Government makes formal notice to withdraw Mudzuri’s passport

By Lance Guma
18 July 2006

As the dust settles over the episode where former mayor Elias Mudzuri’s passport was impounded at the airport, it has now emerged authorities tried to make a case over the fact that he was using a diplomatic passport issued while he was still Harare’s mayor. The Registrar General’s office tried to argue in court that because Mudzuri was dismissed by local government Minister Ignatius Chombo, he was no longer entitled to use the passport. According to Mudzuri’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa her client never requested the diplomatic passport in the first place and all they wanted were for the rules of natural justice to be followed. Mudzuri had a right to be given adequate notice of any withdrawal actions and not to be left without a travel document at the airport as happened on Sunday.

Mtetwa told Newsreel a day after the High Court ordered the Registrar-General’s office to return the passport, that Mudzuri applied for an ordinary green passport used by most Zimbabweans. Registry officials however made the decision to give him a diplomatic passport. She says government lawyers argued that the former mayor no longer worked for the government and should not use the passport. She countered that Mudzuri never worked for government but instead served the city council. She said the government has now formally advised Mudzuri of its intention to withdraw his passport. Mtetwa stressed that speaking for herself she did not believe Mudzuri would ‘hang on to a Zanu PF passport, when most people want to run away from it.’ Authorities had to first give him his green passport to allow him to transfer his travel visas.

On Monday Justice Felistus Chatukuta ruled in Mudzuri’s favour saying that there was no legal basis for immigration officials to confiscate the document. She said rules of natural justice demanded Mudzuri be notified in writing of the intention to withdraw his passport first.

Robert Mugabe’s regime has been using the local government ministry to remove all democratically elected opposition mayors in the major cities. Mayors in Harare, Chitungwiza and Mutare have all been dismissed under a variety of flimsy excuses and replaced with government appointed commissioners. Mudzuri was the first to be targeted after Mugabe’s government was stung into action following a rare electoral defeat in mayoral polls.