Nearly 200 leaders from across the globe will converge on the world’s most prominent diplomatic stage the United Nations General Assembly this week but none of them appear to have scheduled appointments to meet with troubled Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe is currently the focus of the world for its continued gross human rights violations with more concerns around abductions and arrests of opposition political leaders and human rights activists.
The world is also focusing on Zimbabwe following the death of long-time dictator late former President Robert Mugabe at the beginning of the month.
While expectations were high that Mnangagwa would have had several leaders want to meet him on the sidelines to probably discuss Zimbabwe’s fortunes post Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President is set to meet with a number of representatives of countries, international bodies, multilateral agencies and business persons and none of the leaders.
His schedule will see him address the General Assembly on Wednesday.
Today, President Mnangagwa will attend the official opening of the summit by UN secretary-general Mr Antonio Guterres before holding bilateral discussions with United Kingdom Minister of State for Africa Mr Andrew Stephenson.
On Saturday evening, the President hinted that discussions with the British Minister will centre around illegal sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe by UK and her allies.
The President has also lined up a meeting with Mr Guterres, during which he will raise the issue of the illegal embargo imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States and European Union (EU).
Another crucial bilateral meeting President Mnangagwa is expected to have is with Commonwealth secretary-general Mrs Patricia Scotland.
President Mnangagwa indicated at the weekend that his meeting with Mrs Scotland would focus on Zimbabwe’s desire to rejoin the group of former British colonies.
He said it was high time Zimbabwe rejoined the Commonwealth given that the reasons why Harare had withdrawn had been overtaken by events in that the land reform programme aimed at correcting historical land imbalances was now complete.
A group of renowned international media gurus has been lined up to hold meetings with President Mnangagwa on the sidelines of UNGA 74.
President Mnangagwa is also expected to hold a business meeting with captains of industry from the Middle East. He will be joined by Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya.
Other meetings will be on the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals, mainly in the area of health and Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo is expected to attend.
President Mnangagwa is scheduled to deliver his UNGA 74 address on Wednesday and he has already indicated that the issue of sanctions will be one of the highlights of his message to world leaders.
The only opportunity Mnangagwa will have to meet with other leaders is during breakaway meetings and debates that he is expected to attend during the summit where the world leaders will reflect together on critical challenges facing the globe and certainly have no room for his sanctions song he took over from Mugabe.