US embarrasses Mnangagwa over false Zambia military base claim – ZimEye

By POLITICO Reporter – The US government has denied Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s claim of hosting a US military base in Zambia, causing great embarrassment to the Zimbabwean leader.

Earlier this month, Mnangagwa told Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg that Zambia posed a security threat to Zimbabwe and accused the United States of heavily funding Zimbabwe’s security services.

He claimed that the US was increasing its military presence in Zambia to isolate Zimbabwe.

However, in a virtual press conference on Thursday, June 27, General Michael Langley, commander of the U.S. Africa Command and the Marine Corps, refuted Mnangagwa’s claims as “false.” Langley clarified that the United States has no military base in Zambia and has no plans to establish one:

“That (Mnangagwa’s allegation) is absolutely false. We have no base in Zambia and no plans to have a base there. Our approach is African-led, American-backed. We work closely; we have a deep partnership with Zambia,” Langley said. “There is no base. We have enhanced security cooperation with them, but there is no footprint, and there is no base in our security cooperation office that is based in the embassy.”

Langley also spoke about security challenges across the African region and discussed his participation in the 2024 African Defense Ministers’ Conference, held in Botswana from June 24 to 26.

Mnangagwa’s comments during a meeting with Putin on June 6, 2024, have strained relations between Zimbabwe and Zambia. He accused the “Americans of consolidating their power in Zambia” and “making sure we feel alone, both in terms of security and economic support.”

In response, Zambian Foreign Minister Mulambo Hembe called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to address the issue.

Speaking in Zambia’s parliament, Hembe described Mnangagwa’s comments as an “unprovoked attack on Zambia’s sovereignty”.

“President Mnangagwa’s remarks are not only baseless, but also undermine the spirit of solidarity and mutual respect on which our regional cooperation is based. We call on the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to address this issue decisively and definitively to preserve the integrity of our regional partnership,” Hembe said.

In April 2023, the United States Africa Command (Africom) announced that it would open an office in Zambia. Africom has multiple bases across Africa, but its presence in Zambia is limited to a security cooperation office within the U.S. Embassy.

Zambia, like many other African countries, has close ties with the United States and other Western democracies.

In contrast, countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa have aligned themselves with authoritarian governments like China and Russia.

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