Hakainde Huchilema boycotts SADC summit, to handover chairmanship via ZOOM

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LUSAKA — Zambian leader President Hakainde Hichilema has decided not to attend the now discredited SADC summit in Harare after the Zimbabwean dictator launched a brutal crackdown against pro-democracy activists and made undiplomatic remarks about President Hichilema to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

President Hichilema is attending the summit via “Zoom” video link.

These remarks by the Zimbabwean tyrant Emmerson Mnangagwa were followed by an insult from his ICT minister, Tatenda Matevera, who labelled the Zambian leader a security risk to the region due to Zambia’s cordial relations with the United States.

This kind of rhetoric by the former television actress has further escalated tensions between the two countries and undermines regional efforts to promote dialogue and co-operation among SADC member states.

Zambia is the outgoing chair of the SADC region, and Zimbabwe is the incoming chair.

The Zimbabwean dictator has used abductions, torture, arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment against pro-democracy activists over the last 61 days, jailing more than 100 activists without bail.

The situation in Zimbabwe is extremely concerning, and it is understandable why President Hichilema has chosen not to attend the SADC summit in Harare.

The Zimbabwean regime’s use of abductions, torture, arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment against pro-democracy activists is a clear violation of human rights and democratic norms, which the United Nations condemned yesterday.

Instead of being in Harare, President Hichilema has chosen to attend a traditional ceremony in Northern Zambia tomorrow.
The irony is that a significant number of Mnangagwa’s relatives live in Zambia, where the Zimbabwean dictator grew up and was a young member of Zambia’s independence political party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP).

Meanwhile, married motormouth ICT minister Mavetera was embroiled in a cheating scandal early this year in which she allegedly faked a break-in after her husband caught her with her boyfriend at their Chitungwiza home.
On a date in late January, Mavetera phoned Makoni police in Chitungwiza and reported that there was an intruder at her home.

Police officers rushed to the minister’s home and arrested the man, who said he was from Rwanda, but she allegedly asked them not to question him.

The minister was appointed to Cabinet last September after years of activism in a women’s organisation established to praise Mnangagwa.

The police officers followed their normal procedures and hauled the “intruder” in for questioning anyway, and at the end of the interview, they had gathered embarrassing information.

Unsure on how to proceed, a source said, senior officers told the minister that it was best to resolve the matter away from the glare of the public, which was inevitable if they took him to court. No charges were brought and the man was released.

The “intruder” allegedly told the officers that the minister had invited him to the house and that he was the father of her two children whom she has for years passed off as her husband’s.

He produced DNA results showing that he was the father of the minister’s two children.

He went further; he said he built the house where he had just been arrested and had receipts for all the materials used to construct it.

The man told the police officers that he had been at the house because the minister called him for a meeting – before her husband arrived unexpectedly. The source said, she had called the Rwandese guy to discuss child support, she wanted US$10 000 per month.

When her husband arrived, the minister didn’t think she could explain the scene away and decided to call the police saying the man was an intruder.

Her husband now knows the truth because of her clumsy handling of the incident.

When the minister was asked to comment on the allegations. She responded: “I can’t comment.”
Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said: “I haven’t received such a report.” — ZimDaily.