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Nduduzo Tshuma in Khartoum, Sudan
The Sudanese National Assembly yesterday reverberated with thunderous applause as President Mugabe entered the venue of President Omar Al-Bashir’s inauguration.

President Mugabe was attending the ceremony in his capacity as African Union chairperson and responded to the applause by clasping his hands as a show of unity.

While other leaders were welcomed by government officials, President Mugabe, who is also Sadc chairperson was welcomed by President Al-Bashir at the Khartoum International Airport on Monday, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Sudan, Hilda Mafudze, confirmed.

Mafudze said the gesture was a sign of the respect President Al-Bashir has for President Mugabe.

The President got another round of applause when he was introduced by the Sudanese National Assembly’s chairperson, Professor Ibrahim Umar.

Speaking at the inauguration, President Al-Bashir paid tribute to women parliamentarians whom he said had contributed to his victory.

He called for strengthened unity among Arab nations.

President Al-Bashir said the April elections were peaceful and that the presence of more than 20 Heads of State at the ceremony was an endorsement of his election victory.

President Al-Bashir was voted to retain the country’s Presidency in the April elections, polling a landslide 94,5 percent of the votes.

The polls were endorsed as free and fair and a reflection of the will of the people by the Arab League and the African Union among other observers.

President Mugabe last Friday led other African leaders in witnessing the swearing in of Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari at the Eagle’s Square in Abuja.

Before leaving Nigeria, President Mugabe met the country’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo who led the AU observer mission in Sudan.

Speaking to journalists before leaving Harare last Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, said the President’s participation in the two countries’ inauguration ceremonies was significant in that it endorsed and served as a stamp of approval from the AU that the Nigerian and Sudanese elections were free and fair.

Cde Mumbengegwi said Africa must celebrate when elections are held and declared free and fair.

On Saturday, the President made a two-day stop in Equatorial Guinea on a working consultative visit ahead of the African Union Summit in South Africa later this month.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, George Charamba, said the President was sampling opinions on developments not only on African subregional issues but also on key continental issues including the quest for representation in international organisations.

Charamba said the two leaders discussed Africa’s representation in the United Nations Security Council.

“The position of Africa is under threat,” said Charamba, “so they’re sharing opinions on how to strengthen the Ezulwini Consensus which summarises the African position regarding the restructuring of the United Nations Security Council. This is likely to be a very key issue at the Johannesburg Summit,” said Charamba on Saturday.

Meanwhile, President returned home last night and was received at the Harare International Airport by Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, War Veterans Minister Chris Mutsvangwa, Energy and Power Development minister Samuel Udenge, Higher and Tertiary Education minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Harare Provincial Affairs Minister Miriam Chikukwa, service chiefs and other senior government officials