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IT is high time Government took a strong stance against Western ambassadors who continue meddling in our internal affairs and spoiling for a fight. It appears the ambassadors come to Zimbabwe under the impression they have a so-called Whiteman’s burden to “civilise’’ the natives.
Diplomatic postings are premised on mutual recognition which means the tenets governing the operations of an American, British or EU ambassador here are the same as those that guide Zimbabwean ambassadors in Brussels and London.
For those who may have missed it, the EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe, ambassador Mr Aldo Dell’Ariccia, wrote a letter to the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court requesting to hold a meeting with judges from the Electoral and Constitutional courts “to exchange views on electoral petitions.”
This coming as it does in the wake of similar letters written by US ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Bruce Wharton to the Registrar General’s Office, the Commissioner General of Police, ZBH chief executive and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is a greater call on the authorities to nip such transgressions in the bud.
We are also reminded of the blatant lies by British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ms Deborah Bronnert, who claimed that over 10 000 people had been assisted to vote in a constituency she claimed had 17 000 people voting in the harmonised elections. The British ambassador failed to substantiate her scandalous claims when challenged to do so.
There was no action from Government which may explain why Bronnert’s counterparts are tempting fate safe in the knowledge nothing will happen to them.
The least the foreign affairs ministry can do is summon these envoys and read the riot act or alternatively ask their home countries to recall them.
Not only is this unheard of in diplomatic etiquette, but even to a layman this is clear, blatant interference with the judiciary.
How can a whole ambassador expect our learned judges to discuss cases before them outside their courtrooms or chambers and with anyone else other than the applicants and defendants in the matters?
Either Mr Aldo Dell’Ariccia has a very low opinion of the intellect of the Blackman or someone in the EU is angling for a fight to justify continued sanctions given the split in the EU over the bloc’s sanctions regime.
Brussels has made it clear that sanctions on diamond companies should be lifted in the wake of the widely hailed harmonised elections at a time the US, Britain and its dominions Australia and Canada are refusing to respect African opinion that endorsed the harmonised elections as free, peaceful and credible.
We are reminded of the way the sanctions were imposed in the first place where the European bloc used the cover of the expulsion of the head of its observer mission to the 2002 presidential election, Pierre Schori, to impose sanctions which London was angling to internationalise.
Schori, who was in Zimbabwe on a tourist visa and had violated his visa conditions by leading the EU election observer mission, was thrown out giving the EU the pretext to impose sanctions regime under the guise of protesting the “closure’’ of democratic space in Zimbabwe.
It appears now, given the call by Belgium — which happens to be the seat of the European bloc — for the immediate lifting of the sanctions, Britain may be itching for an incident to rally support around the embargo.
Be that as it may, it is high time Government sent the right signals to Brussels, we welcome cordial relations with the EU with whom we never had a quarrel, but will not brook continued interference in our internal affairs.
Online Reporter