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Wallace Ruzvidzo – Herald Reporter
Government has said that it feels exalted by the respect and recognition accorded to it by Heads of State and Government after they showed up in their numbers to witness President Mnangagwa assume Chairmanship of the regional bloc last Saturday.
The Second Republic’s sentiments were expressed yesterday by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava and Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere.
The 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government saw the highest number of Heads of State in attendance in the last 10 years.
In response to a question from The Herald at a post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday, Ambassador Shava said the huge turnout by the Heads of State was a vote of confidence in President Mnangagwa and his administration.
“We feel exalted very much by the number of Heads of State that attended the summit here. And I think it is also a very important point that in the last four summits that happened, one in Mozambique, four Heads of State did not attend that one, the next one in Malawi, again another five did not attend, and the last one in DRC, I think six did not attend, and so on.
“And so, this exhortation certainly is something that says Heads of State and Government were keen and confident that they should attend this particular summit,” he said.
Ambassador Shava said some of the Heads of State had relayed their respect not only for President Mnangagwa but for Zimbabweans at large.
The Summit also served to show Zimbabwe’s increasing popularity across the region, he said.
“I think it was respect that they were paying to our own Head of State and Government Dr ED Mnangagwa and some of them actually did say that they came here to participate and also out of respect.
“And I think that it is a very important point. It shows, perhaps, how popular the leadership of His Excellency Dr Mnangagwa is in the circles of the sub-region of SADC. It was a very pleasant summit indeed,” he said.
Dr Muswere weighed in saying Zimbabwe had surpassed SADC standards and the country was proud of achieving such a feat.
“The hosting of the 44th SADC Summit surpassed the SADC standards and the best way to describe the feeling across the country is that this is a direct example, this is an epitome, it’s a citadel, a paragon of excellence in terms of repositioning Zimbabwe to its correct position in terms of international relations,” he said.
The Minister expressed gratitude to the media fraternity for a job well done.
“As the media we are so proud of the coverage that you provided for print, electronic and on all social media platforms and also the role of Zimbabwe in maintaining peace and tranquillity and the total contribution as we received our guests from across the region,” he said.
Cabinet, said Dr Muswere, had congratulated President Mnangagwa on his Chairmanship at yesterday’s sitting.
“Cabinet joins the nation in congratulating His Excellency the President on assuming the SADC Chairmanship and for successfully hosting the 44th SADC Summit on 17 August, 2024.
“All Member States were represented at Heads of State and Government or other appropriate high-ranking levels,” he said.
A total of 2 306 delegates were accredited during the SADC Industrialisation Week and 3 041 during the Summit.
Cabinet yesterday also noted that all outstanding projects and programmes related to the summit be completed.
These include, the building of the New City in Mt Hampden and that the SADC Committee and Sub-Committees remain active and committed to the implementation of the projects and programmes under their purview as well as manage envisaged SADC meetings.
Online Reporter