President Robert Mugabe has rejected the Confucius Peace Award which he was granted last week by a Chinese organization.
The award had generated controversy in Zimbabwe and around the world. Mr. Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, allegedly writing in the Nathaniel Manheru column in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, said the president did not recognize that peace prize.
Charamba added that the prize, said to be worth $80,000 was not even recognized by the Chinese government.
Previous recipients former Cuban president Fidel Castro and Russian president Vladmir Putin also reportedly did not collect their awards from the Chinese organization.
MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said his party maintains that it was not proper for the organization, real or not, to confer such an award on President Mugabe.
"It was actually going to be very embarrassing and very demeaning, indeed humiliating for him to go all the way to China to receive a dubious prize from a dubious organization," Gutu said.
