Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. CCC leader Nelson Chamisa has expressed gratitude to SADC and African Union (AU) leaders who snubbed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday, 04 September 2023.
Mnangagwa was sworn in as President of Zimbabwe for a second and final term during a low-key ceremony snubbed by the majority of regional leaders.
Only three out of a possible fifteen SADC Heads of State attended the ceremony.
His inauguration was presided over by Chief Justice Luke Malaba, at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
Chamisa was invited to attend the ceremony but stayed away from the event after he rejected the presidential election results.
The CCC leader views the absence of the majority of SADC and AU Heads of State as proof that the international community is skeptical about Mnangagwa’s legitimacy following the disputed polls.
Chamisa said Mnangagwa’s victory would be “reversed” and the people of Zimbabwe will then have a democratically elected government. He said:
THANK YOU AFRICA AND THE WORLD for standing with us Zimbabweans in dismissing fraud and stolen elections.
Together, we will reverse this sham and have a legitimate government freely elected and enjoying the full will of all the people of Zimbabwe! It’s not over!
Heads of State who attended Mnangagwa’s inauguration are South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi, and Felipe Nyusi of Mozambique.
The majority of SADC Heads of State sent representatives, among them Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who is also the chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika, who sent his Foreign Affairs Minister, Stanley Kakubo.
The other two Heads of State of the members of the Troika, Tanzania and Namibia, also stayed away from Mnangagwa’s inauguration
King Mswati III of Eswatini also avoided the ceremony and sent the Prime Minister, Cleopas Dhlamini.
The leaders of Angola, Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros also did not attend the ceremony.
No country outside SADC was represented by its Head of State. Belarus was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Petr Parkhomchyk, Ethiopia was represented by the Speaker of the Ethiopian House of Federation, Agegnehu Tesharger, and China sent Zhou Qiang, the Vice Chairman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Conference, to represent President Xi Jinping.
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