Story by Bruce Chahwanda, Political Editor
ZANU PF and Zambia’s ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) have pledged to continue working together to promote peace and mutual understanding between the two nations.
This commitment was underscored during a courtesy visit by UPND Secretary General, Mr Batuke Imenda, who met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House in Harare this Tuesday.
Mr Imenda held a closed-door meeting with President Mnangagwa, ZANU PF Secretary General, Dr Obert Mpofu, Secretary for External Affairs, Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira and Zimbabwe’s envoy to Zambia, Ambassador Charity Charamba.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Secretary General Imenda described the engagement as constructive, saying it reaffirms the long-standing historical and political bonds between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
“We have a long journey. Long before we all got independence we were one country, and then even after independence, as a country, we felt we were one country, and that is when Rhodesia, which became Zimbabwe at some point, was struggling to fight hard, we thought as a country we should make a contribution to see to it that our sister country is also liberated,” he said.
“After independence, we feel that the long relationship should continue and we have agreed as two political parties, ZANU PF and the United Party for National Development, to work together, to be united, see to it that there is peace, tranquilly and understanding between the two countries. It is our understanding that there shall never be interference in the relationship of the two countries.
“We should promote trade and peace between the two countries. Our party members, in terms of women and youth, must also follow it up by making exchange visits. We were realising that even in the area of education and training, we are exchanging all these arrangements. We have so many Zimbabwean students learning nursing in Zambia. At one university we have close to about 6 000 students, and we feel that is a literal contribution Zambians can make to each sister organisation, and sister country.
“We feel as a country these are the kind of exchanges we should have between the two of us. We strongly want to see to it that these two countries persevere under difficult conditions, and we are going to support our brothers who are in government, and we are going to make sure that this relationship grows from strength to strength. As far as we are concerned, Zambia is part of Zimbabwe,” Mr Imenda said.
ZANU PF Secretary General, Dr Obert Mpofu said the two parties agreed to meet regularly through party wings to strengthen bilateral relations.
“There were issues of concern to both countries that were raised. I think one of the major issues which was raised is that of fugitives, criminals that commit crimes in Zambia, and they are to be dealt with because there is no way to hide in Zimbabwe, and vice versa, so that is one issue that we deliberated upon, and we indicated to our counterparts that Zimbabwe recognises, works with political parties that are in power,” he said.
“We do not entertain any opposition from our neighbour, as is the case in the region, and we should meet regularly to deal with these issues, instead of relying on what we hear on social media, we need to have regular meetings with the UPND to address some of those concerns. We agreed that we will be meeting on a regular basis, clearing out some of the grey areas in our fraternal relationships, and this was endorsed by His Excellency the President.
ZANU PF and UPND have in recent years increased their party-to-party collaboration, with both parties expressing interest in aligning policy strategies and sharing governance experiences.
