BINDURA, ZIMBABWE —
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he will attend COP26, becoming the first Zimbabwe leader to visit the United Kingdom since Zimbabwe was accused of human rights abuses and election rigging. Mnangagwa also said a U.N. rapporteur had proved his government was right about the sanctions issue.
Winding up an annual conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party Saturday in Bindura, 80 kilometers north of Zimbabwe’s capital, Mnangagwa said he was looking forward to attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Scotland, which begins Sunday.
“I wish to inform the conference that tomorrow morning (Sunday) I travel to Glasgow, United Kingdom, after over two decades have passed without Zimbabwe leadership going to United Kingdom. I have been invited by [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson, and [he] has indicated he might meet me; one on one, as well as other leaders like India prime minister and others, we are meeting them,” he said.
Mnangagwa also said he was happy about a report by U.N. Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan after a two-week visit to Zimbabwe. The Belarus national urged the U.S. and other Western governments to lift sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe nearly two decades ago and for alleged election-rigging and human rights abuses.
Source: Voice of America