Zimbabwe: Constitution

Lord Hain Excerpts

Wednesday 15th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I have not used the words “consultation” or “listening carefully”. I have said that we will engage with the Zimbabwe Government on these issues, and the ambassador raised our concerns as recently as yesterday. I am sorry, that is a complete travesty of what I have said.

[Lord Hain (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that Zimbabwe’s president is intrinsically involved in the criminality at the heart of the state, the machine of that criminal enterprise being the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, oiled by a business elite—many of whom are the sons and daughters of the white and Asian elite who supported sanctions-busting under the racist regime of Ian Smith—and unchecked today by the independent judiciary, accountability and professional scrutiny that continue to exist in South Africa, enabling the state of Zimbabwe to either sponsor or turn a blind eye to massive gold and tobacco smuggling?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend. We recognise the economic reforms undertaken by the Government of Zimbabwe and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, including—this is an important point that I have not made before—the signing of the IMF staff-monitored programme, as an important step towards greater macroeconomic stability, which, frankly, is greater than it was under Mugabe. However, for these reforms to be sustainable, tackling corruption must remain a central part of the reform agenda. We are very clear about that.