The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation would like to dismiss as untrue an article carried in a Harare-based newspaper The Herald.

The Herald of August 19 reported that Minister Phandu Skelemani during the SADC meeting accused the MDC leader Mr.Morgan Tsvangirai of misleading them about Zimbabwe’s political process.

The article quotes Mr Skelemani as saying, during the just ended SADC summit in Johannesburg, that “Tsvangirai should accept the agreement that president Mbeki had facilitated as it was quite reasonable”.

The political and features editor of The Herald newspaper purports to be the words of Minister Skelemani are “nothing but a figment of his/her own imagination”.

The Herald never interviewed the minister. Equally important, the proceedings of the organ meeting were all held in a closed meeting.

The article is aimed at misinforming the public as well as casting aspersion on the principled position Botswana has taken with respect to the political situation in Zimbabwe.

Botswana stands firm on its principled position of ensuring that the Zimbabwean situation is resolved by an all-inclusive solution that enjoys the unqualified support of all Zimbabweans.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Government Enclave
Gaborone Central
Gaborone