The all-stakeholders media conference that deputy Minister of Media, Information and Publicity Jameson Timba had announced had been postponed was actually held with his boss Webster Shamu opening the conference.
Timba had announced that the conference was being postponed because civic media organisations had said they could not attend because of the harassment of journalists Jestina Mukoko and Andrisson Manyere.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE390, ZIM NOTES 05-08-09
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Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO1422
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0390/01 1311814
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111814Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4461
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2278
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2809
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2929
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1372
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2192
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2557
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2977
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5418
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2101
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000390
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
TREASURY FOR D. PETERS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LDOBBINS AND JHARMON
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL
E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON EFIN ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 05-08-09
—————————-
SUMMARY – Topics of the week
—————————-
– MDC Takes on Outstanding Issues
– Abductees Jailed, then Released
– Media Conference Confusion
– Schools Avert Strike
– South Africa Scraps Visas Requirement
– Anglican Church Elects New Bishop
– Reconciliation Slow in Rural Zimbabwe
– IMF Re-Engages
– Four Hwange Power Station Generators Down
– South African Mobile Operator MTN Expresses Interest in Zim
– Cost of Family Basket Rises
– Tobacco Marketing Season Starts
—————————–
On the Political/Social Front
—————————–
¶1. MDC Takes on Outstanding Issues…Tendai Biti, in his capacity
as MDC Secretary-General, held a press conference on Wednesday to
demand that outstanding issues be resolved. Noting that the
principals Q Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Mutambara Q had had a series of
meetings on these issues, he said that next MondayQs principals
meeting should be the last. If the MDC did not receive
satisfaction, its National Council would consider next steps at its
meeting on May 17. Biti and other high-level MDC officials have
apparently concluded that TsvangiraiQs low-key approach with Mugabe
has run its course and a high-profile, direct approach is now called
for. See Harare 372.
¶2. Abductees Jailed, then Released… After being formally indicted
on May 4, Human Rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and 15 others were
ordered into state custody on May 5. 13, including Mukoko, spent
one night at Chikurubi Maximum Security prison before their
surprising release on May 6. Three others Q Ghandi Mudzingwa, Chris
Dhlamini, and Shadreck Manyere Q remain in Avenues Clinic under
guard pending a separate May 8 bail hearing. Indictment documents
reveal that the Assistant Director External in the Central
Intelligence Office and several high-level police officers directed
investigations against the abductees, including their videotaped
confessions that were recorded while they were still missing. At
the time, police denied any knowledge of the abducteesQ whereabouts
and claimed to be investigating their kidnappings. See Harare 367
and 372.
¶3. Media Conference Confusion… After civic media groups
representing the majority of journalists in Zimbabwe announced they
would boycott the May 6-9 All-Stakeholders Media Conference, the
Deputy Minister of Information, Jameson Timba (MDC-T) announced
Thursday that the conference would be delayed until May 8, but only
after Qthe outcome of a court bail hearing involving a journalist
(photo-journalist Shadreck Manyere). Timba said the conference had
Qbeen delayed by matters extraneous to it but important to some of
the stakeholders.Q He continued, QWe are hopeful that it (the
hearing) will be dispensed with early to enable the other
stakeholders to join their colleagues in Kariba.Q Despite TimbaQs
postponement, government papers reported that Minister of
Qpostponement, government papers reported that Minister of
Information Webster Shamu opened the conference on May 7 with a
lengthy speech. Local journalists tell us that only a handful of
journalists are at the conference site in Kariba, several hours
drive from Harare.
¶4. Schools Avert Strike…The second school term started on May 5
after the Ministry of Education dramatically slashed school fees,
narrowly averting a teachersQ strike. Although teachers are still
HARARE 00000390 002 OF 003
waiting for a raise, they welcomed the move that also exempted them
from paying fees for their own children. Fees are now US$5, US$10,
or US$20 per term. Some teachers, however, are complaining the low
fees will reduce schoolsQ ability to purchase supplies such as
textbooks and chalk. In one rural school we visited this week, not
a single student had paid any portion of the $5 fee for rural
schools. See Harare 379.
¶5. South Africa Scraps Visas Requirement… Zimbabweans traveling
to South Africa no longer have to apply for visas and may now apply
for a 90-day visitor permit at the border. The visitor permit also
allows Zimbabweans to perform QcasualQ work in South Africa.
¶6. Anglican Church Elects New Bishop… The Elective Committee of
the Anglican Church in Harare met on May 2 and elected Dr. Chad
Gandiya to replace Bishop Sebastian Bakare. Dr. Gandiya, who did
his graduate work at Michigan State University and was favored for
the position by Bishop Bakare, will be enthroned on July 25. When
he assumes leadership of the Harare Archdiocese, Dr. Gandiya will
continue the legal battle against excommunicated former bishop,
Norbert Kunonga, who continues to use his ZANU-PF contacts and the
police to attempt to seize Anglican property.
¶7. Reconciliation Slow in Rural Zimbabwe… This week we visited
the rural constituency of Gutu South in Masvingo province where
villagers told us of their slow progress towards reconciliation
after violence devastated their communities in 2008. They remain
fearful of potential violence in future elections. See Harare 379.
————————–
Economic and Business News
————————–
¶8. IMF Re-Engages… The International Monetary Fund partially
lifted its suspension of technical assistance to Zimbabwe on May 4.
The IMF Executive Board made the decision based on Qsignificant
improvement in ZimbabweQs cooperation on economic policies to
address its arrears problems.Q The IMF can now provide technical
assistance in tax policy, administration, payment systems,
lender-of-last-resort operations and banking supervision, and
central banking governance and accounting — core areas of IMF
expertise in which ZimbabweQs severe capacity constraints represent
a major risk to macroeconomic stabilization.
¶9. Four Hwange Power Station Generators Down… The Minister of
Industry and Commerce said that four out of six generators at Hwange
Power Station are down and in dire need of a major service in South
Africa. The problems at Hwange have been compounded by the
breakdown of the coal dragline; its repair will cost US$2 million.
These developments indicate that Zimbabwe is headed for more and
longer power outages over the winter months. See Harare 361.
¶10. South African Mobile Operator MTN Expresses Interest in
Zimbabwe… South AfricaQs mobile operator MTN has declared its
interest in either buying an existing mobile operator, or by
Qinterest in either buying an existing mobile operator, or by
obtaining its own license in Zimbabwe. Richard Hurst of IDCNews
research in South Africa believes that MTNQs obvious route is to buy
60 percent of the local mobile operator Telecel, owned by the
Egyptian operator Orascom, which has hinted that it wants to
concentrate on North Africa.
¶11. Cost of Family Basket Rises… According to the Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe, the cost of a consumer basket for a family of
six rose by 7.8 percent from US$396.22 in March to US$427.11 in
April primarily due to increases in transport cost, electricity,
health, education, clothing and footwear. Prices of food and
detergents actually fell by 6.9 percent during the same period.
¶12. Tobacco Marketing Season Starts… The tobacco selling season
HARARE 00000390 003 OF 003
officially started on May 7 and is expected to run for 80 days.
About 75 percent of this yearQs sales at the floors will come from
contract farming. It is estimated that tobacco output declined 16
percent on the year to 42 million kg. Production peaked in 2000 at
over 200 million kg.
¶13. Quote of the Week:
QWe (the media) could not meet because we were divided, too
polarized and too fractured to even qualify to be regarded as an
industry. …With this negative background, the world will ask: were
they able to meet and confer productively? Did they agree on
anything? …Or are they still in deep trenches, trading projectiles
and seeking annihilation of one another in a mutually ruinous
fashion?
— Minister of Information, Webster Shamu, speaking to a nearly
empty hall at the All Stakeholder Media Conference on May 7. Most
media stakeholders are boycotting the conference pending the outcome
of a bail hearing for photojournalist Shadreck Manyere on May 8.
Manyere was abducted in mid-December 2008 and is accused of bombing
police stations.
MCGEE
(11 VIEWS)
