Zimbabwean Diplomat Appointed AU

Zimbabwean Diplomat Appointed AU Ambassador to USA

By Moses Matenga

Honorable Hilda Suka-Mafudze

ZIMBABWE’S AMBASSADOR TO MALAWI, Hilda Suka-Mafudze, has been appointed the African Union (AU) envoy to Washington, replacing Arikana Chihombori-Quao who was fi red last November over alleged abuse of funds.

Suka-Mafudze, who was appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Malawi last year by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to fl y to Washington next week and is currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the AU headquarters.

“I am humbled and appreciative to be able to represent my continent in the US,” said Suka-Mafudze, who served as an MDC legislator for Mhondoro constituency from 2000 to 2005.

“I am certainly going to use this as an African to contribute better to the Africa we want.

“I am a true pan-Africanist and I know what we really need as Africa and where we want to be as Africans, all this is in my heart and on my fi ngertips.”

She added: “What we want as Africa is to be on the global stage as an equal with others. We have what

it takes and no one must, therefore, look down upon us. As Africa, we are at a stage where we know what we want and we obviously cannot,

for example, continue to let our resources be taken as raw materials by people who by so

doing are taking employment away from us. “There are challenges on the continent, but we have to look at how to deal with those challenges and this opportunity is one way of fi nding solutions and I am humbled to be part of that.” Asked on her vision for the continent, the country’s former envoy to Sudan said: “I will contribute towards the AU vision on the intra-Africa trade and I will be alert to the need to entrench relations with the US. Let us not overlook the need for relations if we are to be competitive on the global space but that does not mean our inability to eff ectively manage what we have.” She said as she represents the chairman of the African Union in Washington, Africa must speak with

one voice going forward in defi ning her destiny

and harnessing opportunities through relations with the world, the US included.

“I represent the African Union, my chairman (Moussa Faki Mahamat) but I must also say I am humbled by the support I got from my country, Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and his entire team,” SukaMafudze said.

“I am representing the whole continent and we want to engage the US and agree on issues where we can co-operate. As Africa, we need investment in infrastructure to have investors coming in and when they do come in, it should be on win-win basis.”

She said she would also push for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, one of the fl agship projects of Agenda 2063 that “represents a critical step in the journey of Africa”.  www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/zimbabweandiplomat-appointed-au-ambassador-to-us

Queen Eliza Longer Be He Barbados By Phi

Prime Minister of Barbados H.E Mia Ammor Mottley. TONY KARUMBA/GETTY

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales me Trust International reception at The 2019 in Bridgetown, Barbados. CH

BARBADOS ANNOUNCED THEY WILL

remove Queen Elizabeth as their head of state. "The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind," Sandra Mason, the governor-general of the Caribbean island, said at the opening of the nation's parliament on Wednesday.

"Barbadians want a Barbadian Head of State. This is the ultimate statement of confi dence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving,"

Mason added in the speech, which was written by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. "Hence, Barbados will

take the next logical step toward full sovereignty and become a Republic by the time we celebrate our 55th Anniversary of Independence."

If the process of removing the Queen continues to fruition, Barbados will become a full-fl edged republic in November 2021, ending a direct link with the U.K. dating back to 1625. Barbados remains a member of the Commonwealth, a union of 54 countries that were mostly former British territories.

Despite this, Buckingham Palace told People that the decision was a matter for the government and people of Barbados and would not comment further.

The announcement is no shock — several countries dropped the Queen as head of state in the years after they gained independence, with Mauritius the last to do so in 1992.

A Barbados government review recommended the country become a republic as far back as 1998. The country is also following in the Caribbean footsteps of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Dominica, who all removed the Queen as head of state in the 1970s.

In 2016, the Jamaican parliament also debated removing the Queen as the nation's monarch, suggesting that it too may follow suit one day.

The sun-drenched Caribbean island has long been a favorite for royal tours, with the Queen — who will remain head of state in 15 other countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — visiting the island multiple times since she fi rst set foot on its soil in 1966, just as it was securing independence from the U.K. "The people of Barbados have held a special place in her heart ever since," Prince Harry said in