{"id":376215,"date":"2017-11-22T06:27:21","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T06:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=376215"},"modified":"2017-11-22T08:16:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T08:16:49","slug":"ablakwa-wants-ghana-to-offer-asylum-to-mugabe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/ablakwa-wants-ghana-to-offer-asylum-to-mugabe\/","title":{"rendered":"Ablakwa wants Ghana to offer asylum to Mugabe"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the aftermath of Robert Mugabe\u2019s resignation as President of Zimbabwe after 37 years, the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, wants Ghana to offer\u00a0the former President and his family asylum.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ablakwa, a National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament, is of the view that Zimbabwe may not be the safest place for\u00a0Mr. Mugabe, despite\u00a0no reports of violence before and after his resignation.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”JWxU7zx87p0qYjs7JAdv3tMSpgdT0CIn”]Zimbabweans instead celebrated late into the night after Mr. Mugabe resigned, via a letter read out by the country’s Speaker of Parliament.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mugabe’s 37 years as President was marked by mismanagement that left one of Africa’s most literate country in\u00a0shambles.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Mr. Ablakwa said it would be best to simply arrange safe passage for Mr. Mugabe, who he said\u00a0“stands at great risk.”<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us in Ghana, comrade Mugabe is really one of us and very fond of Ghana. I believe strongly that Ghana should be extending an offer to President Mugabe and his immediate family to come here for asylum. Let Ghana be a safe haven for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
“In these matters, it is better to err on the side of caution. You have seen that the situation is very fluid. It is not clear who is going to take over. At this point there is all of this jubilation, there is uncertainty,\u201d the MP said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ablakwa’s sympathetic comments towards Mugabe follows that of former President John Mahama, who described Mugabe as a great Pan Africanist who will be remembered kindly by history<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n Mugabe’s fall<\/strong><\/p>\n Describing Mr. Mugabae\u2019s fall as a \u201cwatershed moment in history\u201d Mr. Ablakwa alluded to the story of Samson and Delilah in the bible, given the role Mugabe\u2019s wife, Grace Mugabe, played in his fall.<\/p>\n Mr. Mugabe once taught as a teacher in Ghana, where he married his first wife who later died.<\/p>\n What triggered the moves to oust Mr. Mugabe, who is regarded as an African independence hero turned despot, was his dismissal of one of his Vice Presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n