Departure … Mugabe and Grace on Friday night (Picture credit Zimpapers)
As initially revealed by NewZimbabwe.com, the veteran leader will be the only head of state attending 8th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in the southwestern Pacific.
The meeting is scheduled for May 31 to June 1 in the coastal capital of Port Moresby.
Mugabe has barely been in the country for a week after returning from Singapore. In the last couple of weeks, he has also been to South Africa and Uganda.
The local opposition condemns the 92-year-old’s globetrotting, saying he has already cost the cash-strapped government about $80 million so far this year.
Mugabe was seen off at Harare International Airport by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and senior government officials.
He is accompanied by his wife Grace, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and other senior State officials.
Authorities in Papua New Guinea said 79 countries said to have confirmed participation with 50 heads of delegations expected, “including a president, four vice-presidents and 13 prime ministersâ€.
Foreign Affairs and Immigration Rimbink Pato minister said “the president was Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe”.
Meanwhile, the focus of the summit will include:
• The implementation pace of the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements, bearing in mind, inter alia, the technical and financial resources needed by the ACP Group to assist in the implementation process;
• The adoption of the Port Moresby Declaration, which will address equitable and sustainable development for ACP peoples and the enhancement of the ACP’s role in global governance for development, peace, security and political stability.
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