President Mnangagwa to deliver COP26 speech today

by | Nov 2, 2021 | International, Local News, Politics | 0 comments

Hosia Mviringi

President Emmerson Mnangagwa will today deliver his maiden speech at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

His speech, will give direction on Zimbabwe`s future in battling climate change, as it is expected to carry binding commitments which will be made to the family of nations.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana confirmed President Mnangagwa`s itinerary for today at COP26.

“Last night (which was the conference`s first day) President Mnangagwa attended a reception with other leaders.

Today, he will make his address to the COP26 Summit. He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of India, as well as the Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland,” said PS Mangwana.

Zimbabwe`s participation at the summit, which symbolically is in the Scottish capital of Glasgow is set to transform Zimbabwe’s global standing in the family of nations.

This year`s COP26, which is expected to bring together hundreds of world leaders, both in government and private enterprise to find common solutions to the current global threat of climate change.

The President’s visit comes 27 years after the last visit to the UK by a Zimbabwean head of state after a diplomatic fallout that followed imposition of sanctions by the Western block in response to Zimbabwe’s land reform program.

President Mnangagwa landed in the UK territories with a clear mission, to assert and clarify to the world that Zimbabwe’s desire is to be a ‘friend to all and enemy to none’.

This mission is informed by the country’s engagement and re-engagement agenda which seeks to repair and re-establish broken relations with some nations of the world while seeking to establish new enduring relations with those that have been on the sidelines for a long time.

As part of his itinerary on the sidelines of the Summit, President Mnangagwa is expected to honor a special invite for a one on one engagement with the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

President Mnangagwa’s latest high-level international engagements comes a few days after a week of lobbying for lifting of sanctions.

The efforts were complemented by report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur to Zimbabwe on the Impact of the illegal sanctions, Ms Alena Douhan.

Ms Douhan said sanctions are affecting lives of ordinary Zimbabweans and should be lifted.