Diplomatic etiquette thrown to the dogs as protocol team skips Russian national anthem

This comes a week after President Emmerson Mnangagwa read the riot act following another boob in which the team played an inaudible version of the national anthem at a function he was presiding over.

Heads are set to roll in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s protocol department after officials failed to play the Russian national anthem during the handover of 25 000 tonnes of wheat and fertilizer to government in Harare on Wednesday this week.

This comes a week after President Emmerson Mnangagwa read the riot act following another boob in which the team played an inaudible version of the national anthem at a function he was presiding over.On Wednesday, Russian ambassador to Zimbabwe, Nikolai Krasilnikov expressed dismay after officials in the protocol department ‘forgot’ to play his country’s national anthem.The diplomat later requested that the national anthem be sung at the end of the ceremony to make up for the gaffe.“I thank you very much for the kind attention ….I hope to end the ceremony by listening to the Russian national anthem. I thank you,” he said.Mnangagwa last week publicly chastised his aides for playing a ‘bad national anthem’ version and ordered them never to play it again.

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