Southern Africa Current Event (3)

Annan, Carter and Machel's Zimbabwe visit blocked

The condition of Zimbabwe has continued to collapse. The political infighting has increased, along with a near total collapse of utilities and amenities. This has prompted a survey visit from three representatives of the U.N to asses the humanitarian crisis. However, Zimbabwe has banned and blocked the three people and stopped their visit. The three people, known as experienced politicians are former President Jimmy Carter, former U.N secretary General Kofi Annan, and the wife of Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel. The reason for this injustice was printed in a government owned paper, The Herald. "The visit has been deemed a partisan mission by a group of people with partisan interests." This small snippet of text pretty much sums up the government's argument, and those of the Zimbabwean politicians concerning the U.N. So by banning the U.N visit, a dying nation has thrown down the gauntlet. What is to come in the next few days will be closely watched.

I believe this is news for few reasons. The first and most prominent reason is "unexpectedness." No one at all expected these respected people to be banned from a country. The story is also relevant, and it is about a conflict that has been raging for a while now between the political icons. It is also "bad news" for the people of Zimbabwe.