The Sunday News
Lincoln Towindo, Harare Bureau
FORMER British Prime Minister Tony Blair is prepared to meet President Mnangagwa in order to lend support to Harare’s political and economic reform programme.
Relations between Zimbabwe and its former coloniser collapsed during Mr Blair’s tenure as head of the British Government after Zimbabwe embarked on the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme at the turn of the millennium.
Mr Blair then led an international crusade against Harare, which led to the imposition of economic sanctions by the European Union, the United States and much of the Western world. The economic sanctions brought ruin to much of the country’s economy.
Diplomatic ties between Zimbabwe and Britain have, however, progressively improved following the change of administration in Harare, with increased exchanges now taking place between the two. In a stunning about-turn, Mr Blair, who now heads the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, told CNBC Africa recently of his wish for the Zimbabwean Government reform agenda to succeed. He said he was prepared to meet President Mnangagwa privately in order to help facilitate the mending of relations.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change told our Harare Bureau that Mr Blair would be “happy” to meet President Mnangagwa. In an interview with CNBC Africa, Mr Blair, who resigned from the British premiership in 2007, was asked how acrimonious his relationship with Zimbabwe was.
“I think acrimonious was probably an understatement,” said Mr Blair, adding, “I am happy to speak to (President) Mnangagwa, but these things are best done in a private way.
“I was actually thinking about Zimbabwe the other day. I think, at certain points, there were misunderstandings, not genuine disagreements. If Zimbabwe were to get its act together it would be an exciting place to be.”
This is not the first time that Mr Blair has made overtures aimed at meeting the Zimbabwean Head of State.
Last year, Mr Blair formally requested a meeting with President Mnangagwa when he attended the Rwanda Liberation Celebration Day in Kigali. The meeting, however, failed to materialise after a scheduling mix up.
Speaking to journalists ahead of his departure at Kigali International Airport, the President said he had no problems sitting with Mr Blair.
“Yes, actually I received communication from New Zealand (yesterday morning) that Mr Tony Blair wants to meet me here in Kigali, and I said that I had no objection. But, I understand he has not arrived, and we are leaving. If he had arrived on time I would have met him,” said President Mnangagwa.
President Mnangagwa’s Government has, since assuming office, been implementing serious political and economic reforms outlined in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP). The reforms have included repealing legislation considered anti-democratic including the Public Order and Security Act, and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Government is also reforming electoral laws to ensure that future elections do not end in dispute. Reforms to the economy have seen a repeal of indigenisation laws, propping up of the country’s investment profile and reintroduction of a local currency, among others.
Further, Government last week struck a multi-billion-dollar compensation deal with white former commercial farmers whose land was compulsorily acquired during the land reform – a key demand for normalisation of relations with the West.
Speaking on the ongoing reforms, Mr Blair said: “…I hope the new leadership there will take the necessary measure and reforms because Zimbabwe is a very wealthy country and I meet Zimbabweans around the world and they are a very talented people. I want the Government to succeed; it really is what has to be done. I do think it is what needs to happen there, not just opening up political space, but also economic reforms to take the country to a boom.”
Responding to questions about Mr Blair’s position on interacting with President Mnangagwa, a spokesperson for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change said: “As Mr Blair said in the recent CNBC Africa interview, he would be happy to have an interaction with President Mnangagwa if it was helpful. But we work in many countries across Africa on reform and would always want to help countries make the necessary and right reforms.”
Government says it will welcome any form of assistance as part of its re-engagement programme.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister Mr David Musabayana said such an overture is welcome in the context of Government’s re-engagement programme.
“The President has always said that re-engagement is at the centre of his Government’s work programme. So, if Blair says he wants to sit down with President Mnangagwa, he is very much welcome. You need to appreciate that re-engagement is about finding each other and mending bridges. So obviously we are mending bridges where they have been broken and where cracks had developed. This fallout also happened during Blair’s time so if he says he is willing to assist I am sure the President will be willing to sit down with him.”
Separately, Zimbabwe and Britain are laying the ground for the opening of formal political dialogue to normalise relations. After nearly two decades of estrangement, the two nations are reaching out to open bilateral discussions aimed at turning the page on hostile relations.
Following Brexit – Britain’s departure from the European Union – there have been high-level overtures by both Harare and London to replicate the Zim-EU dialogue platform which is currently ongoing.
A prominent British parliamentarian recently asked his government to consider facilitating an international financial bailout package for Zimbabwe in return for enhanced economic and political reforms by Harare.
Jonathan Oates, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, recently asked London to consider collaborating with the European Union and the United States to tie up a financial package for Harare modelled along the post-World War II Marshal Plan.
The Marshal Plan, also known as the European Recovery Programme (ERP), was a US-funded reconstruction bailout handed to Western Europe following the devastation caused by the World War. The brainchild of then US Secretary of State George Marshall, after whom it was named, provided more than US$15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. Harare has said it will welcome such a package as long as it does not compromise the national interest.
