MDC-T defends defecting Zwambila

The Movement for Democratic Change led by former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has defended recalled Zimbabwean Ambassador to Australia Jacqueline Zwambila who is refusing to come back to Zimbabwe following her recall.

Speaking on Voice of America's Studio 7 on Friday night, the spokesperson for the MDC T Mr, Douglas Mwonzora said his party was not in a position to guarantee Zwambila's safety if she comes back to Zimbabwe.

Ms Zwambila like several other ambassadors has been recalled from her diplomatic duties in Australia and is expected back home by the 31st of December. However, in a shocking diplomatic move Zwambila has approached the Australian government for asylum against the government she has been representing for 5 years. Zwambila claims she fears being arrested by the government of President Robert Mugabe if she comes back to Zimbabwe.

Mwonzora states that Zwambila has genuine security fears of which his party can not guarantee her safety if she comes back to Zimbabwe. According to Mwonzora, Zwambila has a chance of being arrested for treason after she was said to have attended a meeting of former Rhodesians while in Australia. He also claims that Zwambila is now enemy to the state after she worn a court case against what he termed a "state agent" who had reported that Zwambila undressed in front of staff in her office in Australia.

Mwonzora's statements were however quickly countered by ZANU PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo who said that Ms Zwambila's fears are unfounded as government has no intentions at all of arresting her. According to Mr Gumbo all other MDC T ambassadors who were also recalled are back in the country and "roaming the streets freely".

Ms Zwambila's stay in Australia has been marked by a lot of controversy which more than once resulted in her being summoned back to Harare for "disciplinary" hearings. She was during her term summoned to Harare to come and face the principals of the GPA, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Author Mutambara to answer charges of her stripping in public.

She was again summoned to Harare to answer charges of ill treating her members of staff. This came after her personal butler, Mr Felix Machiridza had made a report of sexual abuse to government against his boss. It turned out Mr Machiridza had been flown to Australia by Zwambila in the pretext of being her personal assistant while he was actually her lover and things turned sour when Machiridza wanted out of the relationship.

Contrary to claims by Zwambila that she had been sent to be Ambassador to Australia as a means of silencing her opposition to President Mugabe, sectors with the MDC T indicated that her appointment was made by then Prime Minister Tsvangirai as a way of moving her away from his then lover Locardia Karimatsenga. According to MDC T insiders at the time of her appointment, Karimatsenga did not take kindly to Zwambila's closeness to Tsvangirai and so needed her to be away from the Prime Minister. Zwambila was rumoured within the MDC T structures to also have been in a relationship with Tsvangirai and had several clashes with Karimatsenga.

According to postings on social networks, Zimbabweans generally seem to be of the opinion that Zwambila just wants to remain in Australia away from her morality problems and using fake political excuses. In one argument a post says that if government wanted to arrest her, she would have been arrested on the numerous occasions that she came for "disciplinary" hearings in the country. Unconfirmed posts also claim that Zwambila has always been in and out of the country particularly to visit her son who was also deported from Australia for undiplomatic behaviour which included drunken driving.

Ms Zwambila's request for asylum in Australia is bound to create a serious diplomatic rift between Zimbabwe and Australia. Zwambila claims in her statement that she knew that her term was over immediately after the results were announced, if that was the case, perhaps, Ms Zwambila could have avoided a diplomatic crisis by immediately resigning from her appointment than wait for government to recall her and then raise claims of insecurity.