Protest as Majongwe denied UK visa

Protest as Majongwe denied UK visa

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By Staff Reporter

RAYMOND Majongwe, a leading critic of President Robert Mugabe's regime has been denied a visa for travel to the United Kingdom, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.

Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, was due to arrive in London later this week for an Open Forum discussion on the Zimbabwe crisis on Saturday.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Britain Zimbabwe Society, organisers of the Open Forum, called the decision to bar Majongwe "absolutely concerning".

Lois Davis of the Britain Zimbabwe Society said the British Embassy in Harare had told them that there was "insufficient evidence Majongwe would return" if allowed to travel to the United Kingdom.

Bizarrely, the British Embassy granted visas to Nicholas Mkaronda (Crisis Coalition) and Thabitha Khumalo (ZCTU) who have almost similar circumstances as Majongwe.

Davis said Sunday: "It seems a very arbitrary decision. What is quite perturbing about this is the reason they have given that Majongwe is unlikely to return to Zimbabwe if granted a visa. Where they get that idea from is unclear, especially if you consider that he is a prominent and active civic leader in Zimbabwe."

Majongwe was said to have travelled to his rural home on Sunday, and was unreachable.

In December last year, Majongwe was one of several prominent government critics who had their passports withdrawn under a new government directive, later ruled illegal by Zimbabwe's High Court.

Majongwe had just returned from a trip to Nigeria, via South Africa, when he was ordered to surrender his passport, sparking a volley of protests from human rights groups.

The Open Forum which is in its third year has previously hosted successful meetings with a speaker line-up which has included South African President Thabo Mbeki's brother, Moeletsi Mbeki, lawyer Brian Kagoro and the former National Constitutional Assembly chair, Thoko Matshe.

Davis said: "It would be very very concerning if Raymond fails to come purely from the point of view that he is an important civic leader in Zimbabwe, and many people in the UK would like to hear from him.

"What is also worrying is that we gave the same details to the embassy for Majongwe and Mkaronda's applications, but for some unaccountable reason Raymond was refused a visa.

"We sincerely hope the Home Office has made an error and will correct it immediately. If they fail to do so, I think questions should be asked because this strikes me as some kind of censorship when they can bar one speaker whose circumstances are very much the same as the other speakers."

Britain, which has imposed travel sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and about 100 of his closest supporters, has been rigorously enforcing a new visa regime designed to stop the flow of Zimbabwean migrants into the UK.

Several Zimbabwean sporting and entertainment stars have been barred from the UK over fears that they would not return, but Majongwe's appears to be the first case that a high profile opposition figure has been denied a visa.

No official comment could be obtained from the British Embassy last night.

The Open Forum 2006 under the theme 'Zimbabwe: Skills and Reconstruction' will be held on Saturday, September 16 from 2pm to 5:30pm at the University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1. Speakers include Nicholas Mkaronda (Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe co-ordinator), Raymond Majongwe (subject to confirmation), Thabitha Khumalo (Vice President ZCTU), Dr Stephen Munjanja (consultant obstetrician at Harare Hospital), Forward Maisokwadzo (Journalist) and Shane Lunga (Zimbabwe Futures)

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