Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
THREE new ambassadors presented their credentials to President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare yesterday and pledged to consolidate relations between their countries and Zimbabwe in a mutually beneficial way.
The three are from Malawi, Tanzania and Venezuela and are set to begin their tour of duty.
The three envoys are General (Retired) Peter Andrew Lapken Namathanga representing Malawi, Mrs Suzan Salome Kaganda from Tanzania and Dr Magaly Henriquez Gonzalez, who will be the new Ambassador of Venezuela to Zimbabwe.
Briefing journalists soon after meeting President Mnangagwa, Gen (Rtd) Namathanga said bilateral relations between Harare and Lilongwe were strong.
“The Zimbabwe-Malawi relations, I think they have been picking up and they have grown from strength to strength. And I am hoping that my time here will be about consolidating on the foundations that my predecessors have already set on the ground. In my discussion with His Excellency, President Mnangagwa, he also emphasised on the issues that we have been working on in terms of agriculture between the two countries, as well as tourism and industry. That will be what I will be focusing on,” said Gen (Rtd) Namathanga, who is in his first diplomatic posting after leaving the defence forces.
The new Tanzanian Ambassador to Zimbabwe said Harare and Dar es Salaam had a long history dating back from the days of the liberation struggle.
“So our cooperation will be cemented to see that we care for the development of our people. As you all understand, just two weeks ago, our President, Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan, launched our foreign policy, where among other things, the emphasis is on economic diplomacy. So we are looking forward to strengthen our cooperation in areas that will benefit our people. They include agriculture, mining, tourism and adding value to our products, especially those from agriculture and mining so that we can make our people enjoy the benefits of the natural resources that are in their land,” said Ambassador Kaganda.
Ambassador Gonzalez said Venezuela is focusing on science and technology as President Nicholas Maduro values innovation in the wake of sanctions imposed on it by the United States of America.
She said some of the possible areas of cooperation include mining, health and agriculture.
“We believe that science and technology traverse across all areas. In order for us to obtain our independence and evade and overcome sanctions that were imposed upon us, we’ve had to develop our science and technology sectors. That is the reason why we are producing more than 85 percent of all our food products,” said Ambassador Gonzalez.
She said they have established a university responsible for science and technology and that could be used to enhance cooperation with Zimbabwe through exchange programmes.
Ambassador Gonzalez invited Zimbabwean representatives to travel to Venezuela to have an appreciation of what that country was doing in science and technology.
