By Merlyn Mwanza
The western media is reporting that President Hakainde Hichilema and six other heads of states he is visiting Ukraine with were forced to shelter in bunkers amid Russian air strikes on the capital Kiev, something South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa has described as misinformation.
According to CNN, the African leaders were forced into shelters, something President Hichilema and the other leaders he is visiting with have not given testimony to.
The exact account has not been established yet suffice to say the western media hysterically exaggerates situations involving Africa and matters outside the west when reporting on issues.
For instance, while only a few African countries are dependent on fertilizer and grain from Ukraine and Russia, they have generalized matters to make it seem that the whole continent is dependant on those two warring countries, yet the European Union is the biggest beneficiary of the fertilizer and grain from Russia and Ukraine.
Commenting on the latest hysteria about sheltering in bankers, President Ramaphosa said their visit to Ukraine was incident free and were driven to their hotels and other venues in a serene atmosphere.
CNN was joined by BBC, Sky News and other major western media organisations in spreading the lies in order to create the narrative.
Below is one of the stories published on the CNN website. The link to the full story is provided at the tail end of this story:
An African delegation on a peace mission to Ukraine headed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was greeted with explosions and forced to shelter in bunkers amid air strikes on the capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials said the attack was repelled by air defenses as the leaders prepared to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday, as part of an effort to negotiate an end to Russia’s war on the country.
The African leaders are expected to travel to Russia Saturday to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin.
“Russia’s missile attack took place just as African leaders arrived in the capital,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said Friday.
“Putin wants to demonstrate that he is ready to disregard the security of foreign leaders, he doesn’t really care, because he feels complete impunity. And anyone can be in the place of African leaders.”
“We remember that missiles were also flying when US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Ukraine,” Yermak added in a Telegram post, calling on the world to take “the toughest possible position against Russia.”
Ramaphosa arrived in the country by train on Friday morning with other heads of state including President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Hichilema of Zambia, President Azali Assoumani of Comoros and representatives of Egypt, Congo and Uganda.
Ramaphosa’s office described the peace initiative as “the first time that Africa is united behind the resolution of a conflict outside of our continent, and where you have a group of African heads of state and government traveling together in an attempt to find a path to peace to this conflict.”
