By Sports Reporter- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has invited top Ghanaian footballer Asamoah Gyan to Harare to endorse him and present him as a great leader.
Mnangagwa has a tainted history which dates back to the colonial era.
He is involved in human rights abuses, which include his involvement in the Gukurahundi, where he engineered the killings by armed soldiers of more than 20,000 civilians of the Ndebele tribe in the early 1980s.
He is also fingered in the mysterious deaths of several senior Zanu PF officials since 1980, as he was paving his way to become the President of the Republic.
Gyan is one of Africa’s biggest football legends after leading Ghana to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup finals hosted by South Africa.
At the State House, Asamoah handed his iconic number 3 jersey to Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa said, “It was an honour to receive” the former Black Stars forward at State House. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
It was an honour to receive Asamoah Gyan at State House today.
His remarkable career and leadership in the field have inspired millions across Africa.
We discussed the power of sports in uniting nations and promoting youth development.
Gyan, the former captain of the Ghana national team, had an impressive career, playing for various clubs across different leagues.
He started with Ghana Premier League club Liberty Professionals and later played for Serie A club Udinese, where he scored 15 goals in 53 league matches.
He later joined Ligue 1 club Rennes, scoring 14 goals in forty-eight league matches.
In 2010, Gyan moved to Premier League club Sunderland, where he netted ten times in thirty-four Premier League matches.
He also played for Al Ain in the UAE Pro League, becoming the league’s top goalscorer with 22 goals in 18 matches.
Gyan finished his career with various other clubs, including Shanghai SIPG, Kayserispor, NorthEast United, and Legon Cities.
He represented Ghana at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 FIFA World Cups and is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Ghana national team, with 51 goals.