via Africa calls for EU Summit boycott | The Herald March 27, 2014 by Hebert Zharare and Zvamaida Murwira
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has advised the bloc not to attend the EU-Africa summit set for Brussels, Belgium next week to protest how Europe is holding the continent in contempt by determining who is eligible to attend the meeting. The PSC is the AU’s most powerful organ with the mandate to enforce union decisions.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi yesterday said the AU Peace and Security Council met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and told permanent representatives to advise their governments on its decision.
“The African Union Peace and Security Council took a decision that the European Union was in violation of an AU resolution that they do not have the right to determine the composition of Africa’s delegation.
“So the AU Peace and Security Council has recommended to all member states that the Summit cannot be held until Europe recognises Africa’s sovereignty. The ball is now in the EU’s court. It’s now up to the EU to decide whether they want the summit to proceed or not.
“If they want it to proceed, they should accept that they have no right to determine the delegation from Africa. I have since briefed President Mugabe and he has since welcomed the decision,” said Minister Mumbengengwi.
The EU barred Eritrea from attending the Summit scheduled for April 2-3, 2014. However, Egypt was invited even though it is suspended from the AU because of a military coup – tacitly backed by some EU members and the United States – that removed legitimately elected president, Mr Mohamed Morsi, in July last year.
Another full AU member, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, was also not invited.
On the other hand, Morocco – which is not an AU member and which colonised SADR and has close ties to the EU and USA – was invited.
Morocco pulled out of the AU (then the Organisation of African Unity) in 1984 because the bloc had accepted SADR’s membership two years earlier.
In addition, the EU initially sent an invitation to Zimbabwe but not to President Mugabe. The EU only sent a personal invitation to the President when he was elected the AU’s First Deputy Chair and the continent threatened to boycott the summit if he was not present.
The EU has since tried to bar First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe from accompanying her husband to the Brussels, Belgium, meeting.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has also not been invited but an “invite” was sent to his country. The EU and USA strongly back an attempt to try Mr al-Bashir at the International Criminal Court.
The AU has resolved that it will not co-operate with any attempt to haul a sitting Head of State before the ICC.
The ICC is accused of inordinately targeting Africans while ignoring glaring crimes against humanity perpetrated by Western leaders in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Guantanamo Bay – a US prison on illegally seized Cuban territory.
COMMENTS
Who cares if Mugarbage or Disgreace or any of the tyrannical despots that Africa calls leaders boycotts the EU meetings, Mugarbage only comes to these meetings to sleep while Disgrace runs around shopping with the money they stole from the people of their country, as for the rest of them their only reason for attending is to see how much they can steal of the donor funds that the EU plans to use to help their citizens
sorry to u dude it sounds like you are a garden boy to baas or madam then take this from me we voted h.e.mugabe into power and we stand by him letter own we shal defend zimbabwe at all cost he is eating the money of our god given resorcies unlike letting yo dogs whites looting our own never and we don’t give a damn shiit about what people like u say about our leader
@Chidumbu
You certainly don’t have a vote so whether you care or not is really of no consequence.
Its really simply about law and an agreement signed which the EU is breaching. Lets face it if the AU breached an agreement there would be a very long story.
@apolitical you are obviously one of Zanu pf whores
There is no agreement between the AU and the EU and the visa requirements of the EU are strict. You wish it were not so and peddle lies put about by Zanu PF, that only half educated, unread African leaders and their acolytes believe.
You are concerned about breached laws are you. Why are you not shouting from the rooftops about the theft and murder committed over 34 years by that stinking cesspool named zanu? You are obviously a running lapdog of that vile regime.
Hey “apo” are you for real?????.Which law has the au or sadc not broken. How well is europe run by their governments and how well is this disaster of a continent run.Please reserve your bafoon zanupf comments for the herald.
Law and an agreement signed??? Really what does that mean to ZPF
Good question ,Mind Boggles ,how many laws in Zim which have been breached and say those are more important than the others then problem started.
All the time wasters and thieving Politicos bickering about who is allowed to go to the talk shop…who gives a toss? A moratorium on ANY overseas travel for ANY of our politicos (and their first shopping wives, for 5 years would be a good thing for Zimbabwe.
Who cares? No one except those who want to go shopping Africa can learn to stand on its own two feet for a change .
Rubbish! If Africa decides not to go to appease Mugabe and a few thieves and murderers in Africa, then let it be. Who cares? The truth is we are sufering here in Africa because of a leadership that concentrates on self enrichments, power consolidation, tribal genocides (read gukurahundi), slander, foolishness, nepotism and the like. We are in a straight hold for a very long time, and Africa will never get out of this mess with the type of leadershp we have!
That’s great news.boycott the summit and put your energy in solving the South Sudan , CAR, Somalia AND Nigerian wars.Its good to save the taxpayers money.After all you are going to sleep there, with nothing beneficial coming back home with.Governments cant even control malaria, cholera, water shortages, and you want to jump to the EU summit where your contribution is zero.Africa is its worst enermy, no tactical moves to develop.Only crying about the West.Asian tigers developed out of frustrations with the way business favoured the West.Look at Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia,they all put their people first and came up with home made developmental projects.Now the West envy those tigers.
This is the tragedy of Africa.Everywhere ,leades want to go.Some of these summits need junior ministers, with Mugabe badly needed to visit the Tokwe Mkosi victims and the Matebeleland floods victims.Not to cry because your wife was denied visa, for what?She needs more time to do her orphanage works back home.
At a time when horrific atrocities are happening in C.A.R.,South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa,there is a deadly silence from these so called African leaders.Here now these selfsame leading dogs will boycott a meeting meant to improve the poor in Africa because a wife of one of them is denied a visa to go and shop in Europe.The brutishness and selfishness of it all is just too hard to take.
Chidumbu, Mlimo, gorongoza, you three people you if you talk like this, we stop our food to aid you, you claim leadership, we are already more than you thought, apolitical, don’t tender these beggars whose land is blessed snow and ice.