Zimbabwe’s Government has hired Ballard Partners to represent it in Washington, making it the first firm to lobby on the country’s behalf in more than a decade. The contact is worth $500,000 a year.
Brian Ballard, a top fundraiser for United State’s President Donald Trump’s campaigns, and the firm’s other lobbyists will counsel Zimbabwe on “communication with U.S. government officials, U.S. business entities, and non-governmental audiences,” according to a disclosure filing. Ballard Partners’ contract reads:
In as much as the government of Zimbabwe has been denied access to international financial institutions and been under intense diplomatic pressure from Western countries, it shall be the main objective of the firm to encourage a re-examination of Zimbabwe by the State Department with a view to establishing the best possible bilateral relationship with the United States and facilitating the restoration of Zimbabwe’s membership in good standing in the community of nations.
Ballard Partners has also worked for the government of Mali and opposition political parties in Congo and Nigeria.
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