adminFarirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Government has dismissed a letter authored by former US ambassadors to Zimbabwe and other officials linked to that country’s establishment, urging Harvard University to rescind the honorary ambassadorship it awarded to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, mainly citing the questionable abduction of Dr Peter Magombeyi.
The former ambassadors include Harry Thomas, Bruce Wharton, Charles Ray, Christopher Dell and Ms Michelle Gavin, who is a former US ambassador to Botswana.
The First Lady was appointed honorary ambassador of Harvard University Global Health Catalyst in recognition of the work she is conducting in Zimbabwe’s health sector.
In the letter, the ambassadors and other officials sought the revocation of the honorary ambassadorship bestowed on First Lady citing the alleged abduction of Dr Magombeyi, the discredited acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospitals’ Doctors Association, as evidence of human rights abuses in the country, among other unsubstantiated claims.
Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana blasted the continued meddlesome behaviour by the former diplomats in Zimbabwe’s affairs.
“The statement by the former Ambassadors is quite unfortunate. Firstly, the First Lady of Zimbabwe supports worthy goodwill causes and is not a member of the Zimbabwean Government,” said Mr Mangwana.
“To conflate her charitable role and Government functions is wrong. Further, it appears they have already made their conclusions in Dr Magombeyi’s allegations of abduction, which for all intents and purpose sounds bogus.
“This lobby group of former Ambassadors has chosen to remain interfering as they did during their tenure.”
The letter by the diplomats was written to Professor Wilfred Ngwa, the Director of the Harvard Global Health Catalyst and copied to Lawrence Bacow, the president of Harvard University and Dr George Daley, the Dean of the university’s Faculty of Medicine.
The claims that local and international human rights organisations have indicated that over 50 government critics and activists have been abducted in the past nine months.
Political analyst Mr Goodwine Mureriwa said the letter exposed the US’s true intentions on Zimbabwe.
“If one studies the sequence of these so-called abductions, it’s clear that they are meant to derail the Government’s re-engagement efforts and further isolate the country.
“It is therefore not surprising that these former US ambassadors, most of whom failed in their regime change efforts, are now using the Dr Magombeyi issue, which is still under investigation to continue with their regime change efforts,” said Mr Mureriwa.
Another analyst, Mr Tinashe Tiki said; “The reaction of the ambassadors and the other US officials shows that these ‘abductions’ have always been about demonising the country.”
Writing on his Twitter handle @mungenget, Mr Thomas Mungenge castigated the diplomats for politicising the issue.
“The First Lady is an individual who has worked hard to create awareness for cervical cancer. Surely, she deserves this award. I don’t think Harvard University would be persuaded to rescind the award. This is not about politics,” he said.
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