Information Minister Jonathan Moyo was friends with then Judge President Godfrey Chidyausiku and United States embassy officials speculated as early as January 2001 that as an ardent supporter of President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Chidyausiku could become chief justice because of the “tireless lobbying” by Moyo.
The comment was made after Chidyausiku attacked the Supreme Court over its stance on the land issue.
The court had ruled in favour of the Commercial Farmers Union calling on the government to stop its fast-track land reform.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 01HARARE240, STILL NO OFFICIAL REACTION TO THE SUPREME
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
121152Z Jan 01
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ7478
PAGE 01 HARARE 00240 01 OF 02 121153Z
ACTION AF-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AGRE-00 AMAD-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00
DS-00 EB-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 VCE-00 NSAE-00
PM-00 P-00 SP-00 IRM-00 STR-00 USIE-00 BBG-00
PMB-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02 NFAT-00 SAS-00 /002W
——————B576A0 121153Z /38
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7991
INFO NSC WASHDC
USDOC WASHDC
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000240
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR GAYLE SMITH
USDOC FOR DHENKE-ROGERS
LONDON FOR CGURNEY
PARIS FOR BWILLIAMS
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
USTR FOR ROSA WHITAKER
E.O. 12958: DECL 01/12/11
SUBJECT: STILL NO OFFICIAL REACTION TO THE SUPREME
COURT RULING ON THE CFU LAND CASE, JUST GENERALIZED
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 00240 01 OF 02 121153Z
ATTACKS ON THE JUDICIARY
CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D’ AFFAIRES EARL M. IRVING FOR
REASONS 1.5 (B/D).
REFS: A. (00) HARARE 7286, B. (00) HARARE 6547, C. (00)
HARARE 6330, D. (00) HARARE 5469, E. (00) HARARE 5337,
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: AS OF JANUARY 11, THERE IS STILL NO
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE (GOZ) STATEMENT OR
REACTION TO THE SUPREME COURT RULING OF DECEMBER 21 IN
FAVOR OF THE COMMERCIAL FARMERS UNION (CFU) IN THEIR
LAWSUIT ON THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE “FAST-TRACK”
LAND RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM (REF A). THERE HAVE, HOWEVER,
BEEN NUMEROUS VERBAL ATTACKS ON THE JUDICIARY BY HIGH-
LEVEL GOZ OFFICIALS. AT THE OPENING OF THE HIGH COURT
IN BULAWAYO ON JANUARY 8, THE JUDGE PRESIDENT OF THE
HIGH COURT, GODFREY CHIDYAUSIKU, AN ARDENT MUGABE AND
ZANU-PF SUPPORTER, LAUNCHED INTO A DIATRIBE AGAINST THE
SUPREME COURT AND ITS POSITION ON THE LAND REFORM ISSUE,
STATING THAT THE COURT HAD EFFECTIVELY INVITED THE CFU
TO SUE THE GOZ OVER THE LAND PROGRAM BY THE COURT’S
PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON THE PROGRAM’S CONSTITIONALITY. TWO
DAYS LATER ON JANUARY 10, AT A CAMPAIGN APPEARANCE FOR A
PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION, VICE PRESIDENT MUZENDA
STRONGLY CRITICIZED THE SUPREME COURT FOR UPHOLDING
COLONIAL-ERA LAWS THAT DEPRIVE BLACK ZIMBABWEANS OF
THEIR RIGHTFUL HERITAGE OF THE LAND. END SUMMARY.
——————————————— ——-
HIGH COURT JUDGE PRESIDENT ATTACKS THE SUPREME COURT
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 HARARE 00240 01 OF 02 121153Z
——————————————— ——-
¶2. (C) ON JANUARY 9 THE GOZ-CONTROLLED “THE HERALD”
NEWSPAPER REPORTED THAT ON THE OCCASION OF OFFICIAL
ANNUAL OPENING OF THE HIGH COURT IN BULAWAYO ON JANUARY
8, THE JUDGE PRESIDENT OF THE HIGH COURT, GODFREY
CHIDYAUSIKU, LASHED OUT AT THE SUPREME COURT FOR ITS
ROLE IN THE LAND REFORM PROCESS IN ZIMBABWE. (COMMENT:
THE JUDGE PRESIDENT IS CONSIDERED BY MOST OBSERVERS TO
BE AN ARDENT SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT MUGABE AND ZANU-PF,
AND THERE IS SPECULATION THAT WITH THE TIRELESS LOBBYING
OF HIS FRIEND, MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND
PUBLICITY JONATHAN MOYO, HE WILL BE NAMED CHIEF JUSTICE
OF THE SUPREME COURT BY MUGABE WHEN THE CURRENT CHIEF
JUSTICE RETIRES IN 2002. END COMMENT.) CHIDYAUSIKU DID
NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTION THE DECEMBER 21 SUPREME COURT
RULING. INSTEAD, HE ALLEGED THAT SUPREME COURT CHIEF
JUSTICE ANTONY GUBBAY GAVE COMMERCIAL FARMERS THE GREEN
LIGHT TO SUE WHEN, IN JANUARY 1991, HE CRITICIZED
PROVISIONS OF A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL THAT
SOUGHT TO GIVE THE GO THE POWER TO COMPULSORILY ACQUIRE
LAND FOR RESETTLEMENT WITHOUT PAYING COMPENSATION. HE
ADDED THAT GUBBAY’S COMMENTS ASSURED THE FARMERS THAT
THEIR LEGAL ACTIONS WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL. IN ADDITION,
CHIDYAUSIKU CRITICIZED THE SUPREME COURT’S RULING
OVERTURNING HIS OWN RULING THAT GRANTED A STAY OF
EXECUTION OF THE NOVEMBER 10 SUPREME COURT CONSENT ORDER
REQUIRING THE GOZ TO REMOVE ILLEGAL OCCUPIERS FROM FARMS
WITH ALL DUE SPEED (REF B). WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT
THE RULING WAS BINDING ON THE HIGH COURT, HE ADDED THAT
HE HAD DIFFICULTY ACCEPTING THE CORRECTNESS OF THE
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 HARARE 00240 01 OF 02 121153Z
RULING FOR VARIOUS REASONS. PRINCIPAL AMONG THESE WAS
THAT THE GOZ HAD MADE CLEAR THAT “LAND REDISTRIBUTION IS
A POLITICAL ISSUE AND NOT A LEGAL ISSUE.”
¶3. (U) CHIDYAUSIKU IS REPORTED AS SAYING, “THE
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE LAND ISSUE HAS BECOME A
MINEFIELD FOR THE JUDICIARY. I ONLY HOPE IT DOES NOT
BECOME THE GRAVEYARD FOR THE JUDICIARY.” LAWYERS
PRESENT AT THE HIGH COURT OPENING OBSERVED THAT
CHIDYAUSIKU WAS SO PREOCCUPIED WITH CRITICIZING THE
SUPREME COURT THAT HE NEVER ACTUALLY ANNOUNCED THE
FORMAL OPENING OF THE NEW SESSION OF THE HIGH COURT, THE
POINT OF THE JUDGE’S PUBLIC APPEARANCE AND STATEMENT.
——————————————— —-
VICE PRESIDENT MUZENDA ALSO ATTACKS THE JUDICIARY
——————————————— —-
¶4. (U) VICE PRESIDENT SIMON MUZENDA IN HIS CAPACITY AS
ACTING PRESIDENT (PRESIDENT MUGABE WAS ON HOLIDAY IN
MALAYSIA) FOLLOWED UP CHIDYAUSIKU’S DIATRIBE AGAINST THE
JUDICIARY WITH HIS OWN AT A JANUARY 10 CAMPAIGN RALLY
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ7479
PAGE 01 HARARE 00240 02 OF 02 121153Z
ACTION AF-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AGRE-00 AMAD-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00
DS-00 EB-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 VCE-00 NSAE-00
PM-00 P-00 SP-00 STR-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02
NFAT-00 SAS-00 /002W
——————B576A4 121153Z /38
R 121152Z JAN 01
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7992
INFO NSC WASHDC
USDOC WASHDC
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HARARE 000240
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR GAYLE SMITH
USDOC FOR DHENKE-ROGERS
LONDON FOR CGURNEY
PARIS FOR BWILLIAMS
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
USTR FOR ROSA WHITAKER
E.O. 12958: DECL 01/12/11
SUBJECT: STILL NO OFFICIAL REACTION TO THE SUPREME
COURT RULING ON THE CFU LAND CASE, JUST GENERALIZED
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 00240 02 OF 02 121153Z
ATTACKS ON THE JUDICIARY
HELD IN BIKITA WEST FOR THE UPCOMING PARLIAMENTARY BY-
ELECTION. MUZENDA CRITICIZED THE JUDICIARY FOR GIVING
FAVORABLE JUDGEMENTS TO COMMERCIAL FARMERS AT THE
EXPENSE OF THE MAJORITY OF BLACKS THAT REMAIN LANDLESS
AND IMPOVERISHED. MUZENDA STATED THAT HE FAILED “TO
UNDERSTAND JUDGES WHO, IN THEIR JUDGEMENT, ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT ZIMBABWEANS WERE COLONIZED…DEPRIVED OF THEIR
LAND…AND THEIR RIGHTS BY WHITE COLONIZERS. YET THEY
PROCEED, WITHIN THE SAME JUDGEMENT, TO INSIST ON THE
SANCTITY OF THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE SAME WHITE MAN
WHO TODAY THRIVES ON ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH.”
¶5. (C) COMMENT: THE ABSENCE OF AN OFFICIAL GOZ COMMENT
ON THE DECEMBER 21 SUPREME COURT RULING, WHILE GOZ
OFFICIALS MAKE SCURRILOUS ATTACKS ON THE JUDICIARY,
INDICATES TO US THAT PRESIDENT MUGABE MAY STILL BE
CONSIDERING HIS OPTIONS ON LAND REFORM. THE SUPREME
COURT RULING DID LEAVE MUGABE AND THE GOZ SOME WIGGLE
ROOM ON ITS LAND RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM, AND THEY CONTINUE
TO HOLD OUT HOPE THAT DONORS WILL RETURN TO ZIMBABWE
WITH MONEY FOR LAND REFORM. END COMMENT.
IRVING
CONFIDENTIAL
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