Roy Bennett said the mass stay-away that was organised by the Movement for Democratic Change was a success, but it suffered from organisational problems because the party had funded two separate groups which ended up competing against each other.
MDC Action Committees received funding from party headquarters to plan for the mass action and organise at the local level.
Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s special advisor Gandi Mudzingwa spearheaded the creation of these committees to organise for the mass action, but these committees were set up alongside existing party structures.
The two groups competed against one another for funding and control, and significant resentment arose. In some cases, each group informed police of the other’s activities and police subsequently cracked down on one or the other, negating both groups’ efforts to organise the people for mass action.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 03HARARE1359, MDC OFFICIALS REFLECT ON MASS ACTION – SUCCESSES
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
031446Z Jul 03
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001359
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY
PARIS FOR C. NEARY
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER
BANGKOK FOR WIN DAYTON
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013
SUBJECT: MDC OFFICIALS REFLECT ON MASS ACTION – SUCCESSES
AND FAILURES
REF: A. HARARE 1161
¶B. HARARE 1149
¶C. HARARE 1136
¶D. HARARE 1122
¶E. HARARE 1101
Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d
Summary
——-
¶1. (C) MDC Presidential Advisor Gandi Mudzingwa and MDC MP
Roy Bennett both said recently that the June mass action was
a success overall, but suffered from organizational problems
that the party is resolving. Mudzingwa thought the problems
were due to too many MPs becoming involved in key
decision-making, but Bennett said parallel local MDC
structures competed for resources, preventing adequate
organizing for the mass action. It would appear that
although the MDC would like to send the outward message that
the June mass action was a resounding success, they
acknowledge organizational and command and control problems
that detracted from its overall impact. End Summary.
Too Many Cooks
————–
¶2. (C) Mudzingwa said the MDC viewed the June mass action as
a success primarily because it forced Mugabe to use security
forces against the populace. This was a sign that Mugabe
acknowledges that the populace in sufficient numbers is
sufficiently willing to protest so as to require a show of
military force to prevent public protest. Gandi said that in
contrast to the previous mass action, over which he had
primary command and control, this most recent mass action
suffered from too many others becoming involved in key
decision-making. As a result of the success of the March
2003 stayaway, many MDC MPs wanted to get into the limelight,
and in on decision-making, for the June mass action. Hence
some bad decisions were made; in particular, public comments
(like Tsvangirai’s “Final Push” speech) were not cleared
properly. Though scolding those responsible would be
destructive at this point, Gandi said the party did have a
plan to sort out decision-making and planning was already
underway for future mass action.
Parallel Local Structures Counterproductive
——————————————-
¶3. (C) On July 2 MDC MP Roy Bennett told Poloff the June mass
action was a success, but suffered from organizational
problems. MDC Action Committees received funding from party
headquarters to plan for the mass action and organize at the
local level. Bennett said that Mudzingwa spearheaded the
creation of these committees in February 2002 to organize for
the March 2003 mass action. Bennett said these committees
were set up alongside existing party structures. The two
groups apparently competed against one another for funding
and control, and significant resentment arose. In some
cases, each group informed police of the other’s activities
and police subsequently cracked down on one or the other,
negating both groups’ efforts to organize the people for mass
action. According to Bennett, the Zimbabwean people heeded
the call to protest, but the party leaders and organizers did
not show up in significant numbers to galvanize people who
had gathered into marches. Bennett said this problem has led
to resentment between some elected MPs and Mudzingwa and
technocrats under his leadership. The issue was hotly
debated at the recent MDC executive meeting, and the two
local structures are subsequently being incorporated and the
MDC’s reach hopefully deepened in the process. Bennett also
confirmed that future mass actions were being planned.
Comment:
——–
¶4. (C) It appears that although the MDC would like to send
the outward message that the June mass action was a
resounding success, they acknowledge internally that there
were shortcomings in its organization that detracted from its
overall impact. The Party’s message leading up to the mass
action was ambiguous and led to exaggerated expectations of
what could be achieved and consequent disappointment that no
breakthrough in Zimbabwe’s crisis was achieved. It would
also appear there are internal power struggles and
differences of opinion which need to be resolved before the
party undertakes further mass action. End Comment.
SULLIVAN
(473 VIEWS)
