Wilson Chipangura, Guest Reporter
NEW YORK – Global governing body, the United Nations stripped Zimbabwe of its voting rights in the General Assembly as the country has an outstanding US$81 000 debt.
Zimbabwe is listed among ten countries that are in arrears under the terms of Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations according to the statement released by the organization on 13 January 2021.
According to the letter signed by secretary general Antiòno Guterres, article 19 of the UN states that a member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years.
Zimbabwe became a member of the UN on 25 August 1980 and the latest developments will be another embarrassment for the Emmerson Mnangagwa led administration which continues to break records for the wrong reasons.
Others countries on the list are Central African Republic (US 29 395), Comoros (US 871 632), Congo (US 90 844), Islamic Republic of Iran (US 16 251 298), Libya (US 705 391), Niger (US 6 733) Sao Tome and Principe (US 829 888), Somalia (US 1 443 640), and South Sudan (US 22 804).
Since usurping power through a coup in November 2017 and winning the July 2018 elections in controversial fashion, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been struggling to create stability in Zimbabwe.
The government has blamed sanctions for its shortcomings but corruption and human rights abuses have become the signature mark of this military government paraded under the banner of New Dispensation.