Mnangagwa embarrassed Zimbabwe and himself at COP26

4^th December 2021

By Shangoni WaHamisi

It came as no surprise to the average person when Mnangagwa and his delegation of more than 100 to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow embarrassed themselves and were further embarrassed by the demonstrators who sought to tell the world what sort of person he is.

The core business of COP26 was to deliver on the commitments made at COP25 in Madrid in December 2019. It was to get the nations of the world to come up with tangible commitments and deadlines by which they would have met certain targets pertaining to air pollution.

The issue of tackling Climate Change is entails sacrifices and tough choices in order to ensure that there is a world for future generations.

Mnangagwa’s government seems to be heading the opposite direction. Not only has it awarded dubious contracts to the Chinese who have gone on to destroy the environment through irresponsible mining and other activities but it has presided over unprecedented levels of land degradation mainly by the activities of miners, both small scale and large scale.

He has also revived the highly pollutive old trains of the 60’s and introduced them back into the mainstream transport infrastructure.

The water reticulation systems in all cities and towns are on their knees due to neglect and so are sewer systems, leading to the proliferation and prevalence of unhygienic conditions around the country. Electricity outage for sustained periods is the order of the day, leaving the majority of the poor population with no choice but to resort to the use of firewood which, in essence, means more air pollution as well as deforestation.

All this is underpinned by the diversion of public funds to private pockets through corruption which has become a hallmark of Mnangagwa’s tenure. Add to this a whole host of bad policies.

Mnangagwa has created an ecosystem of corruption at the apex of which he sits. Almost all his government’s policies are designed to benefit Mnangagwa, his family, cronies and opportunist ZANU-PF crooks.

Despite all the rhetoric, it is quite clear that Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF are out of their depth and are utterly clueless as to how to turn around Zimbabwe’s fortunes. They just do not know how to behave both at home and in the international arena. They are a shame to the nation.

Their attendance at COP26 in Glasgow was just another episode of their shamelessness hypocrisy. They were more of climate tourists than delegates and their behaviour before and during the summit confirms that. It was all about boozing, partying and grandstanding.

They were hoping to get some funding from the United Nations budget for climate change tackling initiatives, but it was not to be. Just as well they went back to Zimbabwe empty handed. The money would have ended up in their personal accounts anyway.

Faced with an indomitable crowd of determined activists armed with irrefutable records of their atrocious history and an expanse of social media platforms, Mnangagwa and his entourage as well as his local (ZANU-PF UK) stooges (UK) came a cropper.

They were beaten hands down at the demonstrations as well as on all the media “live” panels they dared to participate in. Typically they then started to resort to verbal and physical abuse to the extent of arranging the vandalizing of activists’ property and compiling a list of all the activists that attended the Glasgow demonstrations and some prominent names who were not even there at the COP26 demonstrations in Glasgow.

Glasgow will always haunt them.

About the author;-

Shangoni WaHamisi is a pen name for UK based Zimbabwean human rights activist and Spokesperson for Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe. Shangoni WaHamisi can be contacted by email on Shangoni.wahamisi@yaho.co.uk

RAISING THE FLAG HIGH – MAVIS HARRISON

4^th October 2021

Amongst the activists who are raising the ROHR Zimbabwe flag high is non-other than Mavis

Harrison, the Deputy Organising Secretary for the North Branch of the UK Chapter of ROHR Zimbabwe.

Activism is about fighting for human rights, raising awareness on human rights issues as well as pointing out cases of human rights abuses when they occur.

It also often means working with like-minded organizations and individuals who are also in the same struggle. 

Such has been the case with ROHR Zimbabwe’s relationship with MyRight2Vote, an initiative of the popular Chief Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni who is fronting the fight for the diaspora vote. ROHR Zimbabwe members have participated in a number of activities with the Chief, including demonstrations at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London and petitioning the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street (21/10/2021 & 02/12/2021) and COP26 in Glasgow (1st & 2nd November 2021).

We are proud of Mavis Harrison, not only for taking part in these events but also for helping with the publicity of the events.

In one instance where she tweeted about the occasion of Chief Felix Ndiweni presenting a petition at 10 Downing Street on 2nd December 2021, the tweet went viral, earning more than 1000 likes and being re-tweeted more than 200 times within a few hours.

Activism also stimulates dialogue on difficult subjects. It encourages finding solutions and educates people. Judging by the comment section many people are getting educated more about human rights as well as Traditions and Culture and their importance in today's politics.

Commenting on Mavis Harrison's tweet, the popular  France based Zimbabwean hip-hop artist, Awa Khiwe said "So people who are calling @Felix Ndiweni a sell out don't want the people in the diaspora to vote. It is not the first time a Zimbabwean leader has communicated with @BorisJohnson about Zimbabwean issues. Are they also sell outs? I come in peace".

This particular tweet is confirmation of the power of social media as a tool at our disposal as human rights activists. It is more powerful than ZBC and is dreaded by the regime. Little wonder the regime is now introducing the “Patriotic Bill” which once passed will become the Patriotic Act, a piece of law purportedly designed to outlaw what they broadly call “unpatriotic acts” which include criticizing the President or the government of Zimbabwe from abroad. This is exactly what our members and activists do. This includes Mavis Harrison who has been part of most of our demonstrations at the Embassy in London and petitioning at 10 Downing Street.

Inserted by

Information & Publicity Department
ROHR Zimbabwe