No AuxillaSpeech for Demonstration Against Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Attendance at the F.L.A.I.R Summit

Date: 17th June 2025; Location: FLAIR SUMMIT @ Leonardo Royal Hotel. London Bridge

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

Today we gather here not out of hatred or personal vendetta, but as concerned citizens, as members of the global Zimbabwean community, and above all, as defenders of justice, accountability, and human dignity. We stand here united in our collective call: Let us stop the First Lady of Zimbabwe, Auxillia Mnangagwa, from attending the F.L.A.I.R Summit.

Auxillia Mnangagwa should not be allowed to participate in a summit that claims to represent women’s leadership, innovation, and integrity, while she remains complicit—directly or indirectly—in the ongoing human rights abuses, governance failures, and systemic injustices occurring in Zimbabwe under her watch.

1. Human Rights Abuses and Democratic Decay

In recent years, Zimbabwe has seen a sharp decline in democratic principles. Political dissenters are arrested arbitrarily. Journalists are harassed. Activists are abducted in broad daylight, some tortured, others silenced. Yet, the First Lady, a powerful political actor in her own right, has remained silent—complicit in her silence.

Her participation in international forums like the F.L.A.I.R Summit is not a representation of progress; it is a mockery of the suffering endured by millions of Zimbabweans. How can she be a keynote figure at a global summit when she has turned a blind eye to the deaths of citizens in police custody, to the use of state institutions as instruments of repression, and to the erosion of civil liberties?

2. Collapse of the Health System

Under the First Lady’s symbolic leadership in the health sector, Zimbabwe's healthcare system has collapsed. Hospitals are without medicine. Pregnant women die in childbirth. Doctors and nurses flee the country in search of greener pastures, leaving behind a broken system and desperate patients.

Auxillia Mnangagwa has led numerous “charity” events and health outreach campaigns meant to portray a façade of care. But charity cannot replace policy. Leadership is not about publicity stunts—it is about building sustainable systems that work for everyone. Attending the F.L.A.I.R Summit would falsely elevate her as a role model in women’s health, while back home, our mothers, sisters, and children continue to die from preventable diseases.

3. Corruption and Lack of Transparency

We must not forget that Auxillia Mnangagwa, by virtue of her position and close proximity to the levers of power, has access to state resources and decision-making platforms. Yet, she has failed to speak out or act against the rampant corruption that is destroying our economy.

The looting of national resources, the misuse of public funds, and the total lack of transparency in government dealings have left Zimbabweans impoverished and hopeless. How can the First Lady, whose family benefits from this corrupt system, stand on a global platform and pretend to champion the rights of women and the poor?

4. Misrepresentation of Zimbabwean Women

The F.L.A.I.R Summit is a platform that seeks to promote progressive, ethical, and transformative leadership among women. Allowing Auxillia Mnangagwa to participate under the banner of "women’s empowerment" sends a deeply misleading message. It tells the world that Zimbabwean women endorse her leadership and policies.

We are here today to make it clear: she does not represent us. She does not speak for the women who sleep on clinic floors. She does not speak for the mothers who bury their children because hospitals have no equipment. She does not speak for the daughters abducted, beaten, and silenced for daring to demand freedom.

5. Call for Accountability

Today, we call on the organisers of the F.L.A.I.R Summit to listen to the cries of the Zimbabwean people. We are not protesting without cause. We are standing on behalf of the voiceless—the forgotten masses who suffer daily due to the actions and inactions of those in power.

If the summit is to maintain its credibility, integrity, and true commitment to justice and empowerment, it must reject participation by individuals whose record stands in contradiction to those values.

In conclusion, we say this not as enemies of progress but as advocates of genuine progress. We say this not out of hate, but out of love for Zimbabwe. Auxillia Mnangagwa must not be allowed to sanitise her image on the international stage while Zimbabwe bleeds. Until there is real reform, real accountability, and real justice, we will continue to raise our voices.

Let the world know: Zimbabweans are watching. Zimbabweans are speaking. And Zimbabweans demand change.

Thank you.