Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Britain's Africa minister, Malloch Brown quits

COMMENT - Is it just me, or is the villification of Zimabwe just part of an attempt to prevent Zimbabwe from falling into the sphere of influence of the Chinese? If this $5 billion package has been 4 years in the making, and of course no one reported on it.

Britain's Africa minister, Malloch Brown quits
Nancy Pasipanodya
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:06:00 +0000

A ZIMBABWEAN born member of Gordon Brown's Government quit last night, in a move the Foreign Office said had nothing to do with the political misfortunes of the Labour party.

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the UK's Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN is to step down at the end of the month for "personal and family reasons".

The Foreign Office minister insisted he still 'greatly admired' PM Brown.

The departure is a blow to the Prime Minister, who recruited Lord Malloch-Brown in June 2007 and offered him a peerage so that he could sit in the House of Lords..

Several other so-called 'GOATS' (greatest of all time) have already left.

The most high profile was ex-Trade minister Digby Jones, who resigned last October after apparently becoming increasingly disillusioned with his role and at odds with the Government.

Lord Malloch-Brown was raised in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and started his career as a journalist before working at the World Bank and then joining the United Nations, becoming deputy secretary general.

His tenure at the UN was mired in controversies.

Malloch Brown publicly defended handling of the Oil-for-Food Programme by the UN in general, and Kofi Annan in particular. While he countered critics that "Not a penny was lost from the organization," an internal UN audit of the Oil-for-Food programme revealed that there had been overcompensation amounting to $557 million.

A separate audit of UN peacekeeping procurement concluded that at least $310 million from a budget of $1.6 billion could not be accounted for.

As Africa minister, the peer was one of the harshest critics of President Mugabe. Recently, he had indicated that his ministry would re-engage Zimbabwe in a move aimed at normalizing relations between the country and former coloniser, Britain.

He recently met with Vice President Joice Mujuru at a recent UN summit on the global financial crisis.

Malloch Brown also attracted some controversy, not least over his occupation of a grace-andfavour home in Whitehall.

There were also persistent rumours of tensions with his direct boss, Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

In a statement, he said last night: "I have always said that I would not do this job for ever and I have strong personal and family reasons for moving on.

"I came into government as a professional, not a politician. My decision to step down is not a commentary on the political situation.

"I joined the Government at his (PM Brown) invitation to help promote his international priorities. It has been a great privilege to do that, and to work with him and with David Miliband."

Downing Street said: "The Prime Minister is grateful for the outstanding work Lord Malloch-Brown has done.

"The Government has benefited from his knowledge of Africa, the respect in which he is held by an extensive network of close contacts, and his passion for his work."

Malloch Brown's departure will be seen as a blow to PM Brown after a string of ministers announced last month they were quitting as the premier tried to reassert his authority with a Cabinet reshuffle in the wake of an MPs' expenses scandal, aglobal financial crisis blamed on government's failure to regulate and an increasingly stubborn Labour government.

PM Brown's ruling Labour Party is widely tipped to lose the next general election to the opposition Conservatives that must be held by the middle of next year.

The British PM has resisted all calls for him to quit saying he is the leader that Britain needs to tackle the financial crisis.

Labels: CHINA, CREDIT FACILITIES, MARK MALLOCH-BROWN, NEOCOLONIALISM, ZDERA

posted by MrK @ 5:51 PM