| REGIONAL Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has defended Zimbabwe's decision to solve its own internal politics by adopting the Global Political Agreement under the watchful eye of Sadc member states. The Minister, who is attending the African Capacity Building Foundation's 20th Anniversary, was responding to humiliating examples of leadership failure by some panelists who were using Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ivory Coast as an example of their presentations. "It is very disheartening and sad that a number of speakers who have been speaking here are not familiar with the reality of Zimbabwean politics and what is happening in Zimbabwe right now. "It is rather unfair for speakers to use Zimbabwe as an example of political chaos at par with Ivory Coast and Kenya. "Zimbabwe is a very sovereign state and I must make it clear that under the spirit of regional integration, we ceded our national sovereignty for regional sovereignty and submitted to Sadc mediation. "I am actually surprised that professionals speaking here think Zimbabwe's politics were actually the same as what happened in Kenya and what has been happening in the Ivory Coast," she said. Added Minister Misihairabwi-Mushonga: "Actually, Zimbabwe is a perfect case study of a sovereignty ceded to a regional sovereignty and not the opposite as what is being said here about our country". She was one of the key panelists at a panel session held under the theme: "Africa at 50-Aid, sovereignty & regional integration: The Miracle and the Mirage." The ACBF which is headquartered in Zimbabwe is celebrating 20 years of capacity building in Africa. Addressing delegates, ACBF executive secretary Dr Frannie Leautier said since its inception, the ACBF has 238 programmes and projects in 44 African countries including Zimbabwe. To date, the ACBF has spent over US$350 million in the various capacity building programmes and projects on the continent. She added that over the next 20 years, the ACBF will leverage the lessons learned and the region's successes. The 20th anniversary brought together heads of multi-lateral lending financial institutions from the World Bank, African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Monetary Fund and ministers of finance from all over Africa. |
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