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SADC Chairperson, President Mnangagwa, yesterday sent Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to Zambia to meet with President Hakainde Hichilema and ease tensions over the burial of Zambia’s 6th former President, Edgar Lungu, which had threatened to escalate.
Former President Lungu, who was 68, died on June 5 whilst receiving treatment in South Africa.
His family said the former President had told them that President Hichilema should not preside over his funeral, triggering a clash with the Zambian Head of State.
However, in his capacity as SADC Chairperson, President Mnangagwa deployed Vice President Chiwenga as his Special Envoy yesterday to engage in quiet diplomacy and mediate the dispute.
In an interview last night, Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet in charge of Presidential Communications, Mr George Charamba, confirmed that President Mnangagwa had deployed Vice President Chiwenga as his Special Envoy.
“This is part and parcel of the role of the Chair of SADC. It is also typical of Zimbabwe’s quiet diplomacy approach, that is solution-oriented.
“The President, as chair of SADC, has been monitoring very closely many developments in Zambia following the demise of the sixth president of that country and the apparent misunderstanding between the current president and the Lungu family.
“As a result of that, and after consultation with other players in the region, the President this morning (yesterday) dispatched Vice President Chiwenga to Zambia just to reassure Zimbabwe’s and the SADC chair’s support for a peaceful resolution to the impasse.”
Diplomatic sources said President Mnangagwa’s diplomacy had paid off as his mediation averted a potentially explosive situation.
“Had the impasse persisted, it was going to create a very difficult situation where we would have had a burial of a former Head of State without the current Head of State. This was going to set a very bad precedent,” said the sources.
In his remarks yesterday after meeting VP Chiwenga, President Hichilema thanked President Mnangagwa for his intervention.
“For you to share this grief with us, we are very grateful. We don’t take neighbours for granted. When this gesture is extended to us, it’s only normal for us to thank you . . . Please pass the message to President Mnangagwa,” he said.
President Hichiliema acknowledged the challenges with the Lungu family, saying he would continue to pursue dialogue with them, following President Mnangagwa’s advice.
“We have been having challenges with the family . . . as to agree on burial rights. By now, we would have announced the programme. We do believe that we will be able to reach a consensus. My approach, as Head of State, is to focus on dialogue, rather than conflict . . . not to roll out the powers of the President all the time.
“Negotiating, listening to the family their concerns and their desires has been something that we decided to invest in.
“We apologise for the delay, but we believe we will reach an amicable decision with the family, and we will be able to communicate the funeral programme to you as Zimbabwe through President Mnangagwa and yourself,” said President Hichilema.
Peter Tanyanyiwa