adminFarirai Machivenyika Harare Bureau
VICE-President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday told the National Assembly that the discredited Nigerian activist-cum-journalist, Adeola Fayehun, has apologised to her government for making a nuisance of herself during a recent visit by President Robert Mugabe. Fayehun, of Sahara TV, hassled the African Union chairman who was attending President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration, shouting ignorant questions like “When is Zimbabwe going to hold elections?” clearly unaware President Mugabe was swept back into power by landslide only in 2013.
Blocking President Mugabe’s path as he made his way to his waiting car, Fayehun — realising she was being ignored — muttered comments that “there’s no democracy in Zimbabwe’.
Now VP Mnangagwa has revealed that Fayehun, who last week announced she was discontinuing her programme Keeping it Real over the debacle, has apologised to her government. Her letter was shared with the Zimbabwe government, although no official apology has been offered by Nigeria.
“According to the UN Conventions signed in Geneva (Switzerland), when a head of state visits another country, it is the responsibility of the host nation to provide adequate security for their visitor,” VP Mnangagwa said, responding to a question by Gokwe-Nembudziya representative, Cde Justice Mayor Wadyajena, who wanted to know if an official apology had come from Nigeria.
He added: “If you’ve a visitor and you fail to provide adequate security for them, you should be ashamed of yourself as the host.
“However, we’ve not received any apology from the Nigerian government, but what we know is that the journalist wrote a letter to her government asking for forgiveness and we also got a copy of the letter.”
Fayehun’s conduct was widely condemned, with questions also raised over the lax security that allowed her to get close to President Mugabe.
She has admitted that her conduct was “awful” and “disrespectful”.
Online Reporter