HARARE – The government has scoffed at suggestions by Lord Palmer, a cross bencher of the British House of Lords, suggesting Britain should considers recolonising Zimbabwe and described the suggestion as ‘impracticable.’
Fielding a wide range of questions from journalists on political developments in the country and beyond, the Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications, Mr George Charamba said Zimbabwe does not worry over a statement by an individual who does not represent the collective thought of the British government.
An aristocrat, Palmer is one of the hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords, where he sits as a crossbencher, after the passing of the House of Lords Act in 1999.
By definition, a crossbencher is a minor party member in the British House of Lords.
Such is the man who shocked the world when he suggested to British Foreign Office Minister, Lord Ahmad if he has ever considered the idea of recolonising Zimbabwe.
Mr Charamba said Zimbabwe does not lose sleep over such impracticable suggestions. “[Instead], Zimbabwe is more concerned with its engagement drive, which however should see the country being treated as an equal partner,” Mr Charamba said.
“The new Zimbabwe which President Emmerson Mnangagwa has ushered in is not for Zimbabweans alone, it is a Zimbabwe that the world must also see as new,” he added.
With Palmer’s sentiments coming against the background of revelations by the government that the hand of the west has been seen in political developments in Zimbabwe, and working with their proxies the opposition MDC Alliance and identified non-governmental organisations to masterminded the riotous demonstrations seen in the country last week, Mr Charamba warned that the government will not fold its hands.
“If it is dialogue that the opposition wants, then they know the proper channels to follow,” he said.
Mr Charamba also dismissed attempts to put a negative spin to his statement about the government’s response to the chaos last week being a foretaste of things to come.
He said the statement carried one meaning: “that government will use all legal instruments available to deal with the hooligans and merchants of the terror unleashed on innocent Zimbabweans last week.”
