malvernmugadzikwa
TEN days ago, the United States Senate finally confirmed Pamela Tremont as its chief envoy to Zimbabwe, and she is most likely to be making the journey to this sacred land soon.
By now, she must have completed her homework on how to engage with Harare, as she was nominated by Joe Biden back in June 2022, roughly two years ago.
She will come here at a time when Zimbabwe, under President ED, has beat its swords into ploughshares and turned its spears into pruning hooks under a foreign policy drive through which it seeks to be “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.
Relations between the US and Zimbabwe deteriorated precipitously at the turn of the millennium, after the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme led to a clash between Harare and London.
The US, as it has always historically done, sided with its British cousins across the pond in the ensuing bilateral diplomatic dispute.
For Bishop Lazi, our relations with Washington probably hit a nadir on May 25, 2010, during Africa Day commemorations held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the US, where the then-Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, was heckled by then-Zimbabwe Ambassador to the US, Machivenyika Mapuranga, for daring to desecrate the event by lecturing Harare on human rights and governance.
“You are talking like a good house slave!” an unamused Mapuranga reportedly interjected as Carson made his speech.
Kikikiki.
There were plenty of other moments of diplomatic intrigue that dramatised the souring relations between the two countries.
Do you still remember former President Mugabe describing an American diplomat, Jendayi Frazer, as a “little American girl trotting around like a prostitute celebrating that the MDC had won”?
Kikikiki.
But it is now an immutable reality that Zimbabwe has reclaimed its land; never to lose it again. It is now time to move on.
We hope Madame Tremont will bring the same spirit when she makes her journey to our teapot-shaped Republic.
We will welcome her with outstretched arms. From where the Bishop stands, the erstwhile frosty relations are thawing.
The recent decision by the US Treasury’s notorious Office of Foreign Assets Control — which has had a dubious reputation of extraterritorially confiscating funds belonging to sovereign jurisdictions — to remove Zimbabwe from its radar, especially after the White House scrapped the declaration of a national emergency in Executive Order 13288 of March 6, 2003, should be viewed in this context.
But retaining sanctions on the First Citizen and other top Government officials, clearly as a bargaining tool, is untenable and problematic. Nothing other than a total removal of the sanctions, which are illegal and now increasingly moot anyway, will suffice.
The good thing, however, is that we seem to be now finding each other with the Americans. Most symbolically, all things being equal, President ED will tomorrow attend the official rebranding of Meikles Hotel as Hyatt Regency Hotel. Hyatt is an American hotel brand that grew out of Los Angeles.
It has now been introduced to the Zimbabwean market by Dubai-based Albwardy Investments, which snapped up the hotel around 2020. This is a sign of good things to come.
You need to connect the dots to understand the reasons behind America’s recent actions, which are designed to lay the foundation for American capital.
They are now ready to do business.
But of late, no other diplomat has put in so much work to endear himself to Zimbabweans and the establishment as the tall man from the UK, Pete Vowles. Through talking our language, cooking our food and engaging more, he has wormed himself into the hearts of many.
And his charm offensive seems to be working. According to latest figures from the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, total trade with Zimbabwe in the 12 months to 2023 was £539 million, representing a 76,1 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.
Of the £539 million, Zimbabwe’s exports to the UK were £275 million, while imports amounted to £264 million.
This again is a sign of good things to come.
New era
With a wealth of experience gained through decades of working the diplomatic channels, ED, the grandmaster of politics, has successfully reconfigured Zimbabwe’s foreign policy to make it decidedly transactional; not confrontational. He promised as much in the ruling ZANU PF’s 2018 manifesto.
“There is no country that will achieve sustainable development for as long as it remains in isolation.
“The costs of remaining outside the global economy are too high for our economy, industry and people,” reads the manifesto.
“In that regard, the ZANU PF Government will strive to normalise its relations with the international and regional communities, as well as resolve its outstanding international obligations. Normalisation of relations will be achieved through proactive engagement with the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union, and former farm owners, including those that were protected under Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements . . .”
This has come to pass.
Last week, we celebrated news that the country had been selected to host the next Nordic-Africa Foreign Ministers Meeting mid-2025. The conference will bring together five Nordic countries — Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden — and 32 African countries to discuss matters of mutual interest and cooperation.
In August, Zimbabwe will be assuming the chairmanship of the regional bloc, Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Currently, its bid for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council is gaining traction after being endorsed by both SADC and the African Union.
And news that the UK Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development and Africa), Andrew Mitchell, will be coming to Zimbabwe soon — itself a sign of the increased diplomatic dalliance between the two countries — is quite telling.
It could be a harbinger of positive things on the horizon, not least Zimbabwe’s readmission into the Commonwealth.
Isaiah 2:4-5 says: “The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
The sweet fruits of charm
After assiduously investing in a diplomatic charm offensive that is highly transactional, Zimbabwe has begun reaping the rewards.
Only recently, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency told us that the country’s exports rose by an impressive 25 percent to US$1,72 billion between January and March this year, compared to US$1,38 billion in the same period last year.
Most notably, shipments to the United Arab Emirates, a new frontier that has been opened by the Second Republic, rose by 21 percent to US$463 million in the period.
Similarly, exports to China jumped by 132 percent to US$320 million in 2024 from US$137 million a year ago.
Do not forget that Harare and Beijing established a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in 2018, which deepened diplomatic ties between the two countries.
There was also growth in exports to Mozambique, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Zambia and Vietnam, as well as notable gains in countries such as India (US$12 million), Armenia (US$4,8 million), Paraguay (US$3,8 million), Yemen (US$2,1 million) and Egypt (US$1,8 million).
Indeed, Zimbabwe is now open for business. Remember, politics is largely transactional. Everyone, including the UK and the US want in on the bonanza.
Seating on the fence is no longer a strategy — if ever it was — as they are likely to lose out.
With the opposition — which was previously used by hostile forces as either a battering ram or Trojan Horse — defeated, shattered and scattered, they have been left with no other viable option than to engage the governing ZANU PF.
Like Deng Xiaoping, the father of China’s economic miracle, ED would not care less if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice.
But though we are willing to engage, we will not let our guard down.
We still hold dear King Lobengula’s counsel when he said: “Did you ever see a chameleon catch a fly? The chameleon gets behind the fly and remains motionless for some time, then he advances very slowly and gently, first putting forward one leg and then the other.
“At last, when well within reach, he darts his tongue and the fly disappears . . .”
Proverbs 11:14 reads: “Without wise leadership, a nation falls.”
Thanks to ED, Zimbabwe is taking its pride of place in the world.
Bishop out!
Online Reporter