A foreign national who claims to have started knowing President Emmerson Mnangagwa just a few years ago has been blessed with an ambassadorial appointment by the 77-year old Zanu PF leader and is now Zimbabwe’s official representative to Israel.
His Excellency Ronny Levi Musan, who claims to have met Mnangagwa a couple of years back while on a ‘spiritual plane’, is now officially the Honorary Consul of Zimbabwe in Israel.
Musan’s puzzling diplomatic appointment, which some view as a flawed deployment blamable on the Zanu PF leader, has caused serious internal squabling within the long-ruling political party- in power since the southern African nation became independent forty years ago.
What actually amplifies the hullabaloo associated with the legality of the Israeli-born Musan’s appointment is the puzzling fact that the new ‘ambassador’ claims to have only met the Zimbabwe septuagenarian, only a few years back.
“My connection with Zimbabwe began few years ago on the spiritual plane. I’m happy about that, since only God can guide us the true way,” Musan said in comments posted on his Twitter handle recently.
The controversially appointed Musan has already started performing the duties expected of a diplomat as he has already met the Israeli Minister of the Interior, Aryeh Deri to negotiate on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe.
Musan recently dispatched a special message to Pierbattista Pizzaballa the current apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and extended an invitation for him to visit the landlocked African state.
“As Honorary Consul of (Zimbabwe) in Israel and as a Church Representative, this morning I had the honor of personally delivering to my dear friend, Arc. Pizzaballa, Head of Holy Land Church , the official invitation of the President of ZIM, that invited him to come and bless Zimbabwe,” he said recently.
The diplomat also thanked Mnangagwa for the trust the Head of State and Government has shown by entrusting him with- not only running the country’s embassy in Israel- but acting on behalf of Zimbabweans in that country.
“My appointment as honorary consul of Zimbabwe in Israel. My sincere gratitude to His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, for the trust he has placed in me, to act in His name for the sake of Zimbabwe and its citizens. May God bless Israel (and) Zimbabwe,” said Musan.
However, sources privy to the internal ructions bedevilling Zanu PF said Mnangagwa’s move has attracted widespread criticism with some equating Musan’s appointment as a betrayal of the values that the party stands for in relation to the long-drawn-out Israel-Palestine conflict.
A Zanu PF Central Committee member based in Harare who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity said the move by the President was a betrayal of the values that the revolutionary party stands for.
“The President’s decision is irrational and goes against the spirit of and policies of the party in regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s on record that ZANU PF and Zimbabwe condemn the occupying Power, for continuing its policies and practices, which violate the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” a source told one online publication over the weekend.
“It’s unthinkable that the President establishes relations with a country known for the criminal practices in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank, killing of defenseless Palestinians, as well as the torturing, wounding, massive arrests and detention of citizens. The President is betraying the movement. He is being misled by some lobby groups from Washington and has been made to make strange liberal decisions such as compensating white farmers as a means of endearing himself to the West,” said the source.
The move by Mnangagwa also comes after his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa and his Government decided to downgrade the vast southern African economic powerhouse’s embassy in Israel to a mere liaison office, in line with a resolution taken by the ruling ANC during its 2017 elective conference.
South Africa’s move resulted in then Ambassador Sisa Ngombane being withdrawn from Tel Aviv in May 2018, after the Israeli army grisly butchered hordes of protesting Palestinians in Gaza.
Back home, David Musabayana a foreign affairs deputy minister in Mnangagwa’s Government ironically showed support for the inhabitants of Palestine while gracing commemorations of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people in Harare last year.
“We re-affirm our support for the United Nations Security Council resolutions that call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Palestine and Israel and the establishment of a free Palestinian State within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” said Musabayana.
“Over the years, the Palestinian people have demonstrated a tremendous amount of patience, a level of patience that has surprised even their adversaries…Regrettably, ever since the signing of the Oslo agreements, we have witnessed a systematic and relentless increase in occupation of more and more of the Palestinian land”, he said.
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Additional Reporting: Zwnews
