Movement for Democratic Change treasurer Roy Bennett said the party was good at campaigning but it lacked a cadre of people who knew how to run a government.
He told the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray about the MDC’s inability to deliver the goods to the people despite its strong ability to campaign on 2 February 2010 and said there was a need to refocus external assistance more toward institution building and strengthening civil society.
The MDC under Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership had a tremendous amount of popularity throughout the country, in part due to Tsvangirai’s sincerity and humility, and in part due to ZANU-PF arrogance and lack of concern for the common citizen.
Bennett said Western aid had a strong focus on the MDC as a party. While this had been appreciated, it had not done enough to build the party’s capacity to provide government services or manage the bureaucracy.
He said that MDC-T had been unfocused. The Office of the Prime Minister was weak and the party had been left largely unattended as party stalwarts such as Tendai Biti were occupied with government.
Bennett said the party’s standing committee had resolved that elections should take place in 2011.
Ray in his commentary said:”Bennett is an MDC hardliner who has been frustrated with the MDC’s progress in the coalition government and in party building. While he was encouraged by the determination of the Standing Committee to take a more assertive approach vis-a-vis ZANU-PF, we have seen this scenario before.
“Hardliners in the party convince Tsvangirai to be more assertive. He agrees, there is a flurry of activity, and then MDC-T falls back into the same dance with ZANU-PF. We’ll see if this time is any different.”
Full cable:
Viewing cable 10HARARE83, Conversations with MDC-T Minister-in-Waiting Roy Bennett
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO6225
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0083/01 0351445
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041445Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0009
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0001
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0001
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0001
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0001
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000083
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALSH
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/04
SUBJECT: Conversations with MDC-T Minister-in-Waiting Roy Bennett
CLASSIFIED BY: Charles A. Ray, Ambassador, STATE, EXEC; REASON:
1.4(B), (D)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (C) MDC-T Finance Chairman Roy Bennett told the Ambassador
that while the MDC is good at campaigning, it lacks a cadre of
people who know how to run a government. While much of U.S. and
other Western support has focused on the party, there is a
compelling need for institution building. Apart from the MDC,
Bennett acknowledged that ZANU-PF will be involved in a future
Zimbabwe; the challenge is to identify those in ZANU-PF who can
play constructive roles, and to find ways to bolster them against
extremists.
¶2. (C) In a separate conversation with polecon chief, Bennett
focused on MDC-T strategy. MDC-T has concluded that the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) is deadlocked. The MDC-T Standing
Committee has resolved to make a last effort to negotiate with
ZANU-PF, and then appeal to SADC. But it expects little assistance
in that forum and will focus on elections which it would like to
see occur next year. Bennett also discussed perceptions of MDC-T
corruption. END SUMMARY.
¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador discussed MDC-T with Bennett at a dinner
hosted by the British ambassador for visiting UK parliamentarians
on February 1. Attending the dinner, in addition to the usual cast
of Western diplomats, were representatives of the coalition
government, including the deputy foreign minister, and Bennett, the
MDC-T Finance Chairman. Polecon chief met separately with Bennett
on February 2.
——————————————— —
MDC WEAKNESS IS IN GOVERNING, NOT IN CAMPAIGNING
——————————————— —
¶4. (C) Bennett talked with the Ambassador about MDC-T’s inability
to ‘deliver the goods’ to the people, despite its strong ability to
campaign; he saw a need to refocus external assistance more toward
institution building and strengthening civil society. He said the
MDC-T under Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership had a tremendous amount
of popularity throughout the country, in part due to Tsvangirai’s
sincerity and humility, and in part due to ZANU-PF arrogance and
lack of concern for the common citizen. The party was very good at
campaigning, but lacked a strong bench in terms of governing.
Campaigning was limited to a degree by a paucity of resources.
Bennett said, for instance, in one province, with several hundred
thousand voters, the party had only one vehicle to transport
campaign workers around. Hardly any of the MDC ministers had any
previous experience in administration, and the few with any
capability were overstretched.
———————————-
NEED FOR MORE THAN GOOD INTENTIONS
———————————-
¶5. (C) According to Bennett, Western aid (primarily EU and U.S.)
has had a strong focus on the MDC as a party. While this has been
appreciated, it has not done enough to build the party’s capacity
to provide government services or manage the bureaucracy. He said
he understood the limitations on working with elements of the
HARARE 00000083 002 OF 003
government because of sanctions and ZDERA, but without more
capacity building, democratic reform would be delayed even longer.
He also said there was a compelling need to do more to build civil
society. While there are a number of civil society organizations
in Zimbabwe, there is no mass civil consciousness that can act as a
counterweight to ZANU-PF depredations. (COMMENT: What also seems
to be lacking is a sense of interconnectedness among all the
various civil society groups. The culture of fear and violence
that has been created over the past several decades has so cowed
the general population that tens of thousands of people can be
intimidated by the murder or beating of a few hundred. END
COMMENT.) Bennett contrasted Zimbabwe with South Africa where,
although apartheid was as odious as the colonial exploitation was
here, there was at least the pretense of a black society that was
along side but separate from the whites. In Zimbabwe there was not
even the pretense – blacks had been seen as merely labor to be
exploited, and coloreds as caudal appendages that were tolerated as
long as they didn’t make trouble. The result is that in South
Africa there is a strong and vibrant civil society that the West
concentrated on building during apartheid, and while there is
likely to be ethnic strife, the country will most likely survive
it.
¶6. (SBU) Bennett said that Mugabe and ZANU-PF did not actually
create this culture of a privileged few lording it over the masses
(this was done by British colonial masters and the Ian Smith
regime), but they have adopted it lock, stock, and barrel. If
there is ever to be sustainable progress in this country, he said,
in addition to building a strong, responsive governance capacity,
the people must be taught their civic rights and be empowered to
demand them.
¶7. (C) Western support for Mugabe and ZANU in the 1960s and
1980s, Bennett said, can be understood in the context of the Cold
War. The slaughter of Ndebeles in Matabeleland was viewed as an
internal incident less important than the chess game between the
USSR and the West, and the killing and dispossessing of ZAPU went
unremarked because ZAPU was supported by the USSR, the West’s main
enemy at the time. In the same vein, revulsion at ZANU-PF for
events since the late 1990s, particularly the violence associated
with farm invasions and the election-related killings, is
understandable. This should not, however, blind the West to the
fact that ZANU-PF will not go away. There are in ZANU-PF, people
who want to see progress, but they have no power to influence
events. We need to do a better job of identifying them, and
finding ways, without compromising or endangering them, to empower
them with a view to a future multi-party country and a need to
recognize that wishing for a future Zimbabwe without ZANU-PF is
naC/ve and counterproductive.
————–
MDC-T Strategy
————–
¶8. (C) Bennett told polecon chief that MDC-T had been unfocused.
The Office of the Prime Minister was weak and the party had been
left largely unattended as party stalwarts such as Tendai Biti were
occupied with government. Two weeks ago, according to Bennett, the
MDC-T Standing Committee, consisting of the top 12 ranking
officials, held a series of strategy sessions to address these
issues.
¶9. (C) The party concluded that ZANU-PF would not allow it to
effectively participate in government; it therefore resolved to
focus its efforts on the party in order to build it and prepare for
elections. MDC-T, according to Bennett, believes there will be no
significant progress on the GPA and that there is a stalemate. It
has not yet been declared a deadlock because it wants the Media,
HARARE 00000083 003 OF 003
Electoral, and Human Rights Commissions established before it does
so – it is concerned that declaring a deadlock first would cause
Mugabe to backtrack on the commissions. MDC-T’s plan after it does
declare a deadlock is to appeal to SADC. It believes SADC will be
unsuccessful in moving Mugabe. The next step will be to press for
elections.
¶10. (C) Bennett told us that the Standing Committee also discussed
the Marange diamond situation and resolved to take a firm stand.
He acknowledged that Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Minister of Mines,
is close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and is possibly
corrupt. Turning to the issue of corruption, Bennett said there
were rumors about several MDC-T ministers, but the party could not
act on rumors. He admitted, however, that the perception of
corruption was harmful. He was aware of reports that Tsvangirai
was buying a US$1 million house in Harare. Bennett said he
investigated and discovered that two individuals associated with
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had proposed buying
the house for Tsvangirai. Bennett said he urged Tsvangirai to turn
off the arrangement and Tsvangirai agreed. Tsvangirai had,
however, accepted two vehicles from these individuals.
¶11. (C) Bennett said the Standing Committee had resolved that
elections take place in 2011. He admitted that most MDC-T
parliamentarians were opposed to this, but said the party
leadership would prevail over the desires of parliamentarians or
the rank and file. We noted that a couple of weeks ago, Tsvangirai
had said the country was not ready for early elections, but had
apparently reversed course in Davos and supported 2011 elections.
Bennett said the party leadership had always supported 2011
elections; but despite party decisions, Tsvangirai had a tendency
to publicly take inconsistent positions.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶12. (C) Bennett is an MDC “hardliner” who has been frustrated with
the MDC’s progress in the coalition government and in party
building. While he was encouraged by the determination of the
Standing Committee to take a more assertive approach vis-C -vis
ZANU-PF, we have seen this scenario before. Hardliners in the
party convince Tsvangirai to be more assertive. He agrees, there
is a flurry of activity, and then MDC-T falls back into the same
dance with ZANU-PF. We’ll see if this time is any different. END
COMMENT.
RAY
(42 VIEWS)
