Zimbabwe’s continued refusal to grant Morgan Tsvangirai a passport has forced the Botswana government to mull plans to give the MDC leader a diplomatic passport.
An official in the department of immigration and citizenship revealed that they have received instructions to look into the issue of how they can give Tsvangirai a diplomatic passport.
“We were instructed to see how we can help ease Mr Tsvangirai’s travel as a civic leader in his country after obvious travel restrictions from the government of Zimbabwe – the legal and other aspects of it,” says the official.
However, an official in the ministry of foreign affairs professed ignorance on the matter, but was quick to add that “the right to travel is basic and personally I don’t know of any crime Tsvangirai has done to be denied that right”.
“If anything some people who have committed worse crimes in Zimbabwe are free to gallivant all over the world to the extent of taking up prestigious jobs in other countries,” the official adds in an obvious reference to Mugabe’s scribe Caesar Zvayi, who was deported from Botswana three weeks ago.
The Botswana government has since responded to Zimbabwe state media’s claims that Zvayi’s deportation was a publicity stunt.
“Caesar Zvayi, a Zimbabwean national, was declared a prohibited immigrant in terms of Section 7 (f) of the Immigration Act.
“We trust that the information provided will alleviate possible public misunderstanding about the matter.”
These developments come after Tsvangirai’s emergency travel document was seized on Thursday as he was about to leave Harare International Airport on his way to a SADC summit in Sandton this week.
But Mugabe’s spokesperson, George Charamba, denied that Tsvangirai’s passport was seized.
He says Tsvangirai was not allowed to leave the country because his travel documents were invalid.
He claims that Tsvangirai’s passport had expired and had not yet been replaced.
“We are not going to waive the rules for a politician who is merely forgetful,” he said before the travel documents were returned.
He accused Tsvangirai of knowingly going to the airport with invalid travel documents to provoke authorities “to secure one or two sound bites” and gain political mileage. – zimbabwemetro.com
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