Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his entourage arrived in New York City, U.S., Wednesday for the United Nations General Assembly that will be addressed by Pope Francis on Friday.
Mr. Mugabe is accompanied by First lady Grace, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Health Minister David Parirenyatwa, among others.
Heads of State will be taking up a variety of issues, including the unfulfilled Millennium Development Goals, which will soon be replaced by the so-called Sustainable Development Goals during the General Assembly.
But it is the Pope’s unprecedented address that has many on tenterhooks. Issues likely to dominate his message include climate change.
As for President Mugabe, one political analyst thinks he will fashion his talking points around the usual anti-West rhetoric and the escalating refugee crisis in Europe.
“I think Mugabe is going to refer to various points of crises,” said analyst Nkululeko Sibanda of the Huddersfield University in Britain.
“…the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe, talking of Syria and so forth and how Western involvement in that crisis has led to the worst situation for women and children since World War II.”
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Interview With Dr. Nkululeko Sibanda
Human rights lawyer Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda called on the world leaders to follow through whatever outcomes they will agree on.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Interview With Nyaradzi Gumbonzvanda