Chiyangwa indicted on espionage charges

Chinhoyi Member of Parliament Phillip Chiyangwa was indicted on unspecified charges relating to espionage.

He was indicted together with ZANU-PF deputy director for External Affairs Itai Mach, ambassador to Mozambique and former Consul-General in South Africa Godfrey Dzvairo, and Metropolitan Bank secretary Tendai Matambanadzo.

Chiyangwa had reportedly suffered a stroke during questioning and was taken to St. Giles hospital for rehabilitation but a United States embassy contact reported seeing a badly beaten Chiyangwa at St. Giles and reported that he was in fear of his life.

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Viewing cable 04HARARE2090, RULING PARTY SETS DATE FOR PRIMARIES AMIDST MORE

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002090

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR B. NEULING

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2009

TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ZI ZANU PF

SUBJECT: RULING PARTY SETS DATE FOR PRIMARIES AMIDST MORE

INTRA-PARTY FERMENT

REF: (A) HARARE 2063 (B) HARARE 2001 (C) HARARE 73

Classified By: Classified by Charge d’Affaires Eric Schultz under Secti

on 1.5 b/d

¶1. (U) SUMMARY: ZANU-PF announced that it will conduct its

primaries for the March national parliamentary elections on

January 15. Intra-party violence has already begun to rise.

Fights between supporters of two sitting ZANU-PF MPs and the

supporters of their party rivals in two hotly-contested seats

resulted in the arrest of a number of partisans, including

the two MPs. All of those arrested were quickly released.

Separately, four prominent party figures have been

incarcerated on unspecified charges associated with suspected

espionage, according to press reports. END SUMMARY.

—————————————

ZANU-PF Primaries Announced

—————————————

¶2. (U) ZANU-PF National Commissar Elliott Manyika announced

December 28 that the party’s parliamentary primaries would be

conducted on January 15. According to local press reports,

Manyika said that candidates would be limited to members of

provincial executives, the National Consultative Assembly, or

the Central Committee. In addition, sitting members of

Parliament could run provided there were no disciplinary

cases pending against them.

¶3. (U ) Manyika was also reported to have said that at least

one third of the constituencies would be occupied by women

without, however, explaining the means by which such a quota

would be met. He also reiterated the admonition of President

Mugabe and other senior party officials that political

violence, including intra-party violence, would not be

tolerated. Manyika made no mention of a requirement that

candidates must have been members of the party for at least

five years — a measure rumored to be under consideration in

order to exclude certain “Young Turks,” such as discredited

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo.

————————

Intra-party Violence

————————

¶4. (U) Despite Mugabe,s admonition, political violence

ticked up this past week, principally within ZANU-PF. On

December 26, a scuffle broke out between supporters of two

rival ZANU-PF candidates for the Makonde seat (Mashonaland

West): the incumbent Kindness Paradza (publisher of the

shuttered Tribune newspaper) and the President’s nephew, Leo

Mugabe. The scuffle resulted in the arrest of Paradza and

two of his supporters as well as four of Leo Mugabe’s

supporters on December 27. All were released on bail the

following day. Paradza became the second sitting ZANU-PF

legislator arrested this month. Earlier in December,

Hurungwe West MP Mark Madiro was arrested following

skirmishes between his supporters and the supporters of

Cecilia Gwachiwa, a ZANU-PF rival for his seat.

—————-

Other Arrests

—————-

¶5. (S/NF) The GOZ-controlled Herald newspaper reported on

December 30 that four prominent figures had been indicted on

December 29 on unspecified charges relating to their

involvement in espionage: Chinhoyi MP and ZANU-PF Provincial

Chairman for Mashonaland West Philip Chiyangwa (who is also

indirectly related to President Mugabe), ZANU-PF Deputy

Director for External Affairs Itai Mach, Ambassador to

Mozambique and former Consul-General in South Africa Godfrey

Dzvairo, and Metropolitan Bank Secretary Tendai Matambanadzo.

Local newspapers reported that Chiyangwa suffered a stroke

during questioning and was taken to St. Giles hospital for

rehabilitation. However, one Embassy contact reported seeing

a badly beaten Chiyangwa at St. Giles, and reported that he

was in fear for his life. Earlier press reports indicated

that ZANU-PF Deputy Security Chief Kenny Karidza had been

seized with the others for questioning in mid-December but he

was not named among the indicted. Earlier press reports also

fingered the British and Israelis as the “hostile foreign

powers” that had suborned those detained, although the latest

Herald reporting curiously omitted mention of any foreign

government. Sensitive reporting indicates that South Africa

was the only government involved.

———–

Comment

———–

¶6. (C) The recent arrests and general bloodletting within

the ZANU-PF in the run-up to and aftermath of the Party

Congress (ref A) testify further to the brittleness of party

unity and will fuel simmering intra-party resentments and

paranoia. The GOZ will likely portray the arrest of these

and other alleged perpetrators of violence to SADC as

evidence of its intent to conduct a peaceful election in

accord with SADC election principles. However, we fully

expect political violence to increase (including against the

MDC should it re-enter the race) in the run-up to elections.

And consistent with historical patterns here, those who

retaliate or defend themselves (be they ZANU-PF or MDC) will

often get punished more than those who initiated the

violence.

¶7. (S/NF) The implications of the espionage case are

potentially far-reaching. It will certainly add to the

paralyzing witch-hunt atmosphere within the party,

particularly since the GOZ has not divulged details about the

case that would put to rest the many rumors circulating.

With respect to foreign policy, the GOZ can be expected to

keep quiet about South Africa,s role in order to exert

additional leverage on Pretoria, including in scripting SADC

engagement on Zimbabwe’s elections.

SCHULTZ

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