London, (New Ziana) – The British parliament has pledged support for Zimbabwe’s bid to rejoin the Commonwealth, a grouping of mainly ex-British colonies it withdrew from more than two decades ago after a bitter clash London over its land reforms.
The pledge was made by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to his visiting Zimbabwean counterpart, Advocate Jacob Mudenda.
The top Zimbabwean legislator is leading a group of parliamentarians on a visit to London, at the invitation of his British counterpart, in a sign of warming relations between the two countries.
Adv Mudenda told Zimbabwean officials and members of the country’s diaspora community that Sir Lindsay had committed to lobbying for Zimbabwe’s return to the Commonwealth fold.
“What came out of our discussion was that the Speaker (Sir Lindsay) has committed himself to use his authority and influence …. that Zimbabwe must be re-accepted in the Commonwealth,” he said.
“Our association with the Commonwealth is born from history.”
The two top legislators also discussed ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation beyond politics, including increased trade and investment and business-to-business linkages.
“The meeting explored opportunities for greater socio-economic engagement, including trade and investment exchanges and parliamentary scrutiny of barriers affecting bilateral economic relations,” parliament said in a statement.
Earlier, Adv Mudenda’s delegation met the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK Executive Committee, led by Baroness Taylor of Bolton, and also discussed Zimbabwe’s possible return to both the Commonwealth and the CPA.
Zimbabwe applied for re-admission back to the Commonwealth in 2018.
New Ziana
