Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was not snubbed by the African Union as has been claimed by the Herald newspaper, the latest evidence from various consultations reveal.
On Saturday the state media’s reporter Caesar Zvayi claimed that Tsvangirai was blocked by the African Union. The article also named an NGO which was rather the one snubbed by the body. The Herald article failed to disclose when and how the allegedly AU did this thing while the journalist on the story also failing to interview sources, if any.
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Andrew Mtetwa has revealed that contrary to the Herald journo’s claims, he was actually expecting Mr Tsvangirai but Tsvangirai suddenly went quiet on Friday, confirming explanations given by the PM’s office.
The PM’s Minister of State, Jameson Timba travelled to Ethiopia, a development which confirmed there was no snub at all as alleged.
PM Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said Tsvangirai rather cancelled his trip because his wife was not feeling well: “He was supposed to travel to Addis Ababa today, but cancelled the trip because his wife (Ms Elizabeth Macheka) is not feeling well,” said Tamborinyoka.
He added: “Ours is a unique situation where there is shared power. All the principals were invited by the AU and this matter was discussed during the principals meeting and they agreed they should all go. The AU are guarantors of this power-sharing deal and that is the reason why the principals agreed that all of them were supposed to attend the celebrations.”
A party insider further revealed there was no snub at all and there was no basis whatsoever for the Herald article: “It is not procedural for me to do so but I can tell you that what the paper is saying is not true. We were actually at the airport yesterday when we aborted the trip on account of sudden illness in the PM’s family. As a caring family man he prioritised he did what any responsible father would do. The PM and the President even agreed at the principals meeting on Monday that given the character of our GNU all principals should attend the Jubilee celebrations and this is why DPM Mutambara traveled with the President. For security reasons you can’t put the President and the PM on the same aircraft. To also rebut the claims of a snub, the PM’s advance party led by Minister Timba is actually in Addis right now, attending the celebrations because they had travelled a day earlier. The idea that the PM was snubbed is nothing short of propaganda and a smear campaign against Tsvangirai which even the President castigated just a few days ago,” he said