It was a who is who of African politics as Zimbabwe held a funeral service for former president Robert Mugabe on Saturday.
Serving and former heads of state and government of several African countries converged at Harare’s National Sports Stadium to bid farewell to Mugabe.
Among those who graced the occasion were included Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika.
Others serving African presidents who are expected to attend the service are Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Hage Geingob (Namibia), Joao Lourenco (Angola), Filipe Nyusi (Mozambique), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Edgar Lungu (Zambia) and Brahim Ghali (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic).
Among the former heads of states who are set to grace the occasion would be Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique), Kenneth Kaunda and Rupiah Banda (Zambia), Festus Mogae (Botswana), and Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia).
In their addresses to the crowd, Mbasogo and Kenyatta called on fellow African leaders to preserve Mugabe’s ideals of creating a united Africa and fighting for the rights of its people.
“As African leaders we must continue to push for the ideals that Comrade Mugabe stood for,” Kenyatta said.
Former Ghanaian president Jerry Rawlings described Mugabe as one of the “most formidable sons of this continent.”
“Mugabe was not only a teacher but, most of all, an infectious moral compass for African leaders,” Rawlings said.
The crowd, however, booed Ramaphosa when he started addressing those at the ceremony, in apparent reference to the xenophobic attacks that took place against African immigrants in South Africa.
Other countries that were represented at the funeral services included Cuba, Iran and Venezuela while the African Union and the Southern African Development Community were represented by their respective heads of their secretariats.
JN/APA