By Kamuti Muyambela
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is struggling to receive the quotations to effect widespread “immediate recalls” of diplomats from several embassies, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic coming to the rescue of some of those recalled from returning home early.
Well placed sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation have told Daily Revelation that effecting the “immediate recall” mandates were becoming a challenge.
“As you may already be aware, most, if not all the recalls, are with immediate effect. But communication we are receiving from several missions is that some boats are closed off, maybe even operating at half capacity because of Covid-19. You find that some workers have also been quarantined. And some cargo planes are also not taking off,” sources said. “Information is that even on ships which are available, space has to be secured in advance, and by implication it means that there is a backlog on the number of quotations being received by these shipping companies. Some are saying even just to get quotations from some airlines is a struggle as some flights are being cancelled, and to work on the quotations, they have to be at least three and they become more expensive with short notices.”
But sources said some diplomats could be enjoying this, especially that they did not even plan to come back early, thinking the PF was going to remain in power, and hence the decision by most of them to throw away civil service regulations to the winds when they came in their droves to participate in campaigning.
