Movement for Democratic Change treasurer Roy Bennett who was facing charges if terrorism, banditry and illegally possessing firearms had his trial date set for October 13.
Bennett, the MDC’s deputy Minister of Agriculture designate, was sworn in as a senator but President Robert Mugabe refused to swear him in as deputy Minister.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE554, ZIM NOTES 07-02-2009
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO6402
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0554/01 1870703
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060703Z JUL 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4689
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2339
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2931
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3049
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1478
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2312
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2679
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3097
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5540
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2227
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000554
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND J. HARMON
COMMERCE FOR ROBERT TELCHIN
SIPDIS
E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 07-02-2009
———–
¶1. SUMMARY
———–
Topics of the week:
– MDC Boycotts Cabinet…
– Makoni Launches Opposition Party…
– Chiadzwa Abuses Exposed…
– …As KP Visit Begins…
– Bennett Trial Set for October…
– No UZ Grads in 2009?
– The End of School Fees?
– Senator Offers $30 Child Support…
– MP Mudiwa Sentenced to Seven Years…
– Expand VOA? Not Yet…
– Biti to Present Mid-term Fiscal Review…
– Crops Shortfalls Projected…
– Recovery Threatened by High Wage Demands…
– Wheat Farmers Allocated Electricity…
– Olivine Receives Soya from China…
– Government Secures US$60 Million For Tobacco…
—————————–
On the Political/Social Front
——————————
¶2. MDC Boycotts Cabinet… MDC Ministers staged a boycott of this
week’s Cabinet meeting after ZANU-PF leaders moved it up a day from
Tuesday to Monday. According to Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani
Khupe, the change was made to prevent Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who
had not yet returned to Zimbabwe, from chairing Cabinet on Tuesday
while President Mugabe was attending the AU Summit in Libya. Khupe
seized on the issue to issue a strongly-worded statement criticizing
ZANU-PF’s refusal to finalize long outstanding issues, unilateral
decision making, continued manipulation of the media, and overall
disrespect for the MDC. In a noted departure from Tsvangirai’s
repeated assurances that the MDC-T would stick it out, Khupe
reserved her party’s right to disengage from the government. Upon
his return, Tsvangirai issued his own statement endorsing Khupe’s
statement, criticizing obstructionists in government, and calling
for resolution of Global Political Agreement outstanding issues.
¶3. Makoni Launches Opposition Party… Former ZANU-PF finance
minister and 2008 independent presidential candidate, Simba Makoni,
launched his opposition party Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) on June 30
in Harare. The event drew several hundred people consisting
primarily of university students. Makoni justified the formation of
another political party in Zimbabwe as an opportunity to “open up
more political space in Zimbabwe.” Makoni criticized the
performance of the inclusive government thus far, and referred to
the MDC as part of the ruling party. The MKD got off to a rocky
start last month when several senior officials of the then
“movement” left the MKD after accusing Makoni of abuse of election
funds and donated vehicles.
¶4. Chiadzwa Abuses Exposed… Human Rights Watch published a
damning report, “Diamonds in the Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the
Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe,” detailing smuggling and human
rights abuses perpetrated by the Zimbabwean military and other
government officials. The report calls on the Kimberley Process
(KP) to revoke Zimbabwe’s KP certification. Although Zimbabwean
officials deny the abuses, this week the MDC called for an
investigation into the allegations. See: http://www.hrw.org/en
Qinvestigation into the allegations. See: http://www.hrw.org/en
/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough-0.
¶5. …As KP Visit Begins… A delegation from the Kimberley
Process is in Zimbabwe this week to examine Zimbabwe’s compliance
with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. The delegation,
led by the Liberian Deputy Minister of Planning and Development
HARARE 00000554 002 OF 003
Kpandel Fayia, has met with officials from the national and local
governments, traditional leaders, NGOs, and private mining
executives and toured diamond mining facilities at Chiadzwa.
¶6. Bennett Trial Set for October… Senior MDC-T official and
Deputy Agriculture Minister-Designate Roy Bennett appeared in court
for a routine hearing on July 1. Prosecutor Michael Mugabe set
October 13 as the trial date for Bennett to face charges of
terrorism, banditry, and illegally possessing firearms.
¶7. No UZ Grads in 2009? Zimbabwe’s flagship public university,
the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), will not be graduating any students
in 2009. Except for a few weeks in February, UZ has not opened for
undergraduate studies this year, citing lack of water and
sanitation. However, a protracted political and policy battle
between Vice Chancellor Nyagura and Minister of Higher Education
Mudenge over the lack of a UZ budget or mechanism to pay the faculty
is a primary reason the UZ’s doors remain closed. For an overview
of education in Zimbabwe, see a new report by the Institute for
Democracy in Africa: http://www.idasa.org.za/index.asp
?page=output_details.asp%3FRID
%3D1839%26OTID%3D2%26PID%3D54.
¶8. The End of School Fees? In a policy reversal this week,
Minister of Education Coltart announced that the government will
waive schools fees for all primary and secondary students attending
government schools. Since the main expense for parents remains
school-determined levies as opposed to the centralized school fees,
it remains unclear how this policy will affect students’ ability to
attend school and whether it will equally apply to students
attending low-density, high-density and rural schools.
¶9. Senator Offers $30 Child Support… Murehwa Senator Tendai
Makunde (ZANU-PF) appeared in a civil court case this week brought
by a 20-year-old woman seeking financial maintenance for their
four-year-old child. According to local press reports, Makunde (in
his 60s) fathered the child with Cynthia Mateyu when she was just
¶16. Although Makunde initially offered Mateyu $30, the presiding
magistrate ordered him to pay $350 per month, noting that Makunde
also owns a farm and earns more than his $100 senatorial allowance.
During the hearing, Mateyu told the court that Makunde had “too many
girlfriends.”
¶10. MP Mudiwa Sentenced to Seven Years… Mutare West MP Shua
Mudiwa was ordered to spend four and a half years in prison for
allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in late 2007; two and a half
years of his seven-year sentence were suspended. Mudiwa remains in
jail pending appeal. Mudiwa is the MP for the area that includes
the Chiadzwa diamond fields. See Harare 522.
¶11. Expand VOA? Not Yet… Representatives from the Broadcast
Board of Governors (BBG) visited Zimbabwe and met with numerous
officials, although they were rebuffed by Minister of Information
Webster Shamu. ZANU-PF figures including Shamu continue to
QWebster Shamu. ZANU-PF figures including Shamu continue to
criticize current Voice of America programming. Accordingly,
prospective license holders fear that public connections to USG
programs could jeopardize their chances of getting licenses. See
Harare 549.
———————————–
On the Economic and Business Front
———————————-
¶12. Biti to Present Mid-term Fiscal Review… Finance Minister Biti
says he will present the mid-term fiscal review on July 16, 2009.
The minister hinted that there will be a review of taxes; industry
has expressed its desire to see a simplification of the process of
issuing export permits and a review of the timeframe for remitting
value added taxes from mid-month to end of month in order to improve
market liquidity.
HARARE 00000554 003 OF 003
¶13. Crops Shortfalls Projected… Based on several crop
projections, 1.4 million people to 2.8 million Zimbabweans will
require food assistance during the 2009/10 consumption period. See
Harare 530.
¶14. Recovery Threatened by High Wage Demands… Although
manufacturing firms want to reinstate efficiency in operations,
worker demands for higher wages is becoming a critical challenge.
The hyperinflationary mindset remains among workers despite price
stability brought about by dollarization. See Harare 531.
¶15. Wheat Farmers Allocated Electricity… The Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (ZESA) has allocated 300 mega watts to this year’s
wheat growers to enable them to irrigate their crops without
interruptions caused by power cuts. Farmers will pay a tariff of
7.53 US cents per kilowatt which will enable both farmers and ZESA
to remain viable.
¶16. Olivine Receives Soya from China… China donated 4,000 tons of
soya bean seed worth US$500,000 to Zimbabwe which will be processed
by Olivine Industries. The managing director of Olivine Industries
said the donation, which is equivalent to a month’s supply of seed
to the company, will yield 500 tons of oil, or half the national
requirement per month.
¶17. Government Secures US$60 Million For Tobacco… Government
secured US$60 million from the African Export-Import (Afrexim) Bank
to boost tobacco production. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the
amount will be disbursed through a consortium of local banks.
However, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association says the industry requires
US$120 million to increase output from the expected 42 million kgs
in 2009 to 75 million kgs in 2010.
——————
Quotes of the Week
——————
¶18. “It is time that for Christ’s sake toxicity and insanity are
removed from the GPA.” — Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe,
explaining the MDC boycott of parliament on June 29, 2009.
¶19. “The new government could generate significant amounts of
revenue from the diamonds, perhaps as much as US$200 million per
month, if Marange and other mining centers were managed in a
transparent and accountable manner. This revenue could fund a
significant portion of the new government’s economic recovery
program, which would benefit ordinary villagers like the residents
of Marange.” — Human Rights Watch Report, “Diamonds in the Rough:
Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe” June
26, 2009.
MCGEE
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