51-Mugabe a spiritual descendant of Idi Amin
President Robert Mugabe has been described as a spiritual descendant of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin whose reign of terror is reported to have entrenched the cult of African strongmen “who plunder their countries’ natural wealth for their personal gratification, all the while repressing their own people with sadistic, almost bestial glee….”.
52-India refused to succumb to US pressure to condemn Zimbabwe elections
India refused to endorse a statement by the Community of Democracies condemning Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections which appeared to have been spearheaded by the United States and went on to withdraw its support for a Diplomat’s Handbook which it had earlier endorsed. According to the latest cable from Wikileaks the United States was baffled by India’s response because it believed that support from India would have helped to soften a “begrudging but compliant South Africa”.
53-Canada tougher on Zimbabwe after the 2008 elections
Canada condemned the 2008 Presidential elections run-off which President Robert Mugabe won after Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out because of violence with Prime Minister Stephen Harper describing the elections as “stolen” and Foreign Minister David Emerson imposing restrictions on travel, work or study permits on senior government, military and police officials and their families.
54-Kagame warned not to go the Mugabe way
Rwandan leader Paul Kagame was warned eight years ago not to go the Robert Mugabe way when he won his second term of office as the country’s president but last year he contested the elections and won another seven-year term. Kagame became the country’s leader in 1994 when his Rwandan Patriotic Front overthrew the government and ended the genocide in the country that had killed hundreds of thousands.
55-GPA saved Zimbabwe from tougher EU sanctions
The signing of the Global Political Agreement by Zimbabwe’s three key political parties -the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change may have saved Zimbabwe from tougher European Union sanctions according to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.
56-What is it that the West sees in Zimbabwe that Zimbabweans don’t see?
What is it that the West sees in Zimbabwe that Zimbabweans don’t see? This is the fundamental question a cable that has just been released by Wikileaks raises. The cable dispatched on 7 November 2008 reveals that 16 powerful Western countries met in Ottawa, Canada in October 2008 to discuss the future of Zimbabwe following stalemate between the Movement for Democratic Change and the Zimbabwe African National Union –Patriotic Front soon after they had signed the Global Political Agreement which was supposed to pave way for a new coalition government.
57-Zimbabwe thumped Canada, West to become chair of CSD
Zimbabwe thumped Canada and the West to win chairmanship of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in May 2007. According to a cable just released by Wikileaks, Canada had vowed to lobby against Zimbabwe’s election even going to the extent to trying to persuade African countries to set aside their claim to the chair for the 16th session of the CSD.
58-US told engagement with Zimbabwe, Libya not ostracism is the wise course – Wikileaks
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Sachin Siv was told by Brazilian officials seven years ago that engagement with countries like Zimbabwe, Libya, Sudan and Cuba and not ostracism or expulsion was the wise course- a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks says. Siv had told the officials that Zimbabwe, Sudan and Cuba had no right to be members of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. He said the UNHCR had had become a group a group mingling “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
59-Britain’s bossy attitude earns Mugabe support- Wikileaks
Britain’s bossy attitude towards Zimbabwe had only solidified President Robert Mugabe’s status as a colonial liberation leader and rallied South Africa’s unwavering support, one of the cables released by Wikileaks says.This was the view of several British think tanks which said though Zimbabwe should remain a top priority for Britain, they did not understand what the United States’ interest in the country was.
60-Zuma’s unhelpful attitude towards Zimbabwe soured UK-SA relations- Wikileaks
South African President Jacob Zuma’s unhelpful attitude towards Zimbabwe, especially at the United Nations, was likely to complicate relations between South Africa and Britain, the head of the Southern Africa section in the Foreign and Commonwealth Sarah Riley said shortly after the signing of the Global Political Agreement. Riley is quoted in a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks as saying that the UK was watching South Africa very closely because there was genuine concern about factionalism within the ruling African National Congress.
61-US baffled by Noriega’s daughter’s criticism of Mugabe- Wikileaks
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega’s daughter, Thays Noriega, wanted the United Nations Security Council to take stern action against Zimbabwe just before the 2008 presidential elections because President Robert Mugabe could not be rewarded for thwarting the opposition. Her sentiments seem to have baffled United States officials who were lobbying members of the United Nations Security Council, including Panama, to condemn the violence that erupted after the disputed March 2008 elections.
62-US tried to block Zimbabwe from becoming VP of WFP- Wikileaks
The United States’ bid to isolate Zimbabwe hit a roadblock in 2007 when it tried to block the country from becoming Vice-President of the World Food Programme in 2007 but was thwarted by Latin American countries. According to a cable just released by Wikileaks the US had requested Peru’s support to block Zimbabwe’s bid but was told by Oswaldo del Aguila, who had represented Peru on WFP issues, that Peru and all the other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean could not do that because they respected the Africa Group’s nomination.
63-Mugabe chose to be second Idi Amin instead of Mandela
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, a hero of the country’s liberation struggle, could have become his country’s Nelson Mandela but instead became a second Idi Amin, a cable just released by Wikileaks says. The cable quoting an editorial in a Brazilian centre-right newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo entitled: An Institutionalized Savagery, says Mugabe was being propped by then South African President Thabo Mbeki who tolerated the tyrant.
64-Mugabe and Zimbabwe one and the same thing- Chissano
Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano said seven years ago President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe were essentially the same and could not be separated. According to a diplomatic cable just released by Wikileaks, Chissano told Brazilian government officials in August 2004 that Africans must stop blaming their colonial past for the continent’s present problems.
65-Tsvangirai’s letter to Obama- Wikileaks
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote United States President Barack Obama thanking him for the support he had given to his office and emphasised the need to maintain sanctions as a leverage to get concessions from the inclusive government. According to the latest batch of cables released by Wikileaks last week, the letter was delivered by hand to U.S. Defense Attache Lt Col. Patrick Anderson at the U.S. Embassy in Harare on 29 December 2009.
66-Nhema, Mpofu and Chiwenga named in rhino poaching
The names of Environment Minister Francis Nhema, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, Defence Forces chief Constantine Chiwenga and chief of conservation in the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Vitalis Chadenga “repeatedly resurface in rumours” about rhino poaching- a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks last week says. The cable dispatched on 14 December 2009 says rhino poaching in Zimbabwe was rampant because of lax law enforcement and what appeared to be collusion with senior government officials.
This is how one of the latest diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks described the plight of white commercial farmers in the Chegutu area including that of farmer-turned activist- Ben Freeth, whose farm was allegedly taken over by Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front politburo member Nathan Shamuyarira. The cable describes the plight of three white farmers and how scores of their workers have lost their livelihood.
68-Zimbabwe banks whistle past the graveyard
Zimbabwe’s banks were awash with so much cash-nine months after the introduction of the multiple currencies in 2009- that they did not seem to notice that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had robbed them of $39 million. A cable just released by Wikileaks says the banks had ample reserves beyond what the RBZ had diverted, and steady growth in deposits had helped the banking system to remain stable.
69-Tsvangirai says Mugabe is determined to take Zimbabwe down with him
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told United States President George Bush that Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front leader Robert Mugabe was determined to take Zimbabwe down with him as he tottered “towards the sunset of his biological and political life”.
70-Sex scandal in refugee camp
Four women refugees and eight teenage girls accused two officials of the International Catholic Migration Commission of demanding sexual favours from them in exchange for scholarships in Western countries, money to attend local schools, blankets, and sanitary supplies.
71-Catholic priest asks Chiyangwa to stop violence
A Catholic priest for Banket wrote Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front member Philip Chiyangwa urging him to stop the violence in the run-up to the 2000 Parliamentary elections after he had allegedly asked his audience to kill any member of the opposition. The priest’s letter was among the diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks last week having found its way to the American embassy through the Movement for Democratic Change.
72-US praises Zimbabwe for its stance on terrorism
The United States showered Zimbabwe with praise on its stance on terrorism but that was way back in the 1980s before relations between the two nations soured. Zimbabwe had just cracked a major network of South African agents who were destabilising the country in their fight against the African National Congress which had been accorded official status in Harare.
73-Court orders war vets off farms but Mugabe unmoved
In a typical example of how much power President Robert Mugabe wields, a court ordered war veterans to move off the farms that they had occupied but Mugabe, who was in Havana at the time, told CNN that nothing of the sort was going to happen. His deputy Joseph Msika, who was acting president at the time, ordered the Minister of Home Affairs Dumiso Dabengwa, Minister of Local Government John Nkomo and Minister of State Security Sydney Sekeremayi to comply with the court order but war veterans leader Chenjerai Hunzvi remained defiant saying: “we are now at war”.
74-Tsvangirai says SADC has responsibility to ensure parties abide by GPA
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the Southern African Development Community as the guarantors of Zimbabwe’s transitional inclusive government must live up to its responsibility by ensuring that all parties to the Global Political Agreement abide by the letter and spirit of that agreement. He said this two years ago when he met Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila who was SADC chairman at the time.
75-Politically motivated prosecution of MDC-T legislators a futile exercise- Wikileaks
The prosecution of legislators from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, which the party claimed was aimed at overturning its majority in the House of Assembly, was a futile exercise because eight of the 10 Members of Parliament from the smaller faction of the MDC were solidly behind the MDC-T. This opinion is contained in a July 2009 diplomatic cable that has just been released by Wikileaks. The cable was looking at the spate of arrests and convictions of several legislators from MDC-T.
76-Mujuru working with Tsvangirai behind the scenes- Wikileaks
Vice-President Joyce Mujuru was working behind the scenes with the Movement for Democratic Change, former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee said but added that it was not clear whether this was because of new found reformism or it was just a tactic against Emmerson Mnangagwa. McGee’s comments are contained a diplomatic cable that he dispatched in 2009 shortly after meeting Mujuru on 17 June.
Co-Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi walked out of a meeting with then United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee saying he did not want to be lectured on how Zimbabwe could succeed because he had fought throughout his life against the British, Americans and Australians. McGee had told Mohadi and his partner Giles Mutsekwa at a meeting on 23 April 2009, barely two months after the formation of the inclusive government, that the West wanted to help Zimbabwe but Zimbabwe had to do more like stopping the continuing farm invasions.
78-Gono asked US ambassador for soft landing- Wikileaks
Central bank governor Gideon Gono had ambitious plans after the disputed parliamentary elections of March 2008, according to a cable just released by Wikileaks. He asked United States ambassador James McGee, however, to arrange a soft landing for him if things did not work out.
79-Gono says Mugabe wanted to retire after 2008 victory
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono told United States embassy officials that there was pressure on President Robert Mugabe to step down before the 2008 elections but he argued that he would stay on to deliver a Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front victory and he also wanted to outlast former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.
80-Gono says Mugabe has terminal cancer
The media has been awash with reports that President Robert Mugabe has terminal cancer and has less than two years to go, but he has already outlived his expected term in office and the first predicted date of death. News about Mugabe’s health was leaked by central bank governor Gideon Gono to former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee in June 2007, three weeks before the presidential elections run-off.
81-Why Gono and Biti clashed over IMF money- Wikileaks
Central bank governor Gideon Gono clashed with Finance Minister Tendai Biti over the $500 million in special drawing rights granted to Zimbabwe by the International Monetary Fund in August 2009 because Gono regarded it as a windfall while Biti urged caution saying the money should be used to reduce the country’s arrears with international financial institutions. According to one of the cables just released by Wikileaks Biti told United States embassy officials that President Robert Mugabe supported the policy of debt reduction and this information had already been shared in cabinet.
82-Masiyiwa funded anti-rigging plan in 2008 elections- Wikileaks
Econet boss Strive Masiyiwa predicted victory for Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change and funded an anti-rigging plan which he hoped would generate enough pressure on Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front’s Robert Mugabe to accept defeat. Masiyiwa disclosed his plans to United States embassy officials in Pretoria on 19 March, 10 days before the crucial parliamentary and presidential elections, according to a cable just released by Wikileaks.
83-Masiyiwa drafted power sharing agreement which Mugabe accepted!
Exiled Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa drafted a power-sharing agreement under which Zimbabwe would have adopted the 1980 constitution which would have seen Robert Mugabe become ceremonial president while Morgan Tsvangirai became executive prime minister. According to a diplomatic cable just released by Wikileaks, Mugabe had accepted the agreement in principle but wanted an indefinite term of office.
84-Mugabe was ready to concede defeat in 2008 – Wikileaks
President Robert Mugabe was prepare4ed to concede defeat after the 2008 elections and sent “emissaries” to Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai to discuss security and to negotiate a government of national unity that would include his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. A cable just released by Wikileaks which was dispatched on 1 April 2008, two days after the elections, says this information was relayed to United States ambassador James McGee by exiled businessman Strive Masiyiwa.
85-Masiyiwa baffled by Tsvangirai and Biti’s view of Mugabe
Econet boss Strive Masiyiwa was baffled that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Finance Minister Tendai Biti had told United States government officials that President Robert was not as bad as they had thought he would be. He told this to United States assistant secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson on 10 May 2009 shortly after the inauguration of Jacob Zuma as South African president.
86-Biti says Gono issue is just academic
Finance Minister Tendai Biti told former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee, less than three months after getting into office, that the issue of central bank governor Gideon Gono-which has been touted as one of the burning issues within the Global Political Agreement- was merely academic. “We have dealt with his mischief,” he told McGee on 8 April 2009.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti told a United States embassy official that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should take a tougher stance on President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front because Mugabe was tired. He met Donald Petterson, the charge d’affairs at the United States embassy, on 21 September 2009 and told him that while most ZANU-PF officials wanted the inclusive government to fail, Mugabe did not.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti told United States embassy officials that central bank governor Gideon Gono was a thief because he had misused commercial bank reserves at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. He was briefing embassy officials on the outcome of the Southern African Development Community troika meeting that had been held in Maputo the previous week.
89-US ambassador says MDC lacks vision
United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray says Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change lacks strategic vision because its secretary general Tendai Biti has more than a full-time job as Minister of Finance and has insufficient time to devote to his party job. In a cable just released by Wikileaks which he dispatched on 17 December 2009 shortly after meeting Biti, Ray said Biti was impressive in his exposition of current political and economic dynamics.
90-Mnangagwa speaks on succession
That was the title of one of the cables just released by Wikileaks dispatched by the United States embassy in Harare on 29 May 2003, but Emmerson Mnangagwa who was Speaker of Parliament at the time hardly said anything about succession at all. According to the cable, the dodgy politician who is considered one of the possible successors to President Robert Mugabe preferred to talk about history rather than succession.
91-Gono would be massacred if he entered politics- Shamuyarira
Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front politburo member Nathan Shamuyarira told United States ambassador Christopher Dell that central bank governor Gideon Gono would be “massacred” if he entered into the political ring. According to one of the cables released by Wikileaks Shamuyarira, who was the party’s secretary for information and publicity, told this to Dell on 27 November 2006. He was briefing the ambassador on his insights into the succession battle within ZANU-PF.
92-Military planned coup after signing of GPA!
A Zimbabwean businessman described as “a close embassy contact” told United States ambassador James McGee that five high ranking military officers were planning a coup shortly after the signing of the Global Political Agreement in 2008. Fred Mutanda, who is said to be a former ZIPRA commander and chairman of the American Business Association of Zimbabwe, told McGee on 21 October 2008 that the coup was planned while President Robert Mugabe was away in Kampala.
93-US ambassador says Mnangagwa and Mujuru are not likely to become president
United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray says Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice- President Joice Mujuru are not likely to become president. In a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks that he dispatched on 8 December 2009 at the start of the Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front congress, Ray said though there were two principal factions in ZANU-PF one led by Mujuru and the other by Mnangagwa that of Mujuru seemed to be in ascendancy while that of Mnangagwa was in the decline.
94-Gen Mujuru tells US its approach insults Zimbabwe’s “manhood”
Former army commander the late General Solomon Mujuru told United States ambassador Christopher Dell five years ago that Washington’s approach to Zimbabwe was an attack on the government of Zimbabwe’s “manhood”. “You cannot come into another man’s house and tell him he has a problem with his family,” he told Dell according to a diplomatic cable just released by Wikileaks.
95-Mujuru camp sought US help to remove Mugabe
The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front faction loyal to the late Solomon Mujuru was so desperate to get rid of President Robert Mugabe before the crucial extra-ordinary congress of 2007 that it sought help from the United States government. This was the commentary of former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell after a meeting with one of Mujuru’s lieutenants, David Butau on 31 May 2007.
96-Gen Mujuru told Mugabe to resign two weeks before 2008 elections!
Gen Solomon Mujuru told President Robert Mugabe to step down on 10 March 2008 but Mugabe instead went ahead to tell the press that Mujuru was fully behind him and not former Finance Minister Simba Makoni who was the third presidential candidate. According to a cable just released by Wikileaks, this information was disclosed to United States ambassador James McGee on 17 March by Mujuru’s political advisor and business partner and former legislator Tirivanhu Mudariki.
General Solomon Mujuru, who had been piling up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to step down and even gave him an ultimatum two weeks before the 2008 elections, suddenly turned around after the elections and gave no hint at all that he had had differences with Mugabe. According to a cable by United States ambassador James McGee who met Mujuru on 10 April, although embassy officials had reliable reports that Mujuru tried to move Mugabe out of the presidency and that he backed Simba Makoni in the presidential election, “Mujuru in this meeting gave no indication of a rift with Mugabe”. Instead, “he played the role of a senior ZANU-PF stalwart”.
98-Botswana celebrated Jonathan Moyo’s departure from government
Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo did not only have enemies in Zimbabwe but outside as well. Botswana celebrated his departure from government in 2005 claiming that he had spoiled bilateral relations between the two countries. According to a diplomatic cable dispatched by United States ambassador to Botswana Joseph Huggins on 13 May 2005, Manyepedza Lesetedi, the director of the Africa and Asia division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, complained that under Moyo any Zimbabwean with a complaint against Botswana spoke freely about it.
99-US official says Jonathan Moyo is a political chameleon
A United States embassy official has described Zimbabwe’s Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo as a political chameleon, a master at changing his spots, and a man driven by personal ambition. In a cable just released by Wikileaks which he dispatched on 20 July 2005 Charge d’Affaires Eric T. Schultz said Moyo’s courage in publicly taking on the Robert Mugabe regime at a time when few others seemed inclined to do so made him a potentially pivotal player in Zimbabwe’s dysfunctional political scene.
100-Jonathan Moyo says Mnangagwa is too loyal to Mugabe
Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo told United States ambassador Christopher Dell that Emmerson Mnangagwa, considered one of the front-runners to succeed President Robert Mugabe, was too loyal to Mugabe to upset the cart. He even cited a joke that was doing the rounds in Harare that when Vice-President Joseph Msika told Mnangagwa that he and Mugabe were stepping down, Mnangagwa told him he would step down too.
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