Ambassador to Australia Jacqueline Zwambila on BTH

Behind the Headlines, Interviews — By on June 18, 2010 5:46 am

SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma spoke to the Zimbabwean ambassador to Australia, Jacqueline Zwambila. She was one of five ambassadors from the MDC parties in the coalition government, posted to serve in different countries. Zwambila talks about her work at the Embassy, Australia’s position on the targeted sanctions and some of the challenges she has faced so far.

Interview broadcast 03 June 2010 

Lance Guma

Lance Guma:

Maswera sei mhuri ye Zimbabwe, zita rangu ndinoitwa Lance Guma. Five new ambassadors from the two MDC formations in the inclusive government were appointed to serve in different countries. As you will be aware in this five part series on Behind the Headlines, we speak to all five ambassadors – that’s Hebson Makuvise in Germany, Hilda Suka-Mafudze in Sudan, Trudy Stevenson in Senegal, Jacqueline Zwambila in Australia and Mabed Ngulani in Nigeria. This week we are down under in Australia, speaking to Ambassador Zwambila. Thank you for joining us Ambassador. 

Jacqueline Zwambila: Thank you Lance, how are you?

Guma: I’m OK. First question obviously – how are you finding life in Australia?

Zwambila: Well I arrived here on the 19th of February (2010), I was one of the first new ambassadors to leave Zimbabwe to take up a post. I presented my credentials on the 4th of March and so officially took my position as ambassador to Australia for Zimbabwe on the 4th of March 2010. It has been absolutely fantastic in terms of being in this new position, it’s a very new experience and there are challenges and also wonderful learning experiences.

Guma: The waiting period must have been quite torturous, I mean I spoke to the other ambassadors and they said for months you were doing nothing, not earning a salary and it got pretty difficult for some of them.

Zwambila: Yes I think that’s just the generality of being Zimbabwean, I think the whole of Zimbabwe is actually in that kind of situation even the time we were there and all part of the processes of having to be where we want to be. Of course it was a challenge but we did the training and we were in Foreign Affairs and eventually we did get allowances, like everyone else, I think you do know that civil servants in Zimbabwe are only getting about just under two hundred dollars so we were in the same boat.

Guma: Are there many Zimbabweans in Australia and if so, what are most of them doing?

Zwambila: There are roughly about 30 000 Zimbabweans in Australia – can you believe it?

Guma: Hmm – that’s a lot.

Zwambila: So it’s a very big community. I’ve been very privileged that I’ve been able to, one of the duties which I do is to meet Zimbabweans, they are the first stakeholder I think at the Embassy. I’ve already been to Sydney to meet Zimbabweans. They’ve got associations, the Zimbabwe Association in Sydney, I was there in March. I’ve been to Adelaide to meet Zimbabweans where we held, Zimbabweans here hold a soccer tournament every Easter, so there I was able to meet Zimbabweans from all over Australia.

It was amazing, with their families, it was a beautiful weekend and also I’ve been to Melbourne where, that was on the, they had a National Day dinner which they held and invited me there. So already I’ve been able to go around and meet Zimbabweans and explain what’s going on at home and also listening to their issues as being in the Diaspora. It’s been absolutely fantastic.

Guma: Now from the training you received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the actual posting, it represents quite a transition for people like you who were formerly in the opposition. Can you describe for us how that transition has gone? How are you finding it?

Zwambila: Well being an ambassador means that you represent all people of Zimbabwe. You carry the flag of Zimbabwe which has got the good and which has got the bad and you as the ambassador are meant to represent all these issues and represent Zimbabweans in your host country and which is what I’m trying to do.

Guma: And it must be difficult being an ambassador in a government that has three political parties, do you ever find yourself caught between speaking on behalf of your party and speaking on behalf of the country as an ambassador, because let’s face it, all the ambassadors the world over from Zimbabwe belong to a different political party so you might not necessarily think the same on national issues?

Zwambila: It’s a very big balancing act. I think that is a fact but at the end of the day, as ambassador you have to represent what is happening in your government and the government has got three principals from three different parties and again as an ambassador you… the mandate really for us here is to re-engage our, the way our host country and so by re-engaging we need to talk to our, for example I’m in Australia, talk to the Australian government to tell them about the challenges and the progress of what is happening back home and so basically, that is what I have been doing.

Guma: Now let’s look at the issues of promoting the country where you are and your work in its entirety. How difficult is it, given that the coalition government back home has not resolved all the outstanding issues? Does that not pose complexities for you?

Zwambila: Well what you talk about is the job of the three principals back home; I’m here to say what has been done and that progress and that is what I do.

Guma: Australia, just like the European Union and United States slapped travel and financial sanctions on members of the Mugabe regime and how complicated does that make your job as an ambassador particularly given that you are from the MDC and you are in a country that has put in place these measures, which have not been put by your party but by the country where you have been posted so how does that make life for you?

Zwambila: Well that position of Australia has been there long before I came to this country and so they will make their decisions as to what they institute, what they want to do about Zimbabwe but I can say as a fact that Australia was one of the countries which gave aid to Zimbabwe, was one of the first countries to give aid to Zimbabwe in the new inclusive Global Political Agreement and I think to the tune of about thirty million in water, sanitation, health etcetera with the cholera we had and they’ve continued to do that. and they have actually had a shift of position where they are now, they made a statement, they’ve increased the aid to Zimbabwe and they will be now looking at funding government ministries which they want to fund.

Guma: OK so that represents a partial lifting of some of those measures, is that what you are saying?

Zwambila: Yes it is basically but from, but it’s not up to me to be able to say to them who they give, how much money, I think at the end of the day they are the ones who are funding but I think it’s significant to note that they have shifted position because first of all it was only donor money, now they are looking at also funding ministries.

Guma: Right we understand recently there was a National Day event in Australia, can you tell us about that and what happened and some of the work you are doing there also?

Zwambila: Well it was a wonderful day which we had, the objective of the exercise was to say Zimbabwe is open for business and we had a reception at the residence and we invited the people of the diplomatic community, government and Zimbabweans and other associations and etcetera. We had a very big showing, in total about 150 people at the residence and it was a very well attended event and it really showed that Zimbabwe was open for business. And also it was a day where with that kind, with the audience which was there, to explain to them the progress which has happened in Zimbabwe and the challenges still facing Zimbabwe and that was the message which was imparted.

Guma: What sort of opportunities would you say Australia can present for Zimbabwean businesses, that sort of thing in terms of the economic arena? I mean would you say you have picked up anything that you think that Zimbabweans listening to this programme would say – you know what, that represents an opportunity for export or things like that?

Zwambila: Well you know America is one of the biggest mining countries, we do already have some I think Australian mining companies in Zimbabwe. On the 1st of September Australia is hosting the Africa Down Under Mining Indaba, we’re hopeful that our government will be invited to come and attend that function so we are still waiting for that opportunity, so I think in mining in terms of scholarships and things which can help, you know to be given to people to do mining I think there are opportunities there which will be nice to work on.

And tourism again is a very big issue. Australians love traveling, we already have a lot of Australians who come to Zimbabwe and we’d like to increase that mileage of Australians. You know we had Consular work, one of our biggest work loads here is the Consular Services where we issue visas, we issue Zimbabwean documentation and we’re getting a lot of Australians coming to get visas to come to Zimbabwe which is a good sign.

Guma: And obviously the Embassy will include in terms of its staff compliment, people from different political parties – how is the interaction between people from different parties – ZANU PF, MDC and the like within the Embassy? How would you describe the relations?

Zwambila: Well I believe that I run a professional team, I believe that I know when I did the stint at Foreign Affairs before I came to my position, I went there with a lot of very professional people and I’d like to believe that that professionalism is also here in my office. I cannot talk on the personalities, I think personalities are totally different from being professional on the job and when we talk of professionalism on the job, it’s there.

Guma: OK, my final question for you Ambassador, people know the whole concept of an embassy in general but apart from the processing of visas that you were talking about, what else does the embassy do, in case there are those who are listening who are in Australia and they might not know some of the services that you offer there are. Could you maybe tell us what else you do?

Zwambila: As I said, we issue all documentation for Zimbabweans who are in Australia, we for example, for passports, we don’t necessarily issue passports here in Australia but we do the documentation for you then to be able to take your documentation to Zimbabwe or we send it to Zimbabwe for you and then you wait to get your passport. We also do the documentation for birth certificates, we have new babies, new Zimbabwean babies being born in Australia which is wonderful, we are growing as a nation and we do those.

We also do like for example, police certificates, you know for when people might need police clearances and we send those to Zimbabwe for them. So basically we are a document processing warehouse which we then send those documents to Zimbabwe, but we do offer on site temporary passports. You know the temporary passport, in case something has happened to your passport, for you as a Zimbabwean to be able to go back home and come back. Those are basically, and also the other thing of course, issuing visas to Australians and other nationalities who want to visit Zimbabwe, we issue those on site at the Embassy in Canberra.

My other duties involve paying courtesy calls to the diplomatic community. So far I think I’ve done 24, I’m starting with of course the African diplomats as we are part of the AU (African Union) and the family. We actually held the Africa Day celebration where all African Heads of Mission hosted an Africa Day where Kevin Smith was the guest and that’s where he actually announced that Australia will be opening a new Embassy under the auspices of the AU in Addis Ababa which was the message he was giving us there. So, and also meeting government officials etcetera so it’s quite a packed week which I do have.

Guma: And with the African diplomats that you meet, is there a difference in perception between diplomats from the West and those from Africa in terms of how they understand the Zimbabwean problem and what the country has gone through? Would you say there are major differences?

Zwambila: I don’t think so, I don’t think so. Also again it’s about I think some of the Ambassadors, remember we are very far away, like for example, the other Ambassadors are not necessarily involved in the Zimbabwean situation so it is always nice to explain what is going on in Zimbabwe and with the African diplomats – they are our brothers – they have always known what is going on in Zimbabwe, so that probably would be the difference but generally Zimbabwe is a country, the issues in Zimbabwe are quite well known so there’s not really a difference. But with the diplomatic community, I think we are all, they are all good friends which is great.

Guma: Well that was the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Australia Jacqueline Zwambila joining us on Behind the Headlines. Ambassador thank you so much for taking time to talk to us.

Zwambila: Before I go I would like to say “Hello Chegutu, how are you? I miss you. Unoziva Chegutu ndiko kwandinobva, Kumusha kwangu ku Msengezi (Chegutu is my home area, that’s where I come from) and I hope you are all well and I really do miss you.”

Feedback can be sent to lance@swradioafrica.com or http://twitter.com/lanceguma

SW Radio Africa is Zimbabwe’s Independent Voice and broadcasts on Short Wave 4880 KHz in the 60m band.

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