Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who ran the government’s propaganda machine from 2000 to 2005 when he was expelled from the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, was back in familiar territory as he blasted the Movement for Democratic Change and sought to be readmitted to ZANU-PF.
Moyo together with the state-controlled media claimed that the MDC was paying huge salaries to individuals in the Prime Minister’s office with funding from the World Bank and donors in what they said was a parallel government.
The MDC they claimed wanted sanctions, which were responsible for Zimbabwe’s predicament, to stay.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE736, TSVANGIRAI SPEAKS OUT, CONFRONTS MUGABE
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
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VZCZCXRO7083
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0736/01 2591416
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 161416Z SEP 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4902
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3029
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3144
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1573
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2407
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2776
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3192
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5637
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2320
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000736
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B.WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2019
SUBJECT: TSVANGIRAI SPEAKS OUT, CONFRONTS MUGABE
Classified By: CDA Donald Petterson for reason 1.4 (d)
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SUMMARY
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¶1. (C) Facing strong crticism from his party for being too
conciliatory, Prime Minister and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
delivered a hard-hitting speech, directed at ZANU-PF, at the
MDC’s 10th anniversary celebration on September 13 in
Bulawayo. Two days later, in a short and tense meeting with
President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai challenged Mugabe on his
failure to comply with the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Meanwhile, ZANU-PF has raised the level of rhetoric against
the MDC by alleging that it is establishing a donor-funded
parallel government and that it is colluding with the West on
the issue of sanctions. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) Tsvangirai met last week with the MDC national
council, the executive committee (comprised of about 20 top
officials), and the standing committee (comprised of about 10
top advisers) and heard the same message: Despite having won
the election, he was failing to exercise strong leadership
and was acting too conciliatory toward Mugabe. (NOTE:
Privately, we have heard the same observations from ZANU-PF
reformers and MDC-M officials. END NOTE.) They urged him to
be more assertive, particularly with respect to the GPA. In
its meeting, the national council resolved to consult the MDC
rank and file on the “sustainability and worthiness” of the
GPA.
¶3. (U) Apparently in response, Tsvangirai delivered a
hard-hitting speech in Bulawayo on September 13 in
celebration of the MDC’s 10th anniversary. He told an
estimated 35,000 people, inter alia: “For the past seven
months we in the MDC have shown respect, conciliation and
understanding to ZANU-PF and what have we got in return?
Nothing. They continue to act with arrogance, forgetting
that it was they who lost the March election and that they
are only in this agreement as we formed this government for
the well-being of the people of Zimbabwe. They continue to
violate the law, persecute our people, spread the language of
hate, invade productive farms, ignore our international
treaties and continue to loot our national resources. This
must stop now…”
¶4. (C) On September 14, according to several MDC sources,
Tsvangirai had his weekly one-on-one meeting with Mugabe. In
the tense, 15-minute meeting, Tsvangirai confronted Mugabe
with his failure to comply with the GPA, told him that future
meetings between the two would serve no purpose if they did
not result in progress, and indicated the MDC would review
its place in government. Taken aback, Mugabe requested
another meeting with Tsvangirai at which he promised to
review the names for the Media Commission. (NOTE:
Parliament has furnished a list of names to Mugabe for
appointment to the Media Commission which is the body that
will be responsible for licensing newspapers and accrediting
journalists. Mugabe has been sitting on the list. END
NOTE.) This meeting is now scheduled for September 17.
QNOTE.) This meeting is now scheduled for September 17.
¶5. (C) In the past week, ZANU-PF, through ZANU-PF-controlled
media, has raised the level of rhetoric against the MDC. Led
by former Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo (who has
reapplied for ZANU-PF membership after leaving the party in
2005 and becoming a ZANU-PF critic), ZANU-PF has alleged that
the MDC, with funding from the World Bank and donors, is
paying large salaries to individuals within the Office of the
Prime Minister to form a “parallel government.” ZANU-PF has
also focused on the issue of sanctions. It has asserted, as
it has long done, that sanctions are responsible for
Zimbabwe’s economic predicament, and has gone on to castigate
HARARE 00000736 002 OF 002
the MDC for not moving to remove them. The lead headline in
“The Herald” of September 15 read: “MDC-T wants sanctions to
stay.”
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶6. (C) Tsvangirai’s strategy — until now — was to get
along with Mugabe, hope for incremental progress on political
issues, and build the MDC in anticipation of future elections
which he was confident of winning. During his June tour of
the U.S. and Europe, and in more recent conversations, he
focused on the positive accomplishments of the GPA and
minimized ZANU-PF intransigence. A restive party, however,
has forced him to change course. His remarks in Bulawayo —
his strongest public remarks since the inception of the GPA
— and his confrontation with Mugabe indicate a new approach.
How Mugabe reacts is unclear; Tsvangirai’s advisers expect
some progress, perhaps appointment of governors (which Mugabe
had agreed to, before backing away), but this will continue
to be a hard slog.
¶7. (C) ZANU-PF’s heightened rhetoric appears to be an effort
to counter the MDC’s valid claim that Mugabe has failed to
comply with the GPA. This underscores the importance of a
more open media environment to expose Jonathan Moyo and the
ZANU-PF propaganda machine. END COMMENT.
PETTERSON
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