from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – THE ruling parties of Zambia and Zimbabwe have ended their tiff, following a meeting between leaders from the two organisations.
This, by extension, paves way for an end to diplomatic tiffs between these neighbouring Southern African countries.
Apart from verbal slurs between the parties, speculation is rife Presidents Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia and Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa do not see eye to eye.
On Tuesday, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) hosted a delegation from Zambia’s United Party for National Development (UPND) in Harare.
Mnangagwa and his party hosted the UPND team led by UPND Secretary General, Batuke Imenda.
“Zimbabwe and Zambia share historic, unbreakable bonds. We remain committed to regional unity and party-to-party engagement,” Mnangagwa said.
Between 1953 and 1963, under colonial rule, the then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi) were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
He underscored the importance of regional unity and strengthening inter-party relations across Southern Africa.
“We have agreed to work together, to be united and to see to it that there is peace, tranquility and understanding between the two countries,” Imenda said.
Zambia and Zimbabwe’s fallout has been public and often dominates social media. This especially after the 2023 Zimbabwe election that retained Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF in power.
A SADC observer team, led by ex- Zambia Vice President, Nevers Mumba, denounced the conduct of elections.
Some politicians in Zimbabwe singled Mumba out for criticism.
Other ruling party politicians in Zimbabwe accuse Hichilema of being an ally of the West, whose relations with Zimbabwe are hostile. Mnangagwa was in 2024 quoted ranting about Zambia stance, in a meeting with Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as Zambia and Zimbabwe are miles apart in geopolitics.
Before this week’s meeting, in a region where former liberation movements maintain close ties, UPND was arguably the only ruling party in Southern African that ZANU-PF did not have any ties with.
UPND is also seen as sympathetic to the Zimbabwean opposition, because of the former’s stint as the opposition. It came to power in 2021. ZANU-PF has been in power since 1980.
While relations between the two countries were cordial until UPND assumed power, in 2007, then Zambia president, Levy Mwanawasa (now late) sparked diplomatic furore when he likened Zimbabwe to a “sinking Titanic”, amid the political and economic challenges the neighbor was facing at that time.
– CAJ News