UK boosts Zimbabwe aid
By Alex Stevenson
Britain will provide an additional £5 million of transitional aid for Zimbabwe, it was announced, as the country’s prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai visited London.
In a joint press conference in Downing Street Gordon Brown said the money would be channelled through non-governmental organisations and aid agencies rather than the transitional government, however.
In addition to £4 million for food aid a further £1 million will be provided for textbooks in schools.
Mr Tsvangirai has claimed credit for re-opening many of Zimbabwe’s schools which had been forced shut by the country’s ongoing crisis.
He accepted a power-sharing deal with president Robert Mugabe in a bid to restore some stability.
But he has already been jeered and heckled by crowds in London on his current visit, after calling on Zimbabweans living in Britain to return home.
“Mugabe must go,” they shouted in response.
Britain has now provided a total of £60 million in transitional aid for Zimbabwe in 2009.
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