By ZimEye Correspondent | There was drama at the Zim Embassy yesterday when President Emmerson Mnangagwa bunked his own meeting at the embassy where over 500 predominantly ZANU PF members had their travel money wasted when upon arriving at the London embassy they found no trace of the Head Of State.
This was despite the tight security around the building. There were over 30 security officers led by Auxillia Mnangagwa’s brother and convicted armed robber, Paradzayi Kutyauripo.
The senior government officials who attended the non event were Mnangagwa’s girlfriend, Virginia Mabhiza (Perm Sec for Justice), and George Charamba, who is the Presidential Spokesperson.
Govt Spokesman Nick Mangwana spoke briefly for 3 minutes, and left and the Ambassador Christian Katsande later announced indicating he was unsure what has happened, ZimEye reveals.
There were business people attending and foreign dignitaries there expecting Mnangagwa’s custom of meeting Zimbabweans. But he has come to the UK twice and avoided meeting his own supporters.
The London embassy meeting was the second in a roll listed for his coronation diaspora engagements, the first which was at Holiday Inn Luton Airport.
In US Mnangagwa met the American diaspora. In Davos he met local Zimbabweans, in South Africa he held an expats meeting. But in UK he has even avoided the govt premises, the London embassy.
Cancelling the event, Mnangagwa chose to meet white businessmen one of whom humiliated him (Mnangagwa) for being too accessible, always poking his head out to investors, that is, doing the job of junior immigration clerks, in the wake of the Al Jazeera Investivative Unit’s #GoldMafia documentary.
Andrew Cartwright was on video on Sunday criticising President Emmerson Mnangagwa over how too easily accessible he is, comments which come in the wake of the embarrassing Goldmafia documentary that show how Mnangagwa almost sold a part of Victoria Falls to undercover journalists from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit.
Said Cartwright in part, “one thing which puts Zimbabwe above other competing investment destinations is the President’s accessibility.
“There are negatives to that, but are outweighed by positives…,” he said.
ZANU PF members in UK are complaining over why Mnangagwa snubbed their own meetings (two of them) “yet we are the ones who for a long time have campaigned for sanctions to be removed,” as one told ZimEye on condition of anonymity.
The ambassador Christian Katsande did not respond to a request for comment.
While the reasons were not clear, sources told ZimEye, Mnangagwa is afraid of being humiliated among people who feel harrassed by him over the incarceration and persecution of legislator Job Sikhala who was arrested after the murder of his own client, the late Moreblessing Ali, who got killed by Mnangagwa’s supporters, the murderers who received police protection. In July 2019, Mnangagwa’s then Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo was sprayed water by opposition protesters after insulting victims of the nation’s second coup which happened just after elections on 1 Aug 2018. It was feared that after the broadcasting of the GoldMafia documentary, Mnangagwa would receive worse humiliation.
Coincidentally, Mnangagwa’s own niece Heather Mudhari, the Honorary Consul for Scotland was blocked from entering the embassy meeting when she arrived, reasons which were still to be known at the time of writing.