Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe joined counterparts from across the Commonwealth in New York on 20 September, as Zambia’s UN General Assembly delegation opened a week of high-level diplomatic engagements.
By The Zambian Economist Analyst
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Mulambo Haimbe took part in the 74th Extraordinary Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in New York on 20 September, held on the margins of the 81st UN General Assembly.
- The meeting was convened by Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey and chaired by Malta’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Chris Fearne.
- CMAG’s concluding statement committed the group to upholding the Commonwealth’s political values under the Commonwealth Charter and backed the Secretary-General’s Good Offices as a dialogue-based mechanism for promoting them.
- Zambia holds a deputy chair position on CMAG, giving it a seat among the group that reviews member states’ adherence to Commonwealth democratic and governance principles.
- The next regular CMAG meeting is scheduled for November 2026 in Antigua and Barbuda, on the margins of the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
A ministerial meeting on the margins of UNGA81
Haimbe’s appearance at the CMAG table came two days after he arrived in New York to represent President Hakainde Hichilema at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, which runs from 22 to 28 September under the theme “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that Delivers for All.” He is due to deliver Zambia’s national statement on 28 September.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group is the body Commonwealth foreign ministers use to respond to serious or persistent breaches of the Commonwealth Charter’s political values, among them democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights. Zambia’s presence on the panel as deputy chair puts it inside those discussions rather than on their periphery, a position that carries weight beyond the meeting itself: it is one of the clearest markers of standing a mid-sized Commonwealth member can hold within the organisation between Heads of Government meetings.
What the meeting agreed
According to the meeting’s concluding statement, CMAG members committed to upholding the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values as set out in the Commonwealth Charter. The group also expressed support for the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Good Offices, a mechanism for promoting those values through dialogue, mutual respect and respect for the sovereignty of member states, rather than through sanction or suspension.
CMAG commended the Commonwealth Secretariat for its continued efforts to promote constructive dialogue and build confidence among member states. The next regular CMAG meeting will take place in November 2026 in Antigua and Barbuda, on the margins of the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where ministers are expected to review progress against the priorities set at the 26th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting held in London in March.
Part of a packed UNGA81 schedule
The CMAG meeting is one item on a full diplomatic agenda for Zambia’s delegation this week. Haimbe is leading a team that includes Health Minister Roma Chilengi and senior officials, with engagements spanning the Group of 77 and China, bilateral meetings on the Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact, and the signing of memoranda of understanding to establish diplomatic relations with five new countries.
The delegation is also using the week to build support for Zambia’s candidacy for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the 2027 to 2029 term, and to advance what officials describe as the Grow Zambia Agenda, the government’s push to mobilise technical assistance, development finance and strategic investment through its diplomatic network. Zambian officials in New York have framed the week’s engagements, Commonwealth included, as one track within that broader push rather than a separate diplomatic exercise.
Why this matters for Zambia’s diplomatic standing
A CMAG deputy chair seat does not carry a budget line or an investment pledge attached to it, but it does put Zambia in the room when the Commonwealth decides how to respond to governance problems in other member states, and it gives Lusaka a voice in shaping the Secretary-General’s Good Offices approach before the next CHOGM. For a government courting donor confidence and trade partnerships under the Grow Zambia Agenda, that kind of institutional standing is difficult to buy and easy to lose, which is part of why Haimbe’s presence at the table, rather than a more junior representative, is itself a signal to other Commonwealth capitals.
Haimbe’s own attendance at the CMAG table, rather than a delegation of officials speaking on his behalf, keeps Zambia’s deputy chair seat visibly occupied by the minister himself ahead of the November CHOGM in Antigua and Barbuda.
Related reading: Hichilema Swears In Four Ministers: Haimbe Returns at Foreign Affairs, Musokotwane Retained at Finance and Hichilema Nominates Five MPs, Including Ex-Foreign Minister Haimbe.
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