TRANSPORT minister Nicholas Goche yesterday reportedly snubbed a scheduled government meeting with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the Premier’s Charter House offices in Harare. STAFF REPORTER
Sources in Tsvangirai’s office confirmed the alleged snub, adding that the Zanu PF minister never bothered to send an apology. After waiting for over an hour, Tsvangirai’s aides later advised journalists to disperse, saying they could not understand why Goche had failed to attend.
But Goche professed ignorance over the matter, saying he had not received an invitation from Tsvangirai’s office nor the agenda of the meeting.
“I am not aware that I was supposed to meet the PM today. There was no such invitation or even the agenda. Why would I not go when the PM invites me? The only meeting I had today was with Deputy Prime Minister (Arthur) Mutambara,” Goche said.
Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity maintained that Goche was aware of the scheduled meeting. They said Goche was supposed to brief Tsvangirai, as head of government business, on transport parastatals’ report that he was expected to table before Cabinet soon.
“Before tabling the report before Cabinet, the minister is supposed to report and brief the PM. With these people, you will never understand if their excuse is genuine or not because most Zanu PF ministers have snubbed important meetings before,” the source said.
“There is a lot for him to brief Tsvangirai, including on Air Zimbabwe, National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and other parastatals.”
This is not the first time a Zanu PF minister has snubbed Tsvangirai. Several others have done so with impunity.
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Meanwhile, Tsvangirai on Wednesday defended a bloated Parliament as prescribed in the draft constitution, saying it was a democratic development worth celebrating.
Addressing his supporters in Glen View, Harare, he said: “Others say the Parliament is too big, but we want democracy. Women will be chosen in Parliament on proportional vote. We have never seen such a liberal constitution that achieves a near 50-50 in Parliament.”
On leadership renewal, the MDC-T leader said the proposed draft constitution had term limits for various posts, including the presidency.
“Look at (Registrar-General) Tobaiwa Mudede, he has been there since 1980. That’s why he (President Robert Mugabe) says he is tired and that is why he is in Cabinet with children. In fact, (Nelson) Chamisa is not his child, he is his grandchild. There should be term limits and we included that to allow for renewal.”
