via Mugabe under fire over summit boycott | News24 2014-03-31
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has reportedly come under fire from opposition parties following reports that the veteran leader will boycott an EU-Africa summit in Brussels because his wife Grace was denied a visa to enter Europe.
According to The Telegraph, Mugabe has ordered the entire delegation from his country to stay at home and not attend the two-day meeting scheduled to kick off on Wednesday.
A report by News Day said opposition parties and civic society groups had reacted angrily to Mugabe’s decision saying “it was wrong for Mugabe to deny the country representation at the summit over personal issues”.
The telegraph quoted a Harare businessman as saying that Mugabe’s boycott was not in the interests of the country’s fragile economy.
He said it was “madness” for the government to boycott, adding that the since the country’s relations with the EU were improving, the summit could have “brought some EU funds into the economy”.
The summit will bring together representatives of 90 nations from both continents, including 65 heads of state and government.
Restrictive measures
EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell’Ariccia last week maintained that only those with a role to play in meetings at the summit had been invited.
Dell’Ariccia said the programmes of the forthcoming summit did not have any role for spouses.
Dell’Ariccia said since Mugabe’s wife was under restrictive measures, the host country (Belgium) had to seek a green light for her to attend.
Mugabe and his wife are under an EU travel ban imposed in 2002, after a government crackdown on the opposition and the eviction of white farmers from agricultural land.
The EU had waived the visa ban on Mugabe, who is the vice-chairperson of the AU, saying it was not bound by the ban when hosting large international conferences.
The summit has been described as “the highest level of political dialogue between the two continents”.
COMMENTS
early stages of DEMENTIA
Early???? I’d say it’s well advanced
Not surprising the opposition party have no morals.
Basically its about principal and we have a lot in Zimbabwe devoid of same.
eg IN TEERMS OF THE GPA agreement the opposition signed agreement with the land invasion as you put it saying it wasv in terms of the Lancaster House Agreement and legally binding.
They should have also had sanctions on them if that were the reason but evaded same via dishonesty.
The sanctions are illegal as admitted by Jack Straw in the commons in 2000 opening the debate on Zimbabwe.
he said when addressing the commons if we took it to the security council we would be laughed out.
All sanctions must be approved by the UN.
Thus if something is illegal swe should all stand against it and turn against those in civic society surviving on EU handouts who are the only ones with opposite illegal opinion.
Most law abiding citizens will admire the stand against illegality.
Additionally adding insult to injury this is an AU summit and therefore they do the invitations not the EU.
This is a matter of principal too which some on this page clearly don’t know how to spell or understand.
Principle….
Apolitical I see you are now instructing us on the law. Do you actually know anything at all about the law? Except how to break it with you plundering comrades I expect.
Apolitical, you try to sound as if you know what you’re talking about, but you reveal how uneducated you are when you spew your bile.
The UN does not approve or dis-approve sanctions. Get that straight to begin with.
Any country is free to enact laws, sanctions or restrictive measures against foreign individuals or governments. There is nothing illegal about that. You need to define where those actions are illegal. Perhaps in Zimbabwe? I’ve been waiting for about a year for Mugabe’s suit against the EU to get a court date. What happened? After all that bluster, did Tomama realize that the court would rule that the restrictive measures remaining are all legal? I guess he and Mugabe are just cowards.
Truly global, international sanctions only occur when the UN votes to impose them, as a body. Rhodesia was under global sanctions by the UN, but even the US and the EU do not currently have sanctions against the country of Zimbabwe, merely select individuals such as the infant-in-chief, Mugabe. So therefore, the US and the EU can have restrictive measures against Mugabe and Grace and it is perfectly legal within their own legal systems, and just because the UN has not voted on it, as a body, there’s nothing illegal about their existence.
The other fallacy that you keep trying to peddle is that this summit is somehow an AU event – it is not. It is an EU event. The EU extended an invitation to Africa to come to Brussels and discuss trade. The EU is paying for the entire event and they are the hosts, not the AU. The AU has shown repeatedly, that they are ungrateful and unsophisticated guests.
Africa has not extended a hand to the EU – not asking their delegates to come to a fully paid-for event to discuss investment in this backward continent. Africa is too unsophisticated and corrupt to do so. AU leaders prefer to make back room deals that put money into their own pockets and nothing else. They shy away from any sense of transparency or common purpose for the good of their own people, or indeed for all Africans.
In most cultures, the host decides whom to invite or not invite – not the guests – and Mugabe and the AU need to learn better manners.
Here at home Mugabe will do less damage than when he flaps his lips at international fora
LOL
@ apolitical you are being obviously paid to stink up this page. You are here to promote ZANU, chete. Ebvapa iwe.
Please don’t excuse the man by suggesting he has dementia. This is not the case, he is in fact a very tactical politician who has outfoxed Mr Tsvangirai and wins the support of many across the world because of his belligerent stance against the West. This boycott is not being done without a plan, if only to make a mockery of the whole EU meeting.
I for one am very happy the old man decided not to go. Not his stupid and petty reasons though (because there is nothing special about Charamba changing dippers on him or waking him up). Hurray! For once millions of $$$ have been saved!
@ISU-ZVEDU I like your comment
Well done to the EU for standing firm. Probably because they did not want the ancient dictator in the first place. At least the meetings will not be disrupted by his snoring.
Did Zimbabweans not know until now that Mugabe works for the interest of his family, party and not of the nation. He acts like “Gurwe rinoti kana ratsamwa rinozvigura gumbo”. This man doesn’t care a bit about the country so long iye nemhuri yake and his friends vachiguta evertyhing is all fine for him. Iye ndiye ane nyika iri mumaserious problems ndiye anookwa achiita kutoposer zvake achipozera vane mari dzavo. Zimbabwe doesn’t have the leadership to take forward. Look at what is happenning-after elections the country is again sliding backwards eroding the benefits of the inclusive era
Apolitical you are loosing respect from your narrow minded comments, can you explain how AU can invite EU for meeting in Brussels not in Africa, come on what are you smoking, maybe nyaope.