+ GMT Select Your Local Time London GMT Johannesburg Lagos Cairo Accra Mogadishu Abuja Cape Town Free Town Addis Ababa Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Australia Sydney Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Brazil East Brazil West Canada Toronto Canada Pacific China Beijing Cuba Cyprus Denmark Egypt Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hon Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kenya Korea (Rep. of) Kuwait Lebanon Liberia Libya Luxemburg Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Mexico City Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Moscow Russia Vladivostok Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom USA Washington USA San Francisco USA New York USA Hawaii Venezuela Yemen Zaire Kinshasa Zaire Katanga Zambia Zimbabwe STO
[Pacific Sighting] See Makkah Clock
EsinIslam
Web
Site Explore
Exclusive Search
Broadcasters
Helping Shops
Home | Explore | Broadcasters | Media | Donations | About Us | Contact | Fatwa | Our Sheikh
Save
Zimbabwean Cabinet Minister Denied UK Entry Visa: Port War
24 June 2009
Harare — THE British embassy in Harare has trashed the ongoing engagement between Zimbabwe and the European bloc by denying Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu a visa to travel to the United Kingdom.
Minister Mpofu had been invited to attend the 6th International Mining in Africa symposium on Zimbabwe where he was expected to give a key address today.
Highly-placed sources yesterday said officials from the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe approached the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Andrew Pocock, yesterday morning and impressed upon him that they would stop their delegation fromtravelling to Britain in solidarity with Minister Mpofu and the Government.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who is on a six-nation tour of Western capitals, is already in London where he is scheduled to address the symposium today.
The 6th International Mining in Africa Conference, running under the theme -- "Mining in Zimbabwe . . . a new beginning? . . . The Opportunities, Risks and Rewards" is being organised by OMEGA Investment Mining Partners.
The British firm wanted to stimulate dialogue in the sector following the formation of the inclusive Government in February.
Minister Mpofu yesterday confirmed the British embassy had denied him a visa, but referred all questions to Acting Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara who was tasked by President Mugabe to deal with the travel ban issue.
"Yes, the visa was denied . . . We are not excited at all . . . It's the kind of attitude that we get from these people (British) . . . For more information, talk to the Acting Prime Minister who has been handling the issue," Minister Mpofu said.
A representative of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe Mr Victor Gapare could not be reached for comment yesterday as he was said to be locked up in a series of meetings and his mobile phone went unanswered.
The Zanu-PF Politburo last Thursday expressed concern over the divisive attitude of Western governments that were barring Zanu-PF members from attending meetings during PM Tsvangirai's international tour.
"The Zanu-PF Politburo expressed great concern on the hostile and divisive attitude of foreign governments shown during the Prime Minister's visit abroad," the party's deputy secretary for information and publicity Cde Ephraim Masawi said.
"These governments, in an imperialist and neo-colonialist way, are bent on their regime change strategy and appear to ignore in an arrogant way not only the sovereign right of the Zimbabwean people, but also the fundamental decisions taken by the Sadc community on Zimbabwe and its appeal and demand for sanctions to be lifted."
Acting PM Mutambara could not be reached for comment. He, however, had earlier said he would brief President Mugabe first before commenting. According to the invitation letter, a copy of which was made available to The Herald, the chairman of OMEGA Investment Mining Partners, Dr Dennis Worrall, invited Minister Mpofu to address a mining conference hosted by Deloitte in London.
OMEGA Investment Mining Partners is a mining consultancy firm established in 1990 and has representations in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia where it has been promoting massive mining projects and investment on behalf of the sector for 20 years through conferences and workshops.
This time it was trying to find ways of taking Zimbabwe aboard. "Over the past few years, Zimbabwe has, for obvious reasons, not featured prominently in the public mining and mining finance discussions. For equally obvious reasons, we believe that it is about to change. In fact we sensed a pick-up in interest shortly after the 15 September 2008 agreement between the main political parties in Zimbabwe, when certain institutional investors talked about setting up funds for investing into Zimbabwe.
"We should also not forget that some major global players have all along been in Zimbabwe. "As we do not have to tell you, mining was Zimbabwe's leading industry up until 2002, contributing 27 percent of that country's exports," reads part of the invitation letter addressed to Minister Mpofu.
The conference was meant to give Zimbabwean companies a chance to present themselves to an influential European audience and to discuss rewards and risks in investing in Zimbabwe among other issues.
The Government has already made an undertaking to resuscitate closed mines, and it is going to introduce some policies to revive the sector.
"With this positive stance, we would be honoured to have you (Minister Mpofu) present your views in this regard," reads part of the report.
Some of the top mining officials who were billed to make presentations at the conference in London are Douglas Verden of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, Collen Guta group chief executive chairman and chief executive officer of Metallon Gold Zimbabwe, Douglas Mnatsi group chief executive officer Africa Banking Corporation - Johannesburg, Mwana Africa in Zimbabwe chief executive officer Kalaa Mpinga and chief executive officer Zimplats Felix Mhembere among others.
Zanu-PF officials Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi who are part of a delegation in Brussels had to get some visas at the 11th hour after some European embassies tried to deny them right of passage, which was only granted after President Mugabe tasked Acting Prime Minister Mutambara to intervene.
EsinIslam.Com
Sign In Password