The Pan-Africanist euphoria gripping Zimbabwe as she hosts the SADC Extraordinary Summit compels reflection on the extraordinary African statesmanship of the regional body's chairman and Zimbabwe's Head of State and Government Cde Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
This week affirms Zimbabwe's lofty diplomatic standing owing to the cumulative dividends of the engagement and re-engagement policy.
This foreign policy reconfiguration has opened vistas for the consolidation of Zimbabwe's growth-driven international relations.
With an Afrocentric inward looking foreign policy position, the Second Republic has hosted various diplomatic convergence platforms which have been graced by continental luminaries like Thabo Mbeki, Joaquim Alberto Chissano and Filipe Nyusi among others.
From his past inaugurations, the plenty hosted conferences, various African heads of state have extended their heartfelt courtesies to Zimbabwe.
These include Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, William Ruto of Kenya, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and his other peers who have graced Zimbabwe in the past.
Former Heads of State such as Kgalema Montlanthe of South Africa, Edgar Lungu and Mokgweetsi Masisi have also left their foot trails in Zimbabwe in the last years.
Just over the weekend, the new President of Botswana Duma Boko was in Zimbabwe for the World Children's Day commemorations.
This statesmanship demonstrates President Mnangagwa's illustrious dedication to the African continent and the respect he commands from the Cape to Cairo.
In the process, he has attracted reciprocal admiration from SADC leaders and many others across Africa. The regional declaration of October 25 as the Anti-Sanctions Day is evident of the respect earned by the Second-Republic's transformative governance under President Mnangagwa.
As part of Zimbabwe's escalated fight against sanctions, President Mnangagwa officiated an online National Anti-Sanctions Petition Programme (NAPP) at a colourful occasion which was graced by dozens of diplomats, multilateral technocrats and senior government officials.
This foreign policy angling is characteristic of President Mnangagwa's pro-continent ideological socio-genesis path dating back to how he found an emotive connection to the struggle of the people in Zambia at a tender age.
In the early 60s, he became a member of the United National Independence Party's (UNIP) Youth League.
His background under colonial disenfranchisement in what is now the Midlands in modern day Zimbabwe conceived a compelling justification for him to relate with the fate of the then colonially emasculated people of Zambia.
Unknown to him at the time, was that his next encounter with Zambia will be during his forerunner role in the independence of Zimbabwe. Such has been his entanglement in the international cause for African freedom.
Back at home, the nationalist movement was priming its place against the Rhodesian regime, Father Zimbabwe had formed the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) which he eventually joined.
In April 1963, he was deployed to Egypt via Tanzania as part of ZAPU's 12 pioneering military trainees.
In August 1963, he was among the few who joined the then ZANU. This marked a significant turning point in his nationalist pilgrimage.
He was also among the delegates of the first ZANU Congress in 1964. It was this congress whose resolutions mapped the future of the nation's independence.
In 1964, President Mnangagwa was among the few who were sent by ZANU for military training in China. This was adding up to his already accumulated political orientation and militarisation in Zambia, Tanzania and Egypt.
After this training, he was within the founding top ranks of the Zimbabwean African National Liberation Army's (ZANLA) military intelligence as Head of Security.
From then on, he was a central player in the execution of our armed struggle against colonial rule and was in Mozambique.
During this time Maputo and Tete in Mozambique had grown to be an incubator of military training for Zimbabweans who gave up their childhood to free their motherland from colonial bondage.
This anecdote is crucial in mapping President Mnangagwa's continental interconnected path in the search for freedom, under UNIP he was a protégé to Kenneth Kaunda.
In ZAPU he was a trusted disciple to Father Zimbabwe, the late Dr Joshua Nkomo, hence he was elected among the golden ZAPU 12 to be trained in Tanzania and Egypt.
One would be remiss not to connect his political orientation to Tanzania where he was partially trained.
In Mozambique, he drank from the fountain that Samora Machel was to the rest of Africa. During his stint in Tanzania he was philosophically modelled in Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's decolonial thought.
In ZANU, he became Head of Security.
Throughout his life, including his years of imprisonment, President Mnangagwa was an apprentice to the founding visionaries of this continent.
From this background, it's clear that President Mnangagwa is a collective product of mentorship by doyens of the Frontline States. Today, his leadership shoulders their collective organic inspiration.
He is a walking incarnate of their joint vision for a free Africa. To emphasise this historical fact, the former President of South Africa, Cde Thabo Mbeki in his lecture which celebrates the life and times of former president Mugabe reflects on President Mnangagwa's role in the fight against apartheid South Africa at the behest of the great late Cde Oliver Tambo of South Africa and Cde Robert Mugabe.
It was Dr Mnangagwa and Cde Thabo Mbeki who were entrusted with the organisation of covert military operations which contributed to the dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The success of these military operations among other factors cleared the way for the Harare Declaration. This substantiates the strong military and diplomatic trace of his involvement in the political affairs of the continent.
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His interwoven experience with phenomenal personalities and processes of the continent's decolonisation endeavour places him at the centre of leading the architecture of the continent's current governance infrastructure.
Therefore, under his leadership, SADC benefits from this rich experience. Prior to his current role, President Mnangagwa's continental exploits include the support he gave to Zimbabwe's peace-keeping role in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Therefore, his footprint in the continent's affairs is not only historical, but it is crucial in harnessing his experience to build strategies for peace-building, electoral justice, effective governance, enhanced security and food sovereignty in the region.
His wisdom from the war that delivered African independence and his strategic manoeuvres against neo-colonial infiltrations across the continent is expressive of his dedication to the African continent.
This explains Zimbabwe's passionate investment in hosting the 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government. The same or even more is expected of his input and policy drive into the successful hosting of the extraordinary SADC Summit that is upon us. Thanks to his extraordinary commitment to the region and the African continent.
Dr Jenfan Muswere (MP Makoni West) is the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.
