SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
The United Nations (UN) is facing even more anger after choosing Zimbabwe as the representative for African Tourism, weeks after the hotly disputed elections that the UN has also said it will ‘respect’. The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly is currently underway in Victoria Falls. On Sunday, the international body announced that it had chosen Zimbabwe to lead its Commission for Africa, the continent-wide group for tourism development for the next two years. The six-day General Assembly was formally opened by Robert Mugabe on Sunday night, hours after he threatened British and American companies with ‘tit-for-tat’ action. Speaking at the funeral of former air force officer Mike Karakadzai, Mugabe took aim at the Western nations over the targeted restrictive sanctions still in place on him and his inner circle.“They should not continue to harass us, the British and Americans,” he told supporters at the funeral. He added: “We have not done anything to their companies here, the British have several companies in this country, and we have not imposed any controls, any sanctions against them, but time will come when we will say well, tit-for-tat, you hit me I hit you.” The US has already indicated that its sanctions policy regarding Zimbabwe will not change, after the disputed elections last month. European nations have also cautiously raised concerns about the polls, although no outright statements about their sanctions policy has been made. But regardless of these concerns the UN, which has already been accused of ‘legitimising’ the Mugabe regime by allowing Zimbabwe to host the tourism conference, has moved to wholly endorse the elections and the outcome. The global grouping said in a statement that the polls “will be respected by the assembly.” Hillel Neuer, the head of the UN Watch group that monitors the performance of the UN, said they are “gravely concern” by the decision to further endorse Mugabe and his government.“The UN is the number one world body that expresses the values and human rights principles of humanity, and it is using its name to grant false legitimacy to a false regime. It is a disgraceful show of support,” Neuer said. Mugabe’s hate-filled speech at Sunday’s funeral also took aim at MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who he called “an ignoramus” and “a lone stray locust”.“I hope our people will never repeat the same mistake and choose an ignoramus when you have bright children who went to university. I wonder what you admire in him. You are better off with an ignorant person who is conscious of his ignorance. It becomes a problem when you assume your ignorance is wisdom and lead people into trouble,” Mugabe said.