Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to open new High Commissions and Embassies in Africa; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In a sign of our deep and long-term relationship with the continent, we are increasing the British diplomatic presence in sub-Saharan Africa so we can develop more effective partnerships and achieve our mutual goals. During her recent visit to Africa the Prime Minister announced that the UK would open new sovereign missions in Niger and Chad as a demonstration of our commitment to the Sahel region. This is in addition to the announcement made by the former Foreign Secretary in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April that we would be opening two new High Commissions in Lesotho and Eswatini. In May this year we also upgraded UK presence in Mauritania to an Embassy.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the outputs published from the Commonwealth Parliamentarians’ Forum hosted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 26 February to 1 March 2018, whether he plans to take steps in response to those outputs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign Secretary was delighted to address delegates to the Commonwealth Parliamentarians' Forum during their recent visit to London. He has received copies of the forum outputs, including: the Declaration of the First Commonwealth Parliamentarians Forum; The Youth Delegate Declaration; and a letter from delegates calling for the creation of a Commonwealth Climate Change Council at April's Heads of Government Meeting.
Mitigating the effects of climate change, especially as it affects small island states, will be one of the main policy areas leaders will discuss at the summit. Issues affecting the Commonwealth's young population will also feature prominently during the summit, with one of the four official forums at the start of the week dedicated to Youth.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for economic stability in Zimbabwe of the government in that country issuing bank notes in its own currency equivalent to the US dollar.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Zimbabwe faces a serious economic crisis. Bond notes have provided some short term liquidity, but they are not a sustainable solution to Zimbabwe’s economic challenges. Without fundamental reform, taking into account the advice of the International Financial Institutions, an economic collapse is a real prospect. The British Embassy in Harare continues to monitor the situation and we are keeping our travel advice under review.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of the customs service in Ghana.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Ghana's customs service falls under the responsibility of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with whom we share a good relationship.
We support the World Bank's respected and influential annual Doing Business Survey, which reports on many of the key issues that businesses face in countries across the world. One important indicator that the report examines relates to trading across borders. The effectiveness of a country's customs procedures are highly relevant to this indicator. For Ghana, the 2016 survey indicated a small improvement in the country's relative ranking for trading across borders. However, burdensome procedures and corruption at borders are among the most problematic factors for trade in Ghana. Customs procedures lack efficiency and exporting and importing require time-consuming paperwork to clear goods at the border. Corruption and bribery in these processes are widespread. A recent report by US based GAN Integrity found that whilst Ghana performs best in the West African region for road governance in relation to customs services, controls and demands for bribes are increasing at the Tema port exit.
We continue to follow these matters closely and regularly raise concerns about the ease of doing business including corruption with the Government of Ghana.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the government of Ghana.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The United Kingdom provides Ghana with support in a number of areas including help to improve its macro-economic management, deliver public services, improve the accountability of government and decision-makers to its citizens and transparency particularly in the oil and gas industry, reduce barriers to business creating an environment attractive to Foreign Direct Investment and small and medium enterprises. The UK is also helping Ghana to build its capacity and capability to tackle a wide range of crime, including human and drug trafficking, illegal migration, fraud, corruption, terrorism, piracy and training for the military.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Ghanaian government since the general election in that country on 7 December 2016.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The United Kingdom’s High Commissioner and his team met with Ghana’s President-Elect Nana Akufo-Addo on 13 December 2016, and handed over a letter of congratulations from the Prime Minister. The Foreign Secretary spoke to the President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo on 15 December to congratulate him. They discussed the bilateral relationship and enhancing cooperation on economic growth, trade and investment, anti corruption and security.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, where he plans to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in the UK in 2018.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working closely with Number 10 and other key stakeholders on where Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in 2018 and hope to be able to announce a location shortly.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on the Zakhele Remand Centre in Swaziland.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
We have not received any specific reports about the Zakhele Remand Centre. However, we remain concerned by the human rights situation in Swaziland, including restrictions to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. We call on the Swazi government to respect the human rights of all detainees and the independence of the judiciary. We will continue to work with international partners including the EU, US, Commonwealth and the South African Development Community (SADC) to exert international pressure for change.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will instruct HM High Commissioner to Swaziland to raise the case of Mario Masuku and the Zakhele Remand Centre with the Swaziland government.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
We will continue to raise human rights concerns, such as Mr Masuku's arrest and current detention with the Swazi authorities at senior levels. The UK has no permanent diplomatic presence in Swaziland. However, our High Commission in South Africa covers our relations with Swaziland and our officials visit Swaziland regularly.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the arrest of Mario Masuku in Swaziland.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
We are concerned by the arrests of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini at a Workers' Event in Swaziland on 1 May. They have been charged under the Sedition and Subversive Activities and Suppression of Terrorism Acts and continue to be held in custody pending trial proceedings. We are also concerned by the situation of Thulani Maseko, a lawyer, and Bheki Makhubu, a journalist, who remain in custody in Swaziland following their re-arrest on 9 April 2014. We encourage the Swazi Government to respect the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in Swaziland, as set out in the Swazi Constitution, and their international human rights obligations.