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Ambassador stuns seminar
Bame Piet, Mmegi (Botswana)
August 05, 2005

http://www.mmegi.bw/2005/August/Friday5/4199544961325.html

Zimbabwean ambassador to Botswana, Phelekezile Mphoko caused a stir at a panel discussion yesterday when he branded panellists as sell-outs who distort facts about his country. After the onslaught, the envoy nearly turned into a subject of discussion at the Ditshwanelo Focus on Zimbabwe Seminar.

Before he went ballistic, he took pictures of the all-Zimbabwean panel - attorney Beatrice Mtetwa, Bishop Trevor Manhanga, Jenni Williams and Magosonga Mahlangu from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) NGO. The envoy took out a camera after Mahlangu had narrated her experiences of torture by police.

As soon as the last presenter was finished, Mphoko requested to be given the first chance to comment. His first words were: "The world has been taken for a ride. Please, let us not abuse this opportunity to lie to the world about the situation in Zimbabwe". Mphoko looked annoyed. He said that what the panellists told the seminar were lies and that Zimbabwe is a sovereign country which has the right to make laws for its people. He defended the controversial demolitions in Zimbabwe, saying they do not want espionage by journalists who make films or take pictures of malnourished children covered by flies. "We are not going to allow journalists to do like they are doing in Niger or filming a child being followed by vultures until they feed on her. No, we are not going to allow that."

He told the seminar that he is a trained photojournalist and it is a practice in every country that journalists are registered. He said he had practised his profession in many European countries where registration is a must, therefore Zimbabwe should not be exception. The envoy was brushing away Mtetwa’s earlier lamentations that the media in Zimbabwe is not free and journalists are required to register with government before they can practice. Mtetwa had said the Zimbabwe government wants to bug telephones and cellphones and these are violations of human rights to privacy. However, the ambassador defended his government citing recent bombings in London in which a suspect was arrested in Italy after he was tracked on mobile phone.

Mphoko was not happy with the presentation of Williams. He said he had worked with her uncle during the struggle for independence and "if he could wake up now, he would not be happy at what has become of his niece". He explained that women in Zimbabwe enjoy human rights like other people and that his mother is also a woman. But Williams stood her ground and told the ambassador that she had been arrested more than 22 times for participating in peaceful demonstrations. It was at this juncture that Mtetwa told the seminar that Mphoko has demonstrated the exact situation in Zimbabwe where government does not want to be advised or criticised. She said there is no rule of law adding that in some instances, people are held in custody without a trial. Tempers reached boiling point and a board member of Ditshwanelo, Joyce Anderson said she was disappointed at what she called "intimidation" of the panellists by the ambassador. She requested that Mphoko should apologise for his remarks.

There were fears that something bad is going to happen to the panellist when they get home. However, Mphoko emphasised that the world should be told the truth about Zimbabwe and he assured the seminar that nothing will happen to the panellists when they return. He said they were all from Matebeleland where he also comes from.

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