The leader of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change Arthur Mutambara said President Robert Mugabe’s regime had betrayed the ideals of the liberation struggle and MDC activists were the true inheritors of the liberation struggle.
He was speaking at the memorial service of an MDC activist Gift Tandare who had was shot and killed during a protest march by opposition activists.
Mutambara said Tandare was a “national liberation hero” who had died in the fight for freedom.
Borrowing the words of Malcolm X, Mutambara said that Mugabe was an illegitimate leader that must be driven from power “by any means necessary”.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 07HARARE246, ACTIVIST’S MEMORIAL SERVICE PROVIDES CALL FOR
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
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VZCZCXRO6676
PP RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0246/01 0861611
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271611Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1296
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1541
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1399
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1545
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0214
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0808
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1171
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1600
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4004
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1370
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2028
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0670
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1762
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000246
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S. HILL
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
USAID FOR E. LOKEN
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2017
SUBJECT: ACTIVIST’S MEMORIAL SERVICE PROVIDES CALL FOR
UNITY AGAINST REGIME
REF: A. HARARE 000245
¶B. HARARE 000227 AND PREVIOUS
Classified By: Charge d’Affaires, a.i. Eric Schultz under Section 1.4 b
/d
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (U) The Christian Alliance under the auspices of Save
Zimbabwe Campaign held a spirited memorial service in Harare
on March 27 for the opposition activist, Gift Tandare, killed
by police on March 11. A crowd of over 600 attended the
service at which MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara, and NCA leader Lovemore Mahduku spoke. Despite
looming government threats, there was no overt police
presence near the church. However, there are reports that
following the event an MDC supporter who participated in the
memorial service was abducted at gun point by unidentified
men from a nearby shopping center. End Summary.
——————————————— –
Delayed Memorial Service Proves Spirited Event
——————————————— –
¶2. (U) The Christian Alliance under the auspices of Save
Zimbabwe Campaign held a spirited memorial service for Gift
Tandare, the young activist killed by police on March 11 at
the Save Zimbabwe prayer rally in the Highfield suburb of
Harare (reftels). The event occurred after several delays,
caused in large part by the government’s abduction of
Tandare’s body at gun point from his family on March 18.
Despite threats from the government, there was no overt
police presence around the church and a lively crowd of
approximately 600 turned out to fill the church to capacity.
¶3. (C) Organizers told us they had wanted to hold the
memorial service in the Glenview suburb of Harare, where
Tandare lived with his wife and three children. However,
local churches, intimidated by the GOZ, were reluctant to
provide a venue. The organizers ultimately settled on the
Northside Community Church in the affluent Borrowdale suburb,
far removed from the high-density areas that are centers of
MDC support.
———————————
Strong Words for Unity and Action
———————————
¶4. (U) Senior leadership from across the opposition movement
and civil society attended the service. In a show of unity,
Tsvangirai and Mutambara sat together in the front row near
SIPDIS
Tandare’s grieving widow and children. The service began
with a pastor from the Christian Alliance offering a sermon
of condolence and encouragement. Promise Mkwanazi, president
of Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU), subsequently
invoked John F. Kennedy when he said “preventing a peaceful
revolution today, only leads to a violent revolution
tomorrow.”
¶5. (U) Madhuku, who spoke next, taunted the government for
its failure to follow through on threats to prevent the
service. He called Tandare a martyr who had paid the
HARARE 00000246 002 OF 003
ultimate price in pursuit of the opposition’s goal ) a free
and democratic Zimbabwe. He called on the opposition to
remember Tandare’s sacrifice by preserving its new found
unity of purpose. He also forcefully criticized African
leaders and South African President Mbeki in particular, for
their continued silence in response to Mugabe’s brutal
repression of Zimbabweans.
¶6. (U) Mutambara gave the event’s most fiery speech, one that
played well with the young MDC activists in attendance. He
said the Mugabe regime had betrayed the ideals of the
liberation struggle and that MDC activists were the true
inheritors of the liberation struggle. Tandare was a
“national liberation hero” who had died in the fight for
freedom. Borrowing the words of Malcolm X, Mutambara said
that Mugabe was an illegitimate leader that must be driven
from power “by any means necessary.” Mutambara also
paraphrased Patrick Henry in saying the mantra for the
opposition now had to be “give me freedom or give me death.”
¶7. (U) Tsvangirai, the last speaker at the service, received
a rapturous standing ovation from the assembly, including
singing and dancing in aisles, when he walked up to the
altar. He was more restrained than Mutambara, especially
with respect to the opposition’s response to government
violence. Tsvangirai said some people were calling for an
eye-for-an-eye but that the opposition had to remain
non-violent. He said the MDC’s goal was not to overthrow the
government but to negotiate an end to 27 years of misrule on
the basis of the party’s “roadmap” that called for a unity
government, a new constitution, and free and fair elections.
However, Tsvangirai warned that the opposition would not
participate in the presidential elections in 2008 under the
current rules.
—————–
Activist Abducted
—————–
¶8. (C) Marring an otherwise peaceful event, unknown
assailants abducted MDC activist Last Maengahama as he
departed the memorial service, according to Sydney Shisi, the
coordinator of a youth development civic group. Maengahama
had been invited by Tsvangirai during the memorial service to
lead the assembly in signing the MDC’s anthem before the
opposition leader spoke. Shisi told us that witnesses
reported that Maengahama — who is a former elected official
in the Harare suburb of Glenview — was abducted at gun point
from his vehicle as he drove to a nearby shopping center.
Shisi said he had reported the abduction to the local police
station.
——-
Comment
——-
¶9. (C) The numbers would doubtless have been several times
larger if the event had been held in Glenview or another
high-density suburb. Still, it was an impressive turnout
under the circumstances and the venue may well have
contributed to the government’s relative restraint — concern
for Maengahama side. The ceremony itself was a powerful show
of unity with most of the leadership from Mutambara’s faction
present (Welshman Ncube was the only prominent exception) and
HARARE 00000246 003 OF 003
with Morgan Tsvangirai very much the man in charge. The
opposition will try to continue that unity of purpose with a
work stay-away planned by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) for April 3-4, and another prayer rally on
April 14 in Bulawayo organized by the Save Zimbabwe
coalition. End Comment.
SCHULTZ
(27 VIEWS)
