UGANDA CONFERS PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA HIGHEST HONOUR

SIRONKO (Uganda), Oct 10 -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was conferred on Wednesday with the Most Excellent Order of the Pearl of Africa medal, the Grand Master, by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Zimbabwe's news agency New Ziana reported.

The conferment took place at commemorations here marking 57 years of Uganda's independence, where Mnangagwa was invited as a special guest.

The honour is the highest Uganda confers on an individual for outstanding work.

Accepting the medal, Mnangagwa said it was not his but for the people of Zimbabwe.

He said the award was recognition of the journey that the country and its people had travelled, where every day they had committed to developing the economy and integrating with the region and continent as a whole.

“Today Uganda has, on its 57th anniversary of liberation, given recognition to Zimbabwe. I humbly accept on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.

During the ceremony, a military general read the citation, chronicling Mnangagwa's political biography, both before and after Zimbabwe's independence.

The citation described Mnangagwa as 'a visionary, Pan-Africanist and unifier' who was committed to improving the lives of his people.

It chronicled how Mnangagwa grew up in Zambia after his parents were deported by colonial authorities in then Rhodesia, joined liberation movements, went for military training in Tanzania and later Egypt and China.

The citation went on to note that after independence, Mnangagwa was appointed to various portfolios until his elevation in 2015 to Vice President, his springboard to the presidency.

-- BERNAMA