Maravi

(HERALD) PM humiliated at Heathrow Airport

PM humiliated at Heathrow Airport
Sunday, 23 October 2011 01:58
By Munyaradzi Huni

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was last week humiliated at Heathrow Airport in London after British government authorities refused to accord him any protocol or protection services, forcing the embarrassed MDC-T leader to join the ordinary immigration queues, it has emerged.

Protocol or protection services are accorded to high-ranking government officials so that once they get to the airport, both on private and business visits, they are given VIP treatment by the host government.

It is understood that frantic efforts by the PM’s chief of protocol, Mr James Maridadi, to persuade the British Embassy in Harare to urge the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to provide protocol and protection services proved futile.

According to a top MDC-T official in the party’s UK branch, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation, PM Tsvangirai arrived in the UK on October 19 on a two-day private visit.

“When the Prime Minister got here, he and his delegation faced some complications. The British authorities did not accord the Prime Minister any protocol or protection services, saying this was a private visit. However, the Prime Minister has been here on several private visits, and during all these visits the British authorities have accorded him protocol services.

“Attempts by Maridadi to persuade the British Embassy in Harare to urge the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to provide protocol and protection services failed as the authorities emphasised that this was not about the Prime Minister but about British rules and procedures.

“It was embarrassing. You can imagine the Prime Minister standing in a queue just like any ordinary person. ZimLondon (an organisation that deals with immigration issues between Zimbabwe and the UK) had to intervene to minimise the delays at the airport because the Prime Minister had already joined the ordinary immigration queues,” said the official.

The official added that despite the intervention of ZimLondon, the PM and his delegation experienced some clearance delays as negotiations with immigration officials to allow the delegation to be fast-tracked became heated.

However, the official said some members of the delegation were aware that the British authorities would not accord the Prime Minister protocol courtesies as they had been sensitised on the issue while they were still in Johannesburg.

“Some of the officials told us that they had been warned while waiting for the connecting flight in Johannesburg that they would be no protocol for the Prime Minister but we understand the Prime Minister insisted that he would be accorded the protocol courtesies.

“When Deputy Ambassador Chinenere informed the Prime Minister that attempts to get the British authorities to provide at least the minimum protocol services were unsuccessful, the Prime Minister retorted that he would tell the British authorities that handichadi kuuya kukanyika kavo zve,” said the official. An official at the British Embassy in Harare who refused to be named as he has no authority to speak to the Press, hinted that indeed the PM faced problems at Heathrow but was not at liberty to give more details.

The PM’s spokesperson, Mr Luke Tamborinyoka, said reports that Mr Tsvangirai had not been afforded VIP treatment were just rumours.

“I can confirm that the Prime Minister was in the UK. He is an ordinary citizen who is free to go wherever he wants. He was there on private business and to say he was not given the treatment he deserved is just rumours and mere propaganda. He was there and used the opportunity to meet with our external assemblies in UK and Ireland,” said Mr Tamborinyoka.

It is interesting to note that the PM received such treatment when the newly appointed British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mrs Deborah Bronette, recently said she was coming to the country to improve relations between Harare and London. During the UN meetings held recently in New York there were several attempts by some top UK officials, especially from the Overseas Office, to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

At the same time, since he took office, British Prime Minister Mr David Cameron has never openly criticised President Mugabe, raising prospects that London was serious in its efforts to re-engage with Harare.

Turning to the PM’s engagements, the UK-based MDC-T official said Mr Tsvangirai’s first meeting was on October 19 in his hotel room where he met with the party’s treasurer, Mr Roy Bennett, from 1pm to about 2:30pm.

After this meeting, the PM proceeded to the Royal Commonwealth Society where the MDC-T’s UK structures held consultative meetings with Mr Tsvangirai from 2:45pm to 5:15pm.

“The meeting was attended by about 80 top MDC-T officials based in the UK and we questioned the Prime Minister why he wanted us to come back home when there are no jobs waiting for us.

“The Prime Minister told us that the inclusive Government had brought stability and he pointed out that shops were now full, but we told him that even if the shops are full, we won’t have money to buy goods.

The meeting subsequently degenerated into arguments about whether it was a wise decision to join the inclusive Government. Some of my colleagues left after realising that there was nothing to gain from the event as people were just shouting at each other.

“The Prime Minister accused the MDC-T UK structures of indiscipline and he urged us to work together, given the history of purges and counter-purges that have plagued the party’s UK structures.

“On his way to the hotel, the Prime Minister complained to Maridadi that meetings with rural constituencies in his hometown of Buhera yield more substance than the MDC-T Diaspora. He expressed disappointment with the calibre of party cadres in the UK,” said the official. The official said the PM did not have further official engagements on October 19, although “we are made to understand that he had a female visitor from the MDC-T UK structures overnight”.

Interestingly, the day the PM arrived in London, MDC-T secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti was leaving the UK, raising suspicions that the two could have been on competing missions.

However, Mr Tamborinyoka said: “Minister Biti was on business in UK so there was no need for him to postpone his coming back to Zimbabwe by waiting for the Prime Minister who was on a personal visit.”

It is surprising that the PM travels with a 12-member delegation that included his spokesperson, his chief of protocol and a desk officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a private visit. - The Sunday Mail

Labels: JAMES MARIDADI, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 6:11 PM