Harare and Washington lock horns over ‘fugitive’ diplomat after fatal accident

By Agencies

Zimbabwe is locked in a diplomatic row with the United States after a diplomat stationed at the US embassy in Harare allegedly skipped the country following an accident in which a young girl died two months ago.

According to the state-run The Herald, US embassy second secretary Eric Kimpton allegedly ran over an 11-year-old girl near Harare on June 3 and allegedly left the country.

This prompted an angry response from Zimbabwe government officials this week, with presidential spokesperson George Charamba insisting that Kimpton has to return to Zimbabwe to account for the incident.

“When a diplomat is involved in a fatal traffic accident, uses the pretext of counselling, which he thinks is only available in his country, and then decides to stay away from the police, he or she moves from being a diplomat to a fugitive and there are adequate instruments which Zimbabwe can summon to bring that diplomat to account,” Charamba said.

He added: “No one, from whichever country or continent, is allowed to spill innocent Zimbabwean blood and get away with it.”

In response, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Harare on Thursday said Kimpton had since left Zimbabwe.

“The US embassy, including the US diplomat involved in the accident, transparently complied with local officials following the accident,” the spokesperson told Voice of America Zimbabwe service late Thursday.

Diplomats are immune from prosecution when they are away on duty, according to the Vienna Convention.

The incident is set to worse the already frosty diplomatic relations between Harare and Washington that have been marked by accusations by the former that the US is pushing for the ouster of President Emmerson Mnangagwa from power.

A few months ago Mnangagwa told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the US was strengthening its military presence in neighbouring countries as part of a clandestine plan to remove him from power.