WATCH LIVE as Gambakwe reveals that the people who travelled with Mnangagwa are starting to leave the New York Hotel and some have started returning home while others have been spotted in different cities across the USA.
The 25-mile restriction around UN Headquarters is applied to named members of the official delegation, not automatically to every staffer.In past Zimbabwe UNGA visits the U.S. has issued a formal notice listing specific people (the president, certain ministers, the presidential spokesperson, and named family members) who must stay within that radius. Current coverage of this trip refers to “President Mnangagwa and his delegation” being under the same limit. Senior aides traveling as part of that official party — including people like George Charamba who have been named in earlier restriction notices — are therefore generally bound by it.
Lower-level or unnamed support staff who are not themselves sanctioned and not listed in the restriction notice may have more flexibility in practice. There is no public confirmation that they can freely leave the hotel independently while the principals stay confined. Movement of the whole official group is usually coordinated and tightly controlled.
President Mnangagwa is on the U.S. Global Magnitsky sanctions list (for alleged corruption and human rights abuses). Those sanctions normally ban him from entering the United States. Because the U.S. hosts the UN, however, it must allow him and official delegates to attend UN General Assembly meetings under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement.
The visas issued for that purpose come with a tight geographic limit: a roughly 25-mile (40 km) radius around UN Headquarters in Manhattan. Within that zone they may:
- Stay in Manhattan hotels
- Travel to the UN building
- Attend official events such as the Zimbabwe Business Forum
They are not free to move around the rest of New York, visit other cities (including Washington), or travel for personal or private business reasons. Coverage of the current trip has described this as the delegation being largely confined to the hotel except for those approved official movements.
This is the same type of restriction previously applied to Robert Mugabe and other sanctioned Zimbabwean officials when they attended UNGA. Sakupwanya, traveling as part of the presidential delegation, is subject to the same movement controls.
Please watch the video above this post for more details.
