RSS 2.0 FeedDecember 2009 Volume 16, National News
Tsvangirai stays home to save money, Mugabe heading for Copenhagen
Harare - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has cancelled his trip to the UN Climate Change Conference in Denmark to spare his cash-strapped government the expense, officials confirmed Monday.
Harare - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has cancelled his trip to the UN Climate Change Conference in Denmark to spare his cash-strapped government the expense, officials confirmed Monday. President Robert Mugabe would, however, attend the conference, along with a 59-member delegation, according to the officials. He is due to depart for Copenhagen on Monday.
Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi, said the prime minister's decision to stay was "informed by revelations of a blotted Zimbabwe government foreign travel budget by Finance Minister Tendai Biti in his recent budget statement."
According to Biti, the government spent in the region of 28 million US dollars on foreign trips through November.
Zimbabwe media reports said most of the money had been spent on Mugabe and his large delegations. The president has made at least seven foreign trips since he and Tsvangirai formed a government of national unity in February.
