Bush names new Zimbabwe envoy

AMBASSADOR McGee

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By Staff Reporter

UNITED States President George Bush has nominated an African American and Vietnam war veteran as the country’s new ambassador to Zimbabwe, it was announced late Tuesday.

James D. McGee replaces controversial diplomat Christopher Dell, who left mid July for Kabul, Afghanistan.

“The President intends to nominate James D. McGee, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Zimbabwe,” the white House said in a notice.

He is expected to take office in September after the Senate's approval.

McGee, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, recently served as Ambassador to Madagascar.

Prior to that, he served as the Ambassador to Swaziland.

The nominated diplomat served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1974 and at one time studied Vietnamese-language at the Defence Language Institute in Monterey, California. He earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses during his duty in Vietnam.

Early this month, Nathaniel Manheru, a columnist for the state-run Herald newspaper who is believed to be President Robert Mugabe’s press secretary, George Charamba, correctly predicted that the new US envoy would be black.

Before his departure, Dell said the new ambassador would continue attacking Mugabe’s policies, if he does not change course.

Dell, an abrasive diplomat once threatened with expulsion from Zimbabwe, did not meet President Mugabe before his departure, instead preferring to write the Zimbabwean leader a letter.

At one time, Zimbabwe protested to the US government after Dell condemned what he called Mugabe’s “voodoo economics". The Zimbabwean leader told Dell to "got to hell".

According to the US government website, McGee began his career in the Foreign Service in 1981 and served as Third Secretary and Vice Consul at the American Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, from 1982 to 1984.

From 1984 to 1986, he served as Administrative Officer at the American Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan. He then served as Second Secretary and Supervisory General Services Officer at the American Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 1986 to 1989. From 1989 to 1991, he served as Administrative Officer at the American Consulate General in Bombay, India.

He was assigned to the U.S. Department of State as a Special Assistant in the Bureau of Finance and Management Policy from 1991 to 1992. In early 1992, he volunteered for duty at the American Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, where he served as Administrative Counselor from 1992 to 1995.

He served as Administrative Counselor at the American Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, from 1995 to 1998, as Administrative Counselor at the American Embassy in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, from 1998 to 2001, and as Ambassador to Swaziland from 2002 to 2004. The U.S. Senate confirmed McGee as Ambassador to Madagascar on June 25, 2004.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1949, McGee is a graduate of Indiana University.

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