Movement for Democratic Change Harare provincial head Morgan Femai and Shadow Minister for Local Government Gabriel Chaibva described party councillors in Harare as political freshmen who were unable to comprehend issues.
Their comments came after the suspension of Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri and other councillors who were refusing to toe the line of Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo.
Even the United States embassy in Harare was baffled as there were 44 MDC councillors and only one Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front councillor in the capital but the council appeared to be run by a ZANU-PF council.
“Although forty-four out of forty-five Harare councillors are from the MDC, about twelve councillors are seen to be accommodating the ruling party, about twelve are towing the MDC line, and the remaining twenty seem to be unaligned,” the embassy said in a cable released by Wikileaks.
Combined Harare Residents’ Association chairman Mike Davies suggested that councillors were afraid that Chombo would suspend them if they voted against ministerial interests and they were afraid of losing their salaries and benefits.
Femai said that Chombo invited councillors on an all-expenses paid retreat to Victoria Falls in early October at which he gave some of them spending money–allegedly Z$260 000.
When the councillors got back to Harare Femai said that Chombo communicated with those who had taken the money that they would need to vote however the Minister said they should, or they would need to refund the money.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 03HARARE2179, GOZ BLAMES HARARE CITY COUNCIL FOR WATER
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 002179
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY
PARIS FOR C. NEARY
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013
SUBJECT: GOZ BLAMES HARARE CITY COUNCIL FOR WATER
SHORTAGES, SUSPENDS SIX MDC COUNCILORS
REF: HARARE 1973
Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: For the past several weeks, the government
press has blamed Harare’s MDC-dominated City Council for
myriad woes and has depicted a Council mired in personnel
conflicts and improper procedures. It is possible the GOZ is
gearing up to dismiss the entire Council and replace it with
a ruling commission–something it has done in recent years
with ZANU-PF councils. The MDC for its part is struggling to
enforce party discipline while maintaining unity. END
SUMMARY.
Water – Dirty and in Short Supply
———————————
¶2. (U) The government-controlled Herald has been running one
to three articles daily on Harare’s water crisis for the past
week; articles on the water crisis have been a regular
feature in the paper for the past year. According to The
Herald, residents in high-density suburbs of Mabvuku, Tafara,
Hatcliffe, Epworth, Greendale and Hogerty Hill are porting
water in wheelbarrows from nearby reservoirs, and those with
wells on their property are selling buckets of water to their
neighbors. In several areas, water supplies have been
intermittent since August 2002. Some neighborhoods are now
facing daily shortages with no water, or insufficient amounts
to even flush toilets–creating disease-spreading
conditions–according to the Herald.
¶3. (SBU) Most of the recent articles blame the Harare City
Council for failing to address this crisis adequately, even
as the same articles acknowledge that Harare City Councils
since the 1990s have failed to make adequate upgrades to
water-pumping and treatment systems. The Herald reported
that Harare city engineers have been predicting this crisis
for years. (Note: Suspended Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri is a
former Harare city engineer. End Note.)
¶4. (U) The Herald reported that the city’s pumping capacity
is 580 megaliters daily, whereas demand is 700 megaliters,
with population growing at seven percent annually. Similar
situations exist in a host of Zimbabwean cities, where
drought, equipment failure, and a declining revenue base
handicap delivery of most municipal sources.
¶5. (C) A quick poll of Embassy local staff revealed that
several neighborhoods, both high and low density, have
experienced water shortages, or no water, intermittently for
the past month or so. Most people subject to shortages get
water from neighbors with wells or from nearby reservoirs or
streams. There have been no reports of riots or strong
public outcry against the problem.
¶6. (U) On October 14, The Herald reported that supplies of
oxygen gas for the City of Harare’s ambulances and hospitals
had become erratic, and that some newborn babies had died
because of it.
¶7. (C) Over lunch on October 23, the Ambassador told MDC
President Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC Secretary General
Welshman Ncube that the MDC was paying a political price by
allowing city services to fall victim to the disruptive
tactics of Minister Chombo. Tsvangirai agreed that the MDC
could not dismiss the need for adequate delivery of services
in Harare, but observed that the MDC faced “acute acrimony”
with the Ministry of Local Government. Ncube said that the
party was simply not prepared for this level of central
government hostility, and conceded that the MDC leadership
needed to coordinate better with the council.
Hiring, Firing, Rehiring, Refiring
———————————-
¶8. (U) Both the independent press and The Herald have
reported recently on a drama within the Harare City Council
concerning the firing and rehiring of Town Clerk Nomutsa
Chideya. Mudzuri fired Chideya in October 2002, but he was
reinstated after the Mayor was suspended. The Council
suspended him (again) on October 1, but reinstated him in mid
October under pressure from the Ministry (see below). In the
first week of October, Chideya suspended City Treasurer
Misheck Mubvumbi for not cooperating with the Commission set
up to investigate Mudzuri. Despite documentary evidence that
he had cooperated with the Commission, police enforced
Mubvumbi’s suspension, and his salary and benefits have been
withdrawn.
¶9. (U) On October 21, Minister of Local Government Ignatius
Chombo suspended six councilors, reportedly for objecting to
Chideya’s reinstatement and disrupting council meetings. The
six councilors are Falls Nhari, Fani Munengami, Jerome
O’Brien, Kenneth Nhemachena, Benjamin Maimba and Tsaurai
Marima. The Ministry of Local Government had previously
attempted to suspend Nhari, Munengami and O’Brien and three
other MDC councilors but the suspensions were overruled by
the High Court on September 11 because the Minister himself
had not signed them (reftel).
Freshman Cracking Under Pressure
——————————–
¶10. (C) As reported reftel, although forty-four out of
forty-five Harare councilors are from the MDC, about twelve
councilors are seen to be accommodating the ruling party,
about twelve are towing the MDC line, and the remaining
twenty seem to be unaligned. The councilors suspended by the
Ministry are some who were towing the MDC line. Combined
Harare Residents’ Association Chairman Mike Davies suggested
that councilors fear that the Minister will suspend them if
they vote against Ministerial interests, and they are afraid
of losing their salaries and benefits.
¶11. (C) MDC Harare provincial head Morgan Femai said that
Minister Chombo invited councilors to an all-expenses paid
retreat to Victoria Falls in early October at which he gave
some of them spending money–allegedly Z$260,000 (US$46.00).
When the councilors got back to Harare Femai said that the
Minister communicated to those who had taken the money that
they would need to vote however the Minister said they
should, or they would need to return the money. Femai said
that in a mid-October council meeting concerning the
reinstatement of the Town Clerk, some councilors boycotted,
others abstained, but some voted for the reinstatement, even
though the council had voted for his suspension on October 1
and councilors had agreed in a previous MDC caucus to
maintain the suspension.
¶12. (C) Femai said that the Minister rejected the council’s
budget submission in June, and instead proposed a different
budget which included the additional employment of some 800
ZANU-PF youths as general laborers. Femai said that many
councilors were to afraid to speak out against the new budget
and instead voted to approve it.
¶13. (C) Both Femai and Chaibva complained that many of the
MDC’s Harare City councilors were political freshman, unable
to comprehend the issues and implications of this type of
complicit voting. Chaibva said a primary problem was a
simple lack of intellectual capacity, and Femai said that the
MDC’s vetting of future council candidates would need to be
more rigorous in the future.
MDC SNAFU in Suspending Councilors
———————————-
¶14. (C) On about October 15, Femai attempted to suspend eight
of the MDC councilors who have been accommodating the ruling
party from their positions as councilors for failing to
follow MDC directives. MDC Shadow Minister of Local
Government Gabriel Chaibva said the suspensions were improper
because under the Zimbabwe and MDC constitutions, the MDC
does not have the authority to suspend its own councilors
from their positions as councilors. Several of the eight
suspended did hold positions within the party in the Harare
provincial structure, such as treasurer and youth chair.
Although the MDC leadership had authorized the suspensions,
the result has been confusion. Chaibva said that the MDC
leadership, represented by Secretary General Welshman Ncube,
overturned the councilor suspensions, and instead authorized
Femai to suspend the councilors only from their positions
within the Harare provincial structure.
¶15. (C) Chaibva said that under the MDC’s constitution, MDC
National Disciplinary Committee hearings were necessary to
request a councilor to resign–those hearings are now
scheduled and might be completed within two to three weeks.
Party President Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed to the Ambassador
on October 23 that some disciplinary action was likely within
two weeks. However, even if the Disciplinary Committee
requests that these councilors resign, under Zimbabwean law
they have no obligation to do so. The MDC could then expel
them from the party, but many want to avoid such divisive
action. Unlike party-expelled parliamentarians, Zimbabwean
law does not require councilors expelled from their party to
be replaced in council. If they resign their positions, a
by-election would be scheduled. Miffed that his disciplinary
efforts were undermined despite prior consultations with the
MDC leadership, Femai nevertheless denied divisiveness within
the MDC in conversations with Emboffs. The result seems to
have been confusion over procedural and legal matters. Both
Femai and Chaibva emphasized the need to enforce party
discipline, and Femai criticized the Secretary General’s
leniency with recalcitrant elements as “potentially
disastrous” in the long run. Suspended Mayor Mudzuri is also
frustrated that his efforts to sideline those MDC councilors
who have cooperated with Minister Chombo have failed.
¶16. (C) COMMENT: The GOZ’s strategy of overturning council
decisions, publicizing water and oxygen shortages, and
fomenting dissent within the Harare City Council is
essentially fomenting dissent within the MDC. Civil society
observers and MDC members fear that the GOZ may be preparing
to dismiss the entire council and replace it with a ruling
commission–as was done with a ZANU-PF council from 1999
until the current council and suspended mayor were elected in
March 2002. At this point the GOZ appears to be successfully
continuing with its strategy to excise councilors who oppose
ruling party interests, and rewarding councilors and
officials who support them. In the meantime, the MDC’s
inability so far to resolve competing priorities of
discipline and unity in Harare politics are giving it a black
eye.
SULLIVAN
(32 VIEWS)
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