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international community, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Senegal, Ms Trudy Stevenson (MDC), said yesterday.
In an interview, Ms Stevenson described President Mugabe as a “walking history book”.
“He is a strong leader who still commands enormous respect throughout the world.
“In Senegal, when I say to ‘the man in the street’ that I am from Zimbabwe, the response is invariably ‘Mugabe! I like your President!’ He is a very strong man.”
Ms Stevenson said President Mugabe was liked for his principled stance against Zimbabwe’s former colonisers.
“People like the fact that he still stands up to our former colonisers.
“As I have come to know him better, I have been struck by his interest in my family and my life, as well as his sense of humour and his phenomenal memory.
“I hope and pray that his recollections of pre-independence struggles and meetings, particularly on the rest of the continent, are captured for posterity. He is a walking history book!’’ said Ms Stevenson.
Turning to sanctions, Ms Stevenson said the embargo had outlived its usefulness and that the main political parties in Zimbabwe agreed that the sanctions should be removed.
“They have long outlived their sell-by date! All three parties to the GPA have long agreed with this, so it is not really useful for us to keep debating it among ourselves.
“We should rather spend our time and energy persuading countries that imposed sanctions to remove them,’’ she said.
Ms Stevenson said she had lost faith in the constitution-making process.
“From here, it looks very confused! It seems to have become very politicised, used as a campaign platform for the political parties.
“I doubt that true national consensus on what we want Zimbabwe to be can come out of this process in the near future.”
Online Reporter