Local journalists have been barred from covering the visiting United Nations (UN) special envoy Alena Douhan’s meeting with senior government officials.
Douhan, arrived in the country Monday, to assess the impact of sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe 20 years ago.
The government says the restrictions continued crippling the country’s economy and re-engagement efforts with the international community.
On Monday, the media was blocked from meeting Douhan after she had paid a call on Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi at his government offices.
Ziyambi addressed the media after the meeting while Douhan was being whisked away by Foreign Ministry officials.
On Tuesday, at the Parliament Building Douhan met with Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda and again Foreign Ministry officials turned away journalists intending to cover the meeting.
The Foreign Ministry officials told journalists Douhan was not in a position to address the media as this would “compromise her investigations”.
Douhan is on a 10-day visit to Zimbabwe to assess the negative impact of the sanctions by the US government and the European Union over allegations of human rights abuse and failure to uphold the rule of law.
According to the Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, the blackout was at the request of Douhan who said she will speak to the press at the end of her mission.
“She says she does not want to talk to the press. It makes a lot of sense. What would the media want to know before she embarks on her fact-finding mission? She has told us that she will hold a press conference on October 28 when she has a clear picture of the Zimbabwean situation,” said Charamba during an interview.