugabe vehemently rejected this. He pointed out to them that their machinations to impose their alien, unacceptable and unAfrican values on Zimbabweans would not be welcomed in his country.

Source - Nobleman Runyanga