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UK Zimbos Block Auxillia from London Summit
18 June 2025
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LONDON – Zimbabweans based in the United Kingdom have successfully blocked First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa from attending a high-profile summit in London, forcing organisers to quietly remove her from the programme.

Mnangagwa was expected to speak at the First Ladies of Africa Impact and Resilience (FLAIR) Summit, held from 17 to 18 June at the Royal Leonardo Hotel near Tower Bridge.

However, she was noticeably absent from the event after activists mobilised demonstrations against her visit, citing allegations of corruption, abuse of state resources, and complicity in human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

The protests had been brewing for weeks, with UK-based Zimbabwean civil society organisations, human rights activists, and members of the diaspora issuing public calls for the UK government to bar her entry.

They also petitioned event organisers to deplatform the First Lady, accusing her of using philanthropic fronts to sanitise a repressive regime.

In anticipation of protests, Labour MP Dawn Butler withdrew from the summit in protest against Auxillia’s scheduled appearance. According to The Standard newspaper, Butler’s exit triggered an emergency meeting among the organisers, which resulted in Auxillia being quietly dropped from the speaker lineup.

Instead of travelling to London, Auxillia flew to Dubai, where she attended the Merck Foundation’s First Ladies Initiative Summit from 18 to 19 June. Posting on her official X account while the London event was underway, she wrote:

“Today, I met with Mr. Prateek Suri, an Indian billionaire and CEO of Maser Group on the sidelines of the 7th Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025 underway in Dubai and we discussed several investment opportunities in Zimbabwe in education, sports, mining and infrastructure development sectors. Mr. Suri expressed interest in the construction of a university in Harare with student accommodation facilities at the campus. I invited him to Zimbabwe to have further deliberations with the relevant Cabinet Ministers because Zimbabwe is open for business.”

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba downplayed the First Lady’s no-show in London, claiming that she had chosen to skip the event due to scheduling conflicts.

“You can be invited, but you can also turn down an invite,” said Charamba, insisting that Auxillia had a “full plate” with other engagements.

Despite the official explanation, Zimbabweans in the UK have hailed her absence as a diplomatic victory and a show of accountability by citizens in the diaspora. Activists say they will continue to oppose public appearances by senior Zimbabwean officials abroad until there are meaningful reforms back home.