Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
3 December 2008
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed reports that Botswana is closing its diplomatic mission in Zimbabwe.
The ministry spokesman, Clifford Maribe, said yesterday that reports of the closure of the mission by a Zimbabwe newspaper are false. "There is nothing of that sort. The minister has said it before that our mission in Harare will remain open," Maribe said. It was business as usual at the Botswana mission in Harare yesterday. An official at the mission, Tiny Gaotlole, told Mmegi on the phone that nothing has changed. "You phoned us, and found that we are operating. We have not read that newspaper report, but we heard some people saying they read something to the effect that we are closing down our embassy," he said.
He denied reports that the mission is looking for an auctioneer to sell its property. "There is no advert of that nature. It is not up to us to decide to close down. If our government has that intention, they will announce it. We fall under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," he added.
Newspaper reports in Zimbabwe have alleged that the Botswana mission in Harare will be closed by Christmas, after relations between the two countries soured. "The Botswana government last week assigned an auctioneer to place all furniture and equipment at its embassy at 22 Phillips Avenue in Belgravia under the hammer. Information reaching The Zimbabwe Times was that the embassy planned to close before Christmas," the reports said.
The paper claimed that a senior diplomatic source at the Botswana embassy said the closure was a result of mounting exasperation in Botswana over President Robert Mugabe's intransigence in sharing power with the opposition after the September deal.
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