(TALKZIMBABWE) 'Tsvangirai breaches oath of secrecy'

'Tsvangirai breaches oath of secrecy'
Philip Murombedzi
Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:07:00 +0000

PRIME MINISTER Morgan Tsvangirai has been blasted for breaching his oath of secrecy by printing a newsletter that is not mandated by Cabinet. PM Tsvangirai launched a free glossy weekly newsletter last week without approval by Government.

It is understood that the newsletter, entitled "From the Office of the Prime Minister", that was published on June 17, has a print run of about 400 000 and was published using funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Government sources quoted by state media said that the PM's office had acted unprocedurally by publishing finer details of his state visit to the European Union and the United States.

Sources said the move by the Prime Minister’s Office had undermined Cabinet and could lead to a clash between the Office and Cabinet.

Cabinet members and the President's office do not currently know the details of the trip which are already published in the newsletter as the Prime Minister has not yet briefed them.

"The newsletter is raising issues that the Prime Minister dealt with during his overseas trip. The PM was sent by Cabinet and his tour was funded by Government and so his office cannot produce a newsletter with details of the trip before briefing Cabinet," a source was quoted the official Sunday Mail.

"We are told that USAID was involved in this publication, and so does this mean that American printers were briefed of the PM’s tour before Cabinet? Does the PM expect President Mugabe to turn to the newsletter to know what’s going on?

"What has happened to the Oath of Secrecy? If this was an NGO trip, why did he withdraw Government money? And how much was involved in this glossy newsletter?

"So the little aid that the PM is getting is already being burnt by American printers? Should we say the PM has lots of food for the mind and not food for the stomach? There are so many unanswered questions?" said the source.

The newsletter, dubbed a "propaganda tool for the MDC" by sources in Cabinet was awash with pictures of the PM and US President Barack Obama on the front page and inside pages had state visit details and pictures with key US politicians like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The newsletter was published even before the state-mandated trip is finished. PM Tsvangirai is currently in the United Kingdom where he met with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He is on a tour of EU and US where he is representing the Government of President Mugabe and Cabinet. On his tour, PM Tsvangirai is expected to call for the lifting of the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe and seek financial loans to revive the economy.

Newsletters are not supposed to be registered in the country, but with a print run of 400,000 surpasses the print run of most registered newspapers in the country.
It is, therefore, classified as an organ of mass communication.