President Robert Mugabe told a United States congressional delegation that visited Zimbabwe and met him at State House in September 2009 that he thought that the Global Political Agreement was proceeding well. The differences between the parties were “little issues”.
He said he saw no reason for Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana to go because he had properly appointed them.
Likewise, the appointment of governors was a presidential prerogative and there was no need to revisit this issue.
“Mugabe, in a pleasant manner, asked as the delegation was leaving why the U.S. had singled out Zimbabwe, of all the countries in the world, for the infliction of ‘the monster’ of ZDERA,” a cable released by Wikileaks says.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE707, CODEL MEEKS MEETING WITH MUGABE
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO8599
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0707/01 2470851
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 040851Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4868
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3004
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3119
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1548
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2382
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2749
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3167
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5612
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2295
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000707
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/RSA KMOODY
AF/S FOR B.WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO HOUSE FOR STEPHANE LEBOUDER
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM OREP ZI
SUBJECT: CODEL MEEKS MEETING WITH MUGABE
REF: HARARE 456
Classified By: CDA Donald K. Petterson for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) In a brief meeting with CODEL Meeks, truncated by
the CODEL’s departure schedule, President Robert Mugabe
lapsed into historical reveries, praised the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), saying that only “little issues” remained,
and questioned sanctions. Constrained by time, Congressman
Gregory Meeks said that a new day had arrived and that the
U.S. sougt better relations with Zimbabwe. The government
mouthpiece “The Herald” spun the two-day CODEL visit as
focused on meeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the
meeting with Mugabe as “impromptu” and a slight to the
president. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (SBU) Congressman Meeks led a delegation that also
included Congressman Melvin Watt, Congresswoman Sheila
Jackson-Lee, Congressman Jack Kingston, and Congresswoman
Marcia Fudge on a two-day trip to Harare September 2 and
September 3. Post had requested a meeting with Mugabe two
weeks earlier and renewed the request, upon the CODEL’S
arrival on September 2, to Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi who
was at the airport to greet the CODEL. We also noted to
Mumbengegwi the CODEL’S departure time on September 3 in the
event a meeting was arranged. Nevertheless, it was only
minutes before the delegation was due to depart for the
airport that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informed
us that Mugabe was available. The delegation, accompanied by
Charge Petterson, immediately proceeded to State House where
we once again emphasized time constraints. Mugabe was joined
at the meeting by Minister of State in the Office of the
President Didymus Mutasa, Mumbengegwi, and several MFA
officials.
¶3. (SBU) Mugabe greeted the delegation to Zimbabwe and
immediately lapsed, as he is wont to do both in public
speeches and private meetings (Ref), into a historical
recounting of Zimbabwe’s independence struggle and the
Lancaster House agreement which resulted in Zimbabwe’s
independence. After about 20 minutes, realizing that Mugabe
was at 1980 and that it could take another hour or more for
him to reach 2009, Meeks interrupted and apologized that the
delegation had to cut short the meeting. Apparently
understanding for the first time that the delegation could
not settle in for an afternoon of historical reminiscence,
Mugabe fast-forwarded to land reform, the failure of which he
blamed on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and then
quickly questioned why the U.S. had imposed sanctions since
Zimbabwe’s disagreements were with the UK and not the U.S.
¶4. (SBU) Mugabe concluded with a discussion of the GPA. He
thought that it was proceeding well, and differences between
the parties were “little issues.” He saw no reason for
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney
QReserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney
General Johannes Tomana to go because he had properly
appointed them. Likewise, appointment of governors was a
presidential prerogative and there was no need to revisit
this issue.
¶5. (SBU) Constrained by time, Meeks told Mugabe that a new
day had arrived with the presidency of Barack Obama and that
the U.S. sought better relations with the Zimbabwean
government. He hoped he would later be able to speak at
length with Mugabe and promised to return before the end of
HARARE 00000707 002 OF 002
the year. Mugabe, in a pleasant manner, asked as the
delegation was leaving why the U.S. had singled out Zimbabwe,
of all the countries in the world, for the infliction of “the
monster” of ZDERA.
¶6. (U) “The Herald”, in an article entitled “US
Congressional team’s visit raises eyebrows,” claimed the call
on Mugabe was “impromptu” as the delegation had not intended
to meet Mugabe, but decided at the last minute to see him to
make their visit look impartial after they had met with
Tsvangirai. Presidential Spokesman George Charamba was
quoted in “The Herald” saying, “The visit seems to have been
focused on one party in the GPA. Their visit to State House
was a self-fulfilling one and even the President was taken
aback.” In the article, “The Herald” also reported that
Meeks is on the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy
that has provided financing to “a raft of non-governmental
organisations that have been pushing the illegal regime
change agenda in Zimbabwe,” and that Jackson-Lee voted for
“illegal economic sanctions” against Zimbabwe in 2001, backed
sanctions against Sudan that were opposed by the African
Union, and was arrested for disorderly conduct outside the
Sudanese Embassy.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶7. (C) The MFA is wary of meetings between U.S. officials
and Mugabe; hence, at the airport before the CODEL arrived,
Mumbengegwi sought from the Charge the purpose of the visit
and what the CODEL hoped to raise with Mugabe. Nevertheless,
the GOZ wants such meetings to take place as it demonstrates,
particularly in light of Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s travels,
international engagement between the West and Mugabe.
¶8. (C) Mugabe appeared frail although alert. Either because
he was not briefed, or because he did not absorb a briefing
if one took place, he was ill-prepared for the meeting; and
rather than engaging with the CODEL he lapsed into what he
knows best: the anti-colonial struggle, the Lancaster House
agreement, and (perceived) UK efforts to frustrate land
reform.
¶9. (C) As noted, we had tried to schedule a meeting with
Mugabe for a couple of weeks. Apparently concerned that the
short length of the meeting — which it was responsible for
— would compare unfavorably with the hour-long meeting with
Tsvangirai (Septel), the GOZ decided to spin the meeting as a
U.S. slight to Mugabe. END COMMENT.
¶10. (SBU) The CODEL did not have the opportunity to clear
this message before departing Harare.
PETTERSON
(23 VIEWS)
