NEW U.S. AMBASSSADOR TO ZIMBABWE, james d. mcgee, PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

November 22, 2007

James D. McGee

United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee presented his credentials to President Robert Mugabe today, during a meeting at State House. The meeting with President Mugabe formally installs McGee as U.S. Ambassador in Harare.

After the meeting, Ambassador McGee said, “I am thrilled to be in Zimbabwe and am excited about the challenge ahead. Today’s meeting with President Mugabe was the beginning of my work. I am looking forward to working with the people of Zimbabwe during this increasingly difficult period in their lives. My job as U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe is to work with anyone who wants to cooperate with us to improve the situation here. The U.S. remains committed to seeing free and fair elections next year through which the people of Zimbabwe can express their will.”

McGee also noted that an important part of his job will be overseeing U.S. assistance to Zimbabwe. The U.S. will give over $200 million worth of assistance this year. The U.S. will help feed nearly one-in-five Zimbabweans with about $170 million of food aid. HIV/AIDS programs have increased to $31 million this year, including anti-retroviral treatment for 40,000 Zimbabweans. Ambassador McGee noted, “Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. It is a day on which we give thanks for all that we have. That makes it even more important to focus on our programs that help bring aid to the many Zimbabweans in need.”

James David McGee is the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe. He arrives in Zimbabwe after three years as U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros. He has also served as Ambassador to Swaziland from 2002 to 2004. Ambassador McGee began his Foreign Service career in 1981 and has served in Lagos, Nigeria; Lahore, Pakistan; the Hague, Netherlands; Mumbai, India; Bridgetown, Barbados; Kingston, Jamaica; and Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1949, Ambassador McGee is a graduate of Indiana University. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1974 and completed Vietnamese-language studies at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Ambassador McGee earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses during his duty in Vietnam

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