Zimbabwe has intensified its parliamentary engagement with the United Kingdom as part of efforts to rejoin the Commonwealth, with Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda expressing the country’s desire to return to the organisation and its parliamentary association.

Mudenda and his delegation held talks with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Executive Committee, led by Baroness Taylor of Bolton, vice-chairperson of the CPA UK branch. The discussions focused on Zimbabwe’s possible readmission to the Commonwealth and the return of the Parliament of Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

According to a statement by Parliament of Zimbabwe, the engagement was intended to complement the Executive’s diplomatic efforts to restore the country’s participation in multilateral organisations.

“Complementing the role of the Executive on engagement and reengagement and the desire to be part of multilateral organisations including the Commonwealth, the Hon. Speaker and his delegation held productive interactions with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Executive Committee,” Parliament said.

The discussions covered the work of the Commonwealth, its thematic areas and the potential benefits of renewed cooperation between Zimbabwe’s Parliament and other legislatures within the association.

Parliament said Mudenda acknowledged the CPA’s role in bringing together countries with common interests and strengthening the multilateral system, while making clear that Zimbabwe wanted to resume its participation in both organisations.

“In acknowledging the critical role of the CPA in boosting the multilateral system by bringing together Commonwealth countries with a shared vision and ideas, Speaker Mudenda expressed Zimbabwe's, and indeed Parliament's desire to rejoin the Commonwealth and the CPA respectively,” the statement said.

The distinction is significant because membership of the Commonwealth and participation in the CPA are separate processes. Zimbabwe’s return to the wider intergovernmental organisation would depend on the Commonwealth’s membership procedures, while the parliamentary association provides a platform for cooperation between legislatures.

The engagement also emphasised institutional capacity-building, with the CPA offering opportunities for Zimbabwean legislators to learn from parliamentary practices in other member countries.

“In terms of capacity building, the CPA offers comparative approaches to Parliamentarism that will benefit the Zimbabwean Parliament, it was opined,” Parliament said.

Such exchanges could provide opportunities for parliamentarians to share legislative experience, strengthen institutional relationships and examine approaches to parliamentary work in other Commonwealth countries.

Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003 amid strained relations with Britain and other member states. The country began pursuing readmission in 2018 as part of the Government’s engagement and re-engagement policy.

The Commonwealth Secretariat sent an assessment mission to Zimbabwe in November 2022 to examine progress towards readmission. The organisation has previously stated that the process involves assessing an applicant’s adherence to the values enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and is not governed by a fixed timetable.

The latest parliamentary engagement represents another diplomatic channel through which Zimbabwe is seeking to rebuild its institutional links with the Commonwealth, although the meeting itself does not amount to an agreement on readmission.