Several European envoys, holed up in Zimbabwe without accreditation for the past six months, are now expected to be accredited today.
Source: In limbo EU envoys to be accredited – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 9, 2017
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Some ambassadors, among them from Sweden and Germany, have been in the country for over half a year without accreditation, hence, failing to do their work as President Robert Mugabe was reportedly busy with other matters.
There were claims Mugabe was deliberately being swamped with work, as part of a plot to embarrass Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, but Foreign Affairs secretary Joey Bimha described this as “far-fetched.”
“What’s your problem? It happens everywhere. This is not peculiar to Zimbabwe because in some other countries, if the head of State has a tied-up programme and cannot accommodate them, there is nothing he can do,” he said.
“There is nothing peculiar and, in fact, in Zimbabwe we do it faster than other countries, but this time the President’s schedule has been very tight and that is why he could not accredit them. In fact, for your own information, they are being accredited this Thursday (today).”
It is alleged that Zanu PF leaders, uncomfortable with European envoys’ alleged meddling in internal politics, were reportedly congesting Mugabe’s schedule to frustrate the envoys.
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