News / National
Grace Mugabe denied Swiss visa, hubby cancels UN trip
26 Oct 2011 at 06:39hrs | Views
THE Zimbabwean Government has lodged a protest with the United Nations and the Swiss government after the latter denied visas to six members of President Mugabe's delegation to the International Telecommunications Union summit on information communication technologies underway in Geneva.
President Mugabe was leading the delegation, but cancelled the trip after the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche, Director General in the President's Department Retired Major General Happyton Bonyongwe, Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba, and his aide de camp Senior Assistant Commissioner Martin Kwainona were denied visas.
Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, who was part of the delegation, was granted a visa.
A senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed to the Herald that Zimbabwe had lodged a protest with the UN and the Swiss authorities.
"We noted that this was a highly regrettable decision which was a clear violation of the United Nations headquarters host agreement and Zimbabwe's sovereign right to determine the composition of its delegation," the official said.
According to the official, Zimbabwe lodged its protest through the Swiss embassies in Harare and Geneva, the UN in New York as well as to the UN secretary-general, his representative at the ITU and the secretary-general of the ITU, which is headquartered in Geneva.
The ITU is a UN specialised agency for telecommunications.
"Our ambassadors (to the UN in Geneva and the UN in New York) were told that the Swiss had made their decision and not violated the host agreement. They (Swiss authorities) argued that they had given visas to the Zimbabwean delegation and those given were adequate to represent Zimbabwe at the summit," said the official.
The Swiss embassy also said it had done its part by issuing "exceptionally a visa to President Mugabe" and taking into consideration that those denied visas were on the European Union sanctions list.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but asserts to be an associate member which is neutral in world politics.
However, President Mugabe, who was given a visa and the six who were denied the visas, are all on the EU sanctions list, which bars them from travelling to EU member countries.
But the travel restrictions do not apply to UN meetings because the world body has not imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and host countries of UN bodies are therefore required to grant visas for such meetings.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Charamba said it was surprising that a country which calls itself neutral had taken a decision to divide a government of national unity, a family (the First Family)and a delegation by issuing visas to some members and denying others.
Minister Chamisa yesterday said he was no longer attending the summit.
"I am no longer going. I was supposed to go with the President but we are no longer going," he said.
President Mugabe was leading the delegation, but cancelled the trip after the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche, Director General in the President's Department Retired Major General Happyton Bonyongwe, Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba, and his aide de camp Senior Assistant Commissioner Martin Kwainona were denied visas.
Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, who was part of the delegation, was granted a visa.
A senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed to the Herald that Zimbabwe had lodged a protest with the UN and the Swiss authorities.
"We noted that this was a highly regrettable decision which was a clear violation of the United Nations headquarters host agreement and Zimbabwe's sovereign right to determine the composition of its delegation," the official said.
According to the official, Zimbabwe lodged its protest through the Swiss embassies in Harare and Geneva, the UN in New York as well as to the UN secretary-general, his representative at the ITU and the secretary-general of the ITU, which is headquartered in Geneva.
The ITU is a UN specialised agency for telecommunications.
"Our ambassadors (to the UN in Geneva and the UN in New York) were told that the Swiss had made their decision and not violated the host agreement. They (Swiss authorities) argued that they had given visas to the Zimbabwean delegation and those given were adequate to represent Zimbabwe at the summit," said the official.
The Swiss embassy also said it had done its part by issuing "exceptionally a visa to President Mugabe" and taking into consideration that those denied visas were on the European Union sanctions list.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but asserts to be an associate member which is neutral in world politics.
However, President Mugabe, who was given a visa and the six who were denied the visas, are all on the EU sanctions list, which bars them from travelling to EU member countries.
But the travel restrictions do not apply to UN meetings because the world body has not imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and host countries of UN bodies are therefore required to grant visas for such meetings.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Charamba said it was surprising that a country which calls itself neutral had taken a decision to divide a government of national unity, a family (the First Family)and a delegation by issuing visas to some members and denying others.
Minister Chamisa yesterday said he was no longer attending the summit.
"I am no longer going. I was supposed to go with the President but we are no longer going," he said.
Source - HeraldOnline
