Ambassador Kossam Mupezeni
By Dickson Bandera
Newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of South Sudan, His Excellency Kossam Mupezeni today paid a courtesy call to president Emmerson Mnangagwa at the State House as he prepares to leave for his assignment.
Ambassador Mupezeni was accompanied by Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador Ndakaziva Rofina Chikava.
In his address to the media after a closed door meeting with the president, Ambassador Mupezeni said he was grateful to the president for entrusting him wide a wide ranged mandate and would advance Zimbabwe agenda judiciously.
“First and foremost I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the president for the confidence he has reposed in me by sending me to represent him and the country at large in South Sudan.
“His Excellency gave me a very wide mandate ranging from health, education, security, it’s a very broad array and the array is coming from our relationship with South Sudan. We have a very special relationship, as you know we worked with them, we cooperated with them as we prosecuted our armed struggle we where doing the same so we have to nurture the relationship,” he said.
He added, “They have needs in education and capacity development and we need to assist them, they also need provisions in agriculture and we need to help them given our prowess in agriculture.
“In mining, there are things that we can also learn from them, they are an oil country and we could learn on issues of oil and gas from our Sudanese friends.”
Before his current appointment, Ambassador Mupezeni was serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as Director for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, a portifolio he assumed in June 2022.
The seasoned diplomat with over 35 years of service in Government and the United Nations (UN), has a glowing curriculum vitae decorated with vast experience in multilateral, bilateral and international diplomacy.
In Government, his work responsibilities have revolved around execution of foreign policy, promotion of trade and investment and enhancing multilateral and bilateral relations, while with the UN, Amb Mupezeni has facilitated human development at socio-economic levels.
He has held several positions of responsibility at both Head Office and at foreign diplomatic Missions including opening Zimbabwe’s Embassies in Vienna
and Algiers, where he served as Head of Mission.
Currently studying towards a Law Degree with the University of London (UK), Ambassador Mupezeni attained a BSc Politics and Administration Honours Degree in 1986 from the University of Zimbabwe. In 1991, he attained a MSc International Relations Degree from the same university. In 2002, he acquired a Diploma in Personnel Management at the Institute of Personnel Management of Zimbabwe.
His duties have also included advancing the re-affirmation, engagement and re-engagement agenda by spearheading the conclusion of several political and economic cooperation memoranda of understanding and agreements with the Governments of Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Egypt, Iran and India.
He has also facilitated several visits of the President, Vice Presidents and other senior Government officials across Africa, Asia and the Pacific by producing draft briefs and speeches.
From 2009 to 2012, Ambassador Mupezeni was the Principal Administrative Officer and Desk Officer in Africa Department covering the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Union (AU). His duties involved report and speech writing, and research and analysis.
He was the Chargé d’ Affaires at the Embassy of Zimbabwe to Algeria where he opened and ran the Embassy for two and a half years) from 2012 to 2014.
Between December 2014 to December 2017, he was the Deputy Director and Head of the Departments of Europe and Continental Integration. At the inception of the second Republic in December 2017, Ambassador Mupezeni played a key role of facilitating the initial engagements of president Mnangagwa’s Government with European Ambassadors in November and December 2017.
He was also instrumental in the successful chairmanship of the African Union by former President Robert Mugabe in 2015 by drafting speeches and policy documents as head of Europe and Continental Integration Departments respectively.
From July 2018-August 2019 he was the Chargé d’ Affaires at the Zimbrasilia where he was instrumental in the conclusion of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency-Livestock and pastures development and improvement and cotton productivity. From January 2018 to Dec 2021 he also served as the Minister Counsellor and Deputy Ambassador at ZimBrasilia.
Zimbabwe and South Sudan enjoy fraternal relations and it is hoped that Ambassador Mupezeni’s deployment in Juba will take the relations to the next level.
Zimbabwe and South Sudan have a close relationship, which has developed since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Zimbabwe was one of the first countries to recognize South Sudan’s independence, and has since provided significant assistance to the new country.
Zimbabwe has provided economic and military support to South Sudan, and has also hosted a number of South Sudanese refugees. In addition, Zimbabwe has been a vocal supporter of South Sudan’s peace process, and has been involved in efforts to end the conflict in the country. South Sudan has also recognized Zimbabwe’s efforts, with President Salva Kiir visiting Zimbabwe in 2019.