Finance Minister Tendai Biti demanded that cabinet should investigate central bank governor Gideon Gono over the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s US$1.2 billion debt.
Biti had been seeking without success the removal of Gono.
The appointments of Gono and attorney-general Johannes Tomana was now one of the outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement.
But Biti told United States ambassador James McGhee that the issue of Gono was merely academic.
“We have dealt with his mischief,” he said.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE342, ZIM NOTES 04-17-2009
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO9457
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0342/01 1170735
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270735Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4417
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2272
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2793
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2912
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1357
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2177
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2542
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2960
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5401
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2086
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000342
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 04-17-2009
———–
¶1. SUMMARY
———–
Topics of the week:
– Stalemate Continues…
– Biti Demands Investigation of Gono, Travels to U.S…
– Ministerial Visit Fails to Quell Disruptions at Farms…
– Constitutional Committee Still Lacks a Chair…
– Political Detainees Rearrested…
– Kunonga vs. Bakare – The Battles Against the Anglican Church
Continue…
– While Anglican Priests Face Charges…
– Media Groups Slam Proposed Media Conference…
– Germany Lifts Travel Warning…
– Gono Admits to Raiding Bank Accounts…
– Old Mutual to Pay Pensions in Foreign Exchange…
– Credit Crunch May Force Government to Sell Parastatals…
– Zimbabwe’s Passport Fees Reduced…
– Activity Picks Up On the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)…
—————————–
On the Political/Social Front
——————————
¶2. Stalemate Continues… The GOZ’s executive committee,
consisting of President Robert Mugabe and his two vice-presidents
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his two deputy prime
ministers met on Thursday for the second time this week to resolve
outstanding issues. The principals will brief their parties this
weekend and resume discussions on Monday.
¶3. Biti Demands Investigation of Gono, Travels to U.S… Minister
of Finance Tendai Biti reportedly demanded that Cabinet investigate
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono over the RBZ’s US$1.2
billion debt. Biti has been seeking, without success, Gono’s
removal as governor. Biti is in Washington, DC for Spring IMF/World
Bank meetings this weekend, and for meetings with U.S. officials.
¶4. Ministerial Visit Fails to Quell Disruptions at Farms…
Violent incidents continued to occur at several disputed
Chegutu-area farms following visits by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara and other high-ranking government ministers on April 17.
Police shot two employees of the Stockdale Farm, which is being
contested by Senate President Edna Madzongwe and the owner, Peter
Etheredge. The two were rushed to a Harare hospital; one lost part
of his leg. Last week Madzongwe’s supporters beat to death an area
resident attempting to steal fruit from a tree. At a different farm
an employee was thrown into a fire, but survived. At four other
Chegutu farms, a mix of war veterans and youth broke locks to gain
entry, destroyed personal property, and barred access to farm
employers and employees. During his visit, Mutambara had strongly
criticized the invaders and ordered them to leave and allow the
courts to determine ownership. See Harare 333.
¶5. Constitutional Committee Still Lacks a Chair… The three
political leaders (Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara) have still not
determined who should lead the Select Constitutional Committee
responsible for directing the process to a new constitution. The
dispute is over whether it should be led by a parliamentarian or an
independent individual. In the interim, the committee will be
Qindependent individual. In the interim, the committee will be
co-chaired by two MPs: Douglas Mwonzora of the MDC-T and Munyaradzi
Mangwana of ZANU-PF. Attempting to defuse civil society’s
opposition to the drafting process, Prime Minister Tsvangirai met
with the head of the National Constitutional Assembly, Lovemore
Madhuku, on April 22. According to independent press reports, the
two men failed to reconcile differences.
HARARE 00000342 002 OF 003
¶6. Political Detainees Rearrested… After being released on bail
on April 17 and while being treated for injuries at the Avenues
Clinic in Harare, two of the last three identified MDC political
detainees were once again placed under armed guard at the clinic.
According to the detainee’s lawyer, the guards said that Gandhi
Mudzingwa and Chris Dhlamini would remain in police custody. A
manhunt has begun for freelance photographer Andrison Manyere who
left the hospital after bail was granted. The State belatedly
appealed bail, allowing the police to resume guarding Mudzingwa and
Dhlamini. An additional seven unidentified abductees remain
unaccounted for. See Harare 332.
¶7. Kunonga vs. Bakare – The Battles Against the Anglican Church
Continue… While poloff was meeting with a group of Anglican
priests on April 21, one received a call that his church in
Avondale, Harare was being cleaned out by supporters of ZANU-PF
stalwart, excommunicated former Bishop Kunonga. At the church,
about 30 Kunonga supporters and suspected ZANU-PF youths were
outside the building piling up office furniture, files, and even
little red and blue chairs from the church preschool. While
claiming to have a court order supporting the eviction, the
Kunonga-affiliated rector could not produce it. Police refused to
stop the Kunonga group. The first item the Kunonga supporters moved
in was a large photo of Robert Mugabe. This comes less than two
weeks after the co-ministers of Home Affairs directed the two
factions to share church property.
¶8. While Anglican Priests Face Charges… After being arrested on
March 29 while attempting to hold church services in the Harare
suburb of Glen Norah, six defendants (a priest, a student priest, a
church youth leader, a church warden, and two parishioners) loyal to
Bakare appeared in court on April 20 to face charges of disturbing
the peace and inciting violence. When the police witnesses for the
prosecution did not show up, the case was remanded (for a second
time) to April 23. The State presented their cse on April 23 and
the hearing was adjourned after several hours until April 27 when
the church will present its case and the priests will testify.
¶9. Media Groups Slam Proposed Media Conference… Civil society
groups Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe, MISA Zimbabwe, and the Africa Community Publishing
Development Trust have described the proposed government-sponsored
media conference agenda as “fatally compromised and anathema to
media freedom and the principles of the Global Political Agreement.”
The media conference whose theme is “Towards an Open, Tolerant and
Responsible Media Environment” is scheduled for May 6 to 8 in
Nyanga, Manicaland. The groups contend that most of the proposed
facilitators and presenters are “hostile to media freedom and the
free flow of information within Zimbabwe.”
¶10. Germany Lifts Travel Warning… On April 21, Germany announced
Q10. Germany Lifts Travel Warning… On April 21, Germany announced
it was lifting its travel warnings to Zimbabwe. This follows recent
announcements by both the U.S. and Japan to remove travel
advisories.
———————————–
On the Economic and Business Front
———————————-
¶11. Gono Admits to Raiding Bank Accounts… Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono admitted on April 20 that he took hard currency from the
bank accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without
permission, but with government authorization, saying he was trying
to keep his country’s cash-strapped ministries running. Gono also
published in the Herald a detailed accounting of all the cars his
ministry purchased and to which ministries they were sent. Gono is
trying to make the case that all his actions were sanctioned by the
government to assist the government.
¶12. Old Mutual to Pay Pensions in Foreign Exchange… Old Mutual
HARARE 00000342 003 OF 003
advised pensioners that it will pay pensions in foreign currency in
June. Old Mutual had suspended pension payments in January 2009,
citing lack of liquidity arising from the suspension of trading on
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. It is not yet clear how much
pensioners will receive given the current market liquidity
constraints.
¶13. Credit Crunch May Force Government to Sell Parastatals… The
Herald on April 22 reported on its website that Zimbabwe is
considering selling some state-owned enterprises in order to raise
money to fund the economic recovery process. The notice goes on to
state that the Finance Minister and the Minister of State
Enterprises will table this proposal at a Cabinet meeting the week
of April 26.
¶14. Zimbabwe’s Passport Fees Reduced… Following a public outcry
over exorbitant fees, the Home Affairs ministry instructed the
Registrar-General to reduce passport fees from US$670 to US$170 for
a standard passport, US$310 for a 24-hour passport and US$385 for an
express passport. According to the co-ministers of Home Affairs, the
new fees will continue to be reviewed downwards, as they remain
higher than those of neighboring countries.
¶15. Activity Picks Up On the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)…
After months of very low trading on the local bourse, activity
picked up strongly during the past eight days with most stocks
recording significant gains. According to Emmanuel Munyukwi, the
CEO of the ZSE, this rise has been underpinned by the restoration of
foreign trading of dual-listed companies.
—————–
Quote of the Week
—————–
¶16. “They will not vote against Zimbabwe at the WB, IMF, and IFC.
They will behave well.” — Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
after meeting with British Ambassador Andrew Pocock on April 23.
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