(NEWZIMBABWE) Zimbabwe unveils plan for minister for Diaspora

COMMENT - The Gospel according to Deputy PM Mutambara, MDC-M. And these are the guys the UK and US want to take over the government of Zimbabwe from the Liberation movement, ZANU-PF.

Zimbabwe unveils plan for minister for Diaspora
by Staff Reporter
27/07/2010 00:00:00

A MASS return of Zimbabweans living abroad “would be a disservice to the country”, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said as he revealed plans by the power sharing government to appoint a Minister for the Diaspora.

Mutambara told a meeting of exiles in London last Saturday that the unity government formed in February 2009 “does not desire to force people to come home” – contradicting sharply a call by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in June last year that Zimbabweans “must all come home”.

Mutambara said: “Zimbabweans must serve the national interest wherever they are, they must strive to build the country from their foreign bases.


“Take Jews for instance, they are in the American government as Jews, they are in the British government, they are in Wall Street as Jews. They take care of Jewish aspirations wherever they are.”

Mutambara said there were on-going discussions to appoint a minister for the Diaspora – with as many as four million Zimbabweans thought to be living semi-permanently in foreign countries, mainly South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and New Zealand.

Responding to questions from asylum seekers concerned about being deported, and others who said they wanted to be allowed to work in Britain, Mutambara said he wanted to “see Zimbabweans empowered here so that they can do whatever they can to help their country”.

However, he insisted that the policy not to allow asylum seekers to work was a “sovereign issue for Britain”.

“In discussions with our British counterparts we do ask them to create conditions that allow Zimbabweans who are here an opportunity to be productive. That’s an area which emphasises the importance of having a minister specifically in charge of the Diaspora constituency, to take up these issues,” the Deputy Prime Minister said, echoing sentiments of the second Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, who visited Britain three weeks ago and also appeared to distance herself from Tsvangirai’s position made soon after the new government was sworn in.

Mutambara insisted that the new government had made progress in the areas of human rights, media freedoms, health and education.

“The truth of the matter is that things are slowly changing, I can’t deny that,” the Oxford-educated former NASA rocket scientist said. “I would encourage those of you who want to take a plunge to go ahead and do so. I took a plunge and I’m doing rather well as you can see.

Mutambara said the unity government would put in place measures to ensure returning Zimbabweans “are not harassed”.