Raymond Zarurai
Children often find themselves in complex situations. The mother and the father are arguing and cannot find common ground over an inter-house issue.
The children have no business taking sides, as they benefit from both parents. They sit through tough times even though they know what is best for the house.
On the 2nd of March, the United Nations Generally Assembly met in a ‘world’s town hall’ to vote on a resolution demanding Russia ends its military operation in Ukraine.
A total of 141 countries voted in favour of the resolution, five countries voted against the resolution. Thirty-five others chose to abstain from the vote.
Assembly President Abdulla Shahid said Russia must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
“The message of the General Assembly is loud and clear, end hostilities in Ukraine now. Silence the guns now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy now,” he said.
Zimbabwe is amongst the 35 countries that decided not to vote on this resolution.
Justifying its decision to abstain, Zimbabwe said the international community was making the situation in Ukraine even more complex and that the decisions made do not point in the right direction.
“Zimbabwe is not convinced that the resolution adopted points in the direction of dialogue. On the contrary, it poured more fuel to the fire, further complicating the situation,” said the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira, in a statement.
Further in its defence, the central government played a sanctions card, saying the country does not support coercive measures as they have been victimized by such for over 20 years.
” As you know, Zimbabwe does not support the imposition of unilateral coercive measures or unilateral sanctions of any kind on any member state, as this is contrary to the United Nations Charter. Unilateral sanctions have never worked to resolve any conflict. On the contrary, sanctions unleash untold humanitarian crises and human suffering of the ordinary people,” read the statement.
Zimbabwe is stuck between a rock and a hard place, given the cordial relationships, it enjoys with Russia and the Eastern bloc while the government has also been working tirelessly to seek re-engagement with the West.
China, a strong ally of both the Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vladimir Putin regimes was also notably amongst the countries that abstained from the vote.
Russia has been for the past years extending its dominance and influence in Africa through military alliances and economic ties, as they diplomatically seek to dismantle Western dominance in the global South.
African countries that also abstained from the resolution include South Africa, Mali, Mozambique, the Central African Republic, Angola, Algeria, Burundi, Madagascar, Namibia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
As the war intensifies, civilian and military casualties are also mounting.
The Ukrainian State Emergency Service has reported that more than 2,000 civilians had been killed since the onset, but that figures have not been independently verified.
