How Africa
New Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa wants his country to be accepted back into the Commonwealth and said Brexit was an opportunity to forge closer links with Britain.
He said: “What they’ve lost with Brexit they can come and recover from Zimbabwe.
“When we have engagement, Britain wants to raise the issue about us joining the Commonwealth. I said I’ll be happy to deal with that.
“I personally have nothing against the Commonwealth club.”
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Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised free and fair elections for Zimbabweans
What they’ve lost with Brexit they can come and recover from Zimbabwe
Mr Mnangagwa said this was part of the volatile history his country wanted to leave behind as he invited the EU, Commonwealth and UN to monitor this year’s elections.
He said: “We want fair, free credible elections. In the past those who had pronounced themselves against us, who pre-determined that our elections would not be free and fair, were not allowed to come in.
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Robert Mugabe was forced from office last November
“If the Commonwealth were requesting to come, I am disposed to consider their application.”
Mr Mnangagwa, a protege of Mr Mugabe, came to power after his 93-year-old predecessor resigned when the military chiefs confined him to his mansion in Harare.
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Emmerson Mnangagwa backed Brexit, saying it was a good thing which would bring new opportunities
He promised the elections for the presidency, parliament and local government would be peaceful, and told business leaders their investments would be secure and their profits safe.
Since 2000, which coincided with Mr Mugabe’s violent seizure of land from white farmers, elections in Zimbabwe have been marred by political violence and disputes and allegations of widespread fraud and corruption at the ballot box.
