Head of State named President of the Decade

Midlands Bureau Chief
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday said he will continue promoting education and pushing the Pan African agenda until all Africans are masters of their own destiny by taking full control of their resources.The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was speaking when he received the Pan Africanist President of the decade Award from the All African Students Union (AASU), which coincided with the 12th edition of the Midlands State University graduation ceremony in Gweru yesterday.

President Mugabe, who is also the chancellor of all state universities, said Pan Africanism enjoined leaders to work for the development of governments in Africa, defend their sovereignty and their resources.

“Graduation is the culmination of efforts of many years of hard work and it’s naturally not for us to make speeches. But these students have made a gesture to me, I ask for your forgiveness so I can just express my gratitude to them and assure them that I will do our best to promote Pan Africanism, to develop our governments in Africa,” he said.

President Mugabe said Pan Africanism meant that Africans must work for the sovereignty of their countries. He said through sovereignty Africans control their resources and become masters of their destiny.

“That is what Pan Africanism should mean to all of us and I think that is the meaning that you want to impart to these graduates that they are now on a mission to enable Africans to have necessary skills – skills intellectual, skills psychomotor so that we are not just able to develop our people but to develop our people with a purpose to become masters of their mineral resources, masters of their agricultural resources and masters of their wild animals be they dangerous or not, they belong to us and they should be managed by us,” said President Mugabe.

The award was presented to President Mugabe by AASU president, Isaac Semanyi, a Ugandan in recognition of the role played by the President in uplifting the standards of education and literacy in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole.

The organisation also acknowledged the President’s role in championing the spirit of Pan Africanism and its values.
Said Semanyi: “Mr President, the All Africa Students Union has grossly appreciated your efforts towards Pan Africanism for the last 10 years and you have withstood the challenges of the time. The whole of Africa appreciates this.

“With me I came with delegates from Liberia, Togo and Rwanda. All Africa Students Union has the privilege to award the President of the Decade Award in honour of your efforts to promote Pan Africanism on the continent and uplifting Africans through promoting education. This is why in Africa, Zimbabwe has a literacy rate of over 90 percent. This reward is for the next 10 years.”

Pan African Students Union operates in 55 countries and is accredited with the United Nations. The next recipient of the award will be conferred in 2023.