Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma was forced to terminate the United States government funded support to Zimbabwe’s parliament which was being channelled through the State University of New York.
A cable dispatched by United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell on 23 April 2007 said Zvoma had given the United States Agency for International Development a letter terminating the relationship on 13 April. He also delivered a letter from the Speaker of Parliament John Nkomo.
SUNY had been providing technical support and training to the legislature’s committee system since 2000 and had up to then provided US$5.8 million under the project.
The cable said: “Zvoma, who was visibly distraught, also gave the Director a letter from him noting the termination. Zvoma said that while he signed his letter it had been in fact drafted by the executive branch.”
Both Nkomo’s letter and the Zvoma’s noted that the termination stemmed from the government’s negative reaction to Washington’s release of the Supporting Human Rights and Democracy report that month.
They said Parliament officials had been insulted by claims in the report, especially the claim that the US government had sought to increase the independence of Parliament via its support.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 07HARARE336, GOZ SETS SIGHTS ON NGOS, CUTS PARLIAMENTARY
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO3888
RR RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0336/01 1131525
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 231525Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1387
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1577
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1443
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1581
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0248
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0844
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1209
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1636
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4040
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1406
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2064
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0704
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1798
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000336
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S. HILL
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E.LOKEN
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2017
SUBJECT: GOZ SETS SIGHTS ON NGOS, CUTS PARLIAMENTARY
SUPPORT PROJECT, THREATENS OTHERS
REF: A. REF A: HARARE 205
¶B. REF B: 2005 HARARE 395
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d
——-
Summary
——-
¶1. (SBU) The GOZ has turned its attention to NGOs perceived
as unfriendly and to be working with the political opposition
and Western governments. The USG-funded State University of
New York (SUNY) parliamentary support project became the
first victim on April 13 when Clerk of Parliament announced
that Parliament’s relationship with SUNY was terminated. On
April 16, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu announced
that the GOZ had annulled licenses of NGOs to allow the
government to screen out groups with ties to the West. To
the best of our knowledge, however, no such step has been
taken. No civil society groups have been forced to close.
Although we cannot rule out future action, it appears more
likely that the government’s intention was to intimidate
Zimbabwe’s civil society.
——————————————— —
Successful USG Support to Parliament Terminated
——————————————— —
¶2. (SBU) The Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, gave the
USAID Mission Director on April 13 a letter from the Speaker
of Parliament, John Nkomo, terminating Parliament’s
relationship with SUNY, which had been providing technical
support and training to the legislature’s committee system
since 2000 (ref A). Zvoma, who was visibly distraught, also
gave the Director a letter from him noting the termination
(emailed to AF/S). Zvoma said that while he signed his
letter it had been in fact drafted by the executive branch.
¶3. (SBU) Both Nkomo’s letter and the Clerk’s letter noted
that the termination stemmed from the GOZ’s negative reaction
to Washington’s release of the Supporting Human Rights and
Democracy report earlier in April. Specifically, both
letters said Parliament officials had been insulted by claims
in the report, especially the claim that the USG had sought
to increase the independence of Parliament via its support.
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador responded in writing to Nkomo’s
letter and the USAID Director to the Clerk’s (emailed to
AF/S). Both letters expressed regret at the decision while
emphasizing that the SUNY project had been the sole USG
program that had been implemented with the GOZ, at the
request of the GOZ, and to the benefit of the GOZ. (Note:
Since inception, the USG has provided US$5.8 million to
SUNY’s parliamentary support project.) The Ambassador also
expressed hope that Parliament would continue to exercise
independence, despite the loss of SUNY’s support.
————————
Civil Society Threatened
————————
¶5. (SBU) Information and Publicity Minister Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu on April 16 publicly stated that the GOZ had revoked
the licenses of all NGOs in an attempt to ferret out groups
“seeking to force regime change.” Addressing ruling party
supporters in Bulawayo, Ndlovu said that such NGOs were
HARARE 00000336 002 OF 003
working with the MDC under the umbrella of the Save Zimbabwe
Campaign to violently overthrow the government. (Note:
Suggesting that the Minister was kicking off his
parliamentary election campaign, Ndlovu made the address in
Mpopoma constituency, which he lost to the MDC in 2000 and
again in 2005. End Note.) Speaker of Parliament and ZANU-PF
Chairman John Nkomo echoed these statements days later when
he said that these NGOs “were creating an un-African culture,
(by) giving money to people to remove their leaders.”
¶6. (SBU) Despite Ndolovu’s and Nkomo’s statements, we are
not aware of any NGOs losing their licenses or being
otherwise forced to close down. In fact, most USG partners
in civil society are not registered as NGOs but rather as
Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) or &trusts.8 They
fall under the jurisdiction of the high court or are common
law entities and have no licenses to revoke. Most
international NGOs operate under bilateral government
agreements, the UN/WFP framework, or through Memorandums of
Understanding with the GOZ. Moreover, Labor and Social
Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche, under whose portfolio NGOs
fall, has yet to make a public statement on the issue.
¶7. (SBU) Adding further credence to the impression that
Ndlovu’s and Nkomo’s statements were essentially rhetoric was
an aborted meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs on April
¶18. Several of Zimbabwe’s most prominent human rights groups
had been summoned to the meeting, ostensibly to discuss the
creation of a GOZ-appointed human rights commission. There
was widespread concern that the meeting would in fact be the
next step in a government campaign against civil society. In
the event, the meeting was cancelled, indicating that its
purpose had been as advertised. (N.B. As a sidelight, the
Ministry had summoned the human rights groups through UNDP.
The groups had no difficulty believing UNDP would be
complicit in a government crack down ) a sad commentary on
the UN body.)
—————————–
The Specter of a New NGO Bill
—————————–
¶8. (SBU) The renewed attack on civil society has stoked
fears among NGOs that the GOZ might attempt to revive the
dormant “NGO Bill”, which would have forced all civil society
groups to be vetted by a GOZ-appointed board similar to the
board that oversees journalists and media outlets. The NGO
Bill, which faced near universal criticism, passed Parliament
in 2004, but suffered a pocket veto by Mugabe (ref B).
Although the bill was never enacted, it has remained a sword
of Damocles over the heads of civil society and has led many
local NGOs to curtail their activities.
——-
Comment
——-
¶9. (C) The SUNY project has been one of this Mission’s most
successful initiatives, helping to encourage even ZANU-PF MPs
to increasingly criticize executive branch excesses. It is
therefore no wonder that the GOZ has turned its sights on
SUNY. An ill-informed and pliable Parliament is much more to
the regime’s liking. That said, we believe it may be that
government will have difficulty putting the toothpaste back
in the tube. As we have previously reported (ref A),
Parliamentarians, especially those on the portfolio
HARARE 00000336 003 OF 003
committees, have discovered a taste for holding Ministers
accountable.
¶10. (C) The bigger story would be a concerted government
crack down on civil society. We cannot rule this out,
particularly given the on-going violent campaign to suppress
the MDC and insure a ZANU-PF election victory next year.
That said, the goal may very well have been to intimidate
civil society rather than risk an international backlash by
actually closing these organizations. In our experience,
some of these groups may be cowed but the key ones, including
ZLHR, CSU, and NCA are very unlikely to back down.
DELL
(30 VIEWS)
