New Zimbabwe reports that the 90 year-old leader was speaking at the installation of a chief at Murombedzi Growth Point in his Zvimba home area when he said the support he continued to receive from Zimbabweans helped him stand-up to the West and resist attempts to undermine the country’s sovereignty.
“It’s your support which enables me with my small frame to instil fear in the likes of Obama,” Mugabe said, speaking in Shona, “They invite all other leaders to meetings but say Mugabe cannot come and I wonder whether it’s my misfortune. In the past, when we attended these meetings, western leaders would disappear once they knew that I was around.”
The veteran leader was among a small number of leaders who were not invited by US President Barack Obama to his US-Africa Summit held in Washington D.C. last month.
Earlier this year, African states threatened to boycott the EU-Africa Summit held in Brussels if President Robert Mugabe was not invited. The Union relented but Mugabe opted to not attend as the EU refused to grant his wife, Grace, a visa.
The US and the EU imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe to punish Mugabe and his Zanu PF party for human rights abuses and alleged electoral fraud which the government denies.
Source: New Zimbabwe