Mumbengegwi busts Canada travel ban

Mumbengegwi busts Canada travel ban

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S Foreign Minister was allowed into Canada for the international AIDS conference in Toronto despite a ban on visits by senior officials from the African country.

The Foreign Affairs Department says an exception was made for Simbarashe Mumbengegwi because of the "international nature" of the conference.

Regular travel to Canada by officials in Zimbabwe is banned as part of a campaign to pressure the government of Robert Mugabe over human rights violations.

Foreign Affairs officials said Mumbengegwi left Canada for Zimbabwe Monday.

Mumbengegwi's success at busting the sanctions regime imposed by Western governments will add fresh doubt on the effectiveness of the travel ban.

Just recently, Jocelyn Chiwenga, wife of army chief Constantine Chiwenga was allowed into France to pick up an award for "demonstrating outstanding qualities and the highest standards of creativity, innovation and taste in her activities in the field of fashion, fabrics and style."

Australia, one of the countries which has also imposed a travel ban, recently came under fire from President Robert Mugabe's opponents after listing several government critics on its sanctions list.

Embarrassed officials later drew a new list and apologised to several prominent government critics including journalist, Trevor Ncube.

Criticism forced Australia's foreign affairs minister to issue a statement defending the "smart sanctions" against Mugabe and his officials as the "centre piece of Australia's efforts to influence the current government to return to good governance and the rule of law while avoiding harm to the people of Zimbabwe."

He added: "They are not going to overwhelm the Zimbabwe administration in any way, but they are an important statement by Australia."

Although the Zimbabwe government initially laughed off the sanctions as ineffective, recent statements by President Robert Mugabe and finance minister Herbert Murerwa suggest they are a constant irritant to the government.

Professor Jonathan Moyo, a political scientist and former government minister observed recently: "The propaganda tune has now changed from dismissing the sanctions to claiming they were causing the suffering of ordinary people. Observers have been wondering how sanctions which were initially described as useless and irrelevant can now be said to be responsible for causing the suffering of ordinary people."

Moyo is on the travel ban.

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