British embassy forced to clarify Mandelson visit to Zimbabwe

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

Lord Peter Mandelson, who the British government says recently visited Zimbabwe to push economic reforms, has strong links to China, which Harare considers an “all-weather friend”.

Mandelson, a former British cabinet minister, visited Harare in mid-February this year and held a meeting with Finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, together with London’s ambassador, Catriona Laing.

In July, Chinamasa flew to London with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, John Mangudya, and other senior government to woo financial aid to repay the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Lazard, an international financial institution where Mandelson is a chairperson, provisionally pledged to release some one billion dollars towards offsetting the IMF arrears.

The news generated anger among British legislators, human rights defenders and local opposition political parties who accused Britain of playing a role in funding President Robert Mugabe’s government which is accused of human rights abuses and corruption.

In a statement on Monday, the British embassy in Harare said reports that followed Mandelson’s meeting with Chinamasa were fraught with inaccuracies (https://www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/lord-mandelsons-visit-to-zimbabwe).

The embassy said Mandelson went to Harare as an extension of a private visit to South Africa, after offering to help in enhancing Zimbabwe’s economic reforms.

“Lord Mandelson visited Zimbabwe as an extension of a private visit in South Africa. Lord Mandelson asked the Foreign & Commonwealth Office if he could be of assistance in promoting UK government objectives in Zimbabwe.

“Given Lord Mandelson’s experience as a senior UK minister and European Union Commissioner for Trade, we agreed he could help reinforce the case for economic reform with the Government of Zimbabwe,” said the embassy.

The embassy subsequently facilitated a meeting between Mandelson and Chinamasa, with the former being accompanied by Laing.

“Lord Mandelson was not attending in his capacity as senior adviser to an investment bank. There was no discussion of loans or transactions of any nature with Minister Chinamasa. The meeting focused on the economic reform agenda,” added the embassy.

The statement dismissed speculation that the UK was bailing out the Zimbabwean government, adding that resumption of aid by international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF would be determined by Harare’s progress in observing human rights, good governance and economic reform.

The embassy further refuted the claim that London had bankrolled Mandelson’s visit to Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Lord Mandelson, former secretary of State and ex-European Union trade commissioner, has played a high level role in promoting trade between the UK and China.

He was in October 2015 appointed president of the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC) that works closely with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, replacing Geoffrey Howe.

Hailing Mandelson’s appointment, GBCC chairman, Sir Martin Davidson said: “As EU Trade Commissioner and in successive ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson has made major contributions to UK-China and EU-China relations.”

He added: “In recent years he has played an important role in the cross-party political dialogues that the GBCC organises with China on an annual basis, and is a frequent visitor to China.”

Accepting his appointment, Lord Mandelson said in a statement: “Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives next week for a state visit to the UK which will mark a new high in UK-China relations. In Britain there is a broad cross-party consensus on the importance of expanding and deepening relations with China.

Chinese investors get preferential treatment in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe’s Zanu PF government has for more than 10 years saluted Beijing as a strong economic and political ally and mortgaged its natural resources, particularly minerals, to Chinese companies, some of them linked to the military. Nehanda Radio