LONDON – The House of Lords will today (Thursday) debate Zimbabwe’s bid to rejoin the Commonwealth with some peers pressing the British government on what measures it is taking to block Harare’s re-admission.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa applied to rejoin the grouping, which largely comprises former British colonies, after replacing predecessor and mentor Robert Mugabe who angrily took Zimbabwe out back in 2003.
The exit came at the peak of Mugabe’s row with the West over his violent land reforms and concerns about crackdowns against political opponents.
Mnangagwa appears to be making progress with a recent Commonwealth assessment team visiting Harare and remarking that Zimbabwe had made “very impressive” progress in meeting conditions for readmission.
The position by the assessment team is however, bitterly opposed by some British politicians, among them, Lord Goldsmith, Baroness Kate Hoey, and Lord Jonathan Oates who is behind Thursday’s debate.
Zimbabwe’s return will be decided by Commonwealth member states and opponents like Lord Oates want the British government to ensure the vote goes against Mnangagwa.
Reads a memo regarding the session; “On 12 January 2023, the House of Lords is due to debate the following question for short debate in grand committee; Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat) to ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to work with other Commonwealth nations to block Zimbabwe’s readmission into the Commonwealth until it is compliant with the principles of the Commonwealth’s 1991 Harare Declaration.”
According to the declaration, member states assured a commitment to free and democratic societies and the promotion of peace and prosperity.
Further, member states through the signed accord are required to acknowledge the role of civil society in supporting its goals and values.
Baroness Hoey and Lords Oates insist that Mnangagwa’s government is still falling far short of these values and principles.
Hoey recently indicated that the continued incarceration of Citizens Coalition for Change legislator Job Sikhala was evidence that Zimbabwe is still not compliant.
“A shocking abuse of human rights by Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zanu PF. Zimbabwe must not be allowed back into the commonwealth,” she said after the MP recently released an emotional letter from his Chikurubi prison.
Lord Oates, a former teacher in Zimbabwe, has also expressed opposition to Harare’s re-admission, telling Mnangagwa’s government to, first, uphold the country’s constitution.
The criticism drew the wrath of the ruling Zanu PF party with spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa accusing him of having been a spy for British intelligence during his time as a teacher in the country.
“I see Zanu PF is also so desperate to silence criticism that they now claim I was an intelligence officer when in Zimbabwe,” Lord Oates said in response.
“Needless to say this is a complete lie. I was a teacher in a rural secondary school, on the payroll of the Zimbabwe government and no-one else,” Oates said.
The Zimbabwean opposition and other commentators have also raised questions about Zimbabwe’s suitability to re-join the Commonwealth.
The director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, Sue Onslow, said there had been disagreement amongst Commonwealth members on whether Zimbabwe should be readmitted.
Stephen Chan, a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, has also argued that Zimbabwe has not made enough progress to be readmitted:
“It is in my opinion unlikely that Zimbabwe will be readmitted. It has fulfilled none of the requirements outlined by the report of the Commonwealth Observer Group after the last elections,” Chan said.
Daglous Makumbe, a lecturer at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, also argued against Zimbabwe re-joining the Commonwealth, saying it would be an “abomination”.
Makumbe cited Zimbabwe’s poor human rights record, which he said has worsened under President Mnangagwa, and the absence of the rule of law and free, fair and credible elections.
However, another academic, Tawanda Zinyama, with the University of Zimbabwe, argued that the country has worked towards readmittance, but has faced significant challenges which are mostly related to economic distress.
Zinyama contended that these problems would be best fixed within the Commonwealth rather than by ostracising the Mnangagwa-led government. – Newzim
