Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told United States diplomats that though the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change had agreed to come back into government, the two parties still had outstanding issues.
The MDC-T list was:
- Removal of Attorney General Tomana and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gono,
- Appointment of Roy Bennett as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and
- Appointments of MDC provincial governors.
ZANU-PF’s outstanding issues were:
- Removal of sanctions,
- MDC-T parallel government funded by the West,
- Pirate radio stations, and
- Western calls for regime change.
Mutambara said that sanctions were the most problematic. Mugabe told the Troika that Tsvangirai had asked the US and others to keep sanctions in place. While Tsvangirai obviously could not remove sanctions, Mutambara thought he would somehow have to satisfy Mugabe on this issue.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE885, SADC TROIKA SUMMIT: MDC TO REENGAGE
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
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VZCZCXRO0997
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0885/01 3101044
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 061044Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5116
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3158
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3270
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1697
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2531
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2900
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3318
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5766
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2450
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000885
SIPDIS
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
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2019
SUBJECT: SADC TROIKA SUMMIT: MDC TO REENGAGE
Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ray for reason 1.4 (d)
¶1. (U) After a one-day Summit of the Troika of the Organ on
Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation in Maputo on
November 5, the MDC agreed to suspend its disengagement from
ZANU-PF. The Summit (as set out in a Communique) decided
that:
–the parties to the GPA (ZANU-PF, MDC-T, and MDC-M) should
engage in dialogue within 15 to 30 days;
–the dialogue should include all outstanding issues
emanating from the implementation of the GPA and SADC
Communique of January 27;
–the Facilitator (South Africa) will evaluate progress and
report back to the Organ.
Additionally, the Summit urged the international community
“to lift all forms of sanctions on Zimbabwe.”
¶2. (C) Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara (MDC-M) gave
us his impressions by phone from Maputo. He said the Troika,
as well as South African President Jacob Zuma, was engaged
and insistent that outstanding GPA issues be resolved.
(NOTE: We understand Zuma will travel to Harare next week to
represent the Facilitator. END NOTE.) Mutambara thought
SADC had put its reputation on the line by directly calling
for the resolution of outstanding issues and establishing a
time line to do so.
¶3. (C) According to Mutambara, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai presented MDC-T’s usual list of outstanding
issues: Removal of Attorney General Tomana and Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe Governor Gono, appointment of Roy Bennett as
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and appointments of MDC
provincial governors. President Robert Mugabe presented what
he termed ZANU-PF’s outstanding issues: Removal of
sanctions, MDC-T parallel government funded by the West,
pirate radio stations, and Western calls for regime change.
¶4. (C) Mutambara opined that sanctions was the most
problematic. Mugabe told the Troika that Tsvangirai had
asked the U.S. and others to keep sanctions in place. While
Tsvangirai obviously could not remove sanctions, Mutambara
thought he would somehow have to satisfy Mugabe on this issue.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶5. (C) While giving Tsvangirai and MDC-T a face-saving way
to rejoin cabinet, the Maputo Summit kicked the can down the
road. There are a couple of silver linings. It appears that
Zuma will become directly engaged on Global Political
Agreement (GPA) issues and wants a resolution. Secondly,
ZANU-PF has been claiming that the MDC’s outstanding issues
are not in fact issues since they are not contained in the
GPA, but were raised in the January SADC Communique. The
Maputo Summit Communique states that “the parties should
fully comply with the spirit and letter of the GPA and SADC
Summit decisions of 27 January 2009.”
¶6. (C) Tsvangirai privately has taken the position that
targeted sanctions against individuals should remain in place
as they represent a response to actions that have undermined
democracy and the welfare of the Zimbabwean people. On the
other hand, he believes that sanctions against a number of
Qother hand, he believes that sanctions against a number of
business entities should be removed as they are an impediment
to efforts to revive the economy. Similarly, he believes
that consideration should be given to repealing ZDERA as part
of a process of reengaging with international financial
HARARE 00000885 002 OF 002
institutions. In light of the Maputo SADC Communique calling
on the international community to lift sanctions, and
expected pressure from Zuma, we suspect that Tsvangirai will
publicly have to support lifting of sanctions on entities,
and possibly the repeal of ZDERA.
RAY
(18 VIEWS)
