The government is investigating whether Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, violated Zimbabwean immigration laws when he travelled to France using an Emergency Travel Document (ETD). Government sources said yesterday immigration officials at Plumtree border post in Matabeleland South were likely to take the flak, for allegedly allowing Tsvangirai to cross into Botswana despite the fact that his ETD limited travel to South Africa and Swaziland. While in Botswana, Tsvangirai attended President Ian Khama’s parliamentary address in which he called for fresh presidential elections in Zimbabwe to be managed and supervised by the international community. From Botswana, Tsvangirai launched a diplomatic offensive that took him to Zambia and Tanzania. Both countries are not included on the ETD. Government sources said yesterday that the Attorney General’s Office was perusing relevant statutes to see if Tsvangirai flouted the country’s laws especially with regard to his visit to France, the current chair of the European Union (EU). The sources said government officials at Munhumutapa Building in Harare as well as at the Registrar General’s Office were incensed that Tsvangirai was able to travel to Europe without a valid passport. Some sources speculated that the issue could spark a diplomatic row between Harare and Pretoria, which allowed him to fly out to Europe. “The South Africans should not have allowed Tsvangirai to fly out to a European destination as the ETD is specific that he is only allowed to travel to South Africa and Swaziland. There is consensus that the South Africans are complicit on the issue,” said a government official, speaking only after insisting he was not named.

He said if immigration officials established that Tsvangirai violated Zimbabwean laws; he would be arrested the moment he touched down at the Harare International Airport or at any point of entry. However, an immigration official, also speaking anonymously, said colleagues at the Plumtree border post would be blamed for allowing the MDC leader through into Botswana. He said Tsvangirai should have been barred from entering Botswana via Plumtree and should instead have been advised to proceed on his way through Beitbridge. The government has accused Khama of helping to train MDC bandits to destabilise Zimbabwe, a charge denied by Tsvangirai and his party. Khama last week invited the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Zimbabwean government to visit Botswana to establish whether any training camps existed. “But the issue has to be handled with caution considering that all eyes are on Harare due to the stalled power-sharing arrangement,” said another source.

Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC-T and Tsvangirai’s second in command, told The Financial Gazette that the MDC leader had not violated any law, saying he held proper travel documents. “One thing people are forgetting is that President Tsvangirai has a valid passport but it has run-out of pages,” said Biti. “If the French decide to stamp on tissue paper and have no problem with that, I don’t think it is Tsvangirai’s problem,” said Biti, who on Tuesday had two charges against him dropped by the state due to lack of evidence. “The Registrar should issue him with a passport as he submitted an application about five months ago. There is no issue here, really,” Biti said. The chief MDC negotiator in the stalled power-sharing arrangement reiterated that the question of the passport was one of the contentious issues during the recent SADC talks but regional leaders allegedly chose not to address it. Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, the Minister of Information and Publicity, said it was a mystery how Tsvangirai had traveled to Europe on an ETD and the government was entitled to probe the matter. “The government has a right to know how he travelled with an ETD and what he was doing instead of finalizing the formation of a new inclusive government,” said Ndlovu. “We are busy trying to finalise the issue of Draft Amendment 19 but he is gallivanting in Europe.”

(Source)