Mines Minister Obert Mpofu was denied a visa to the United Kingdom to attend the 6th International Mining in Africa symposium where he was expected to give a key address.
Mpofu also failed to persuade mining firms from Zimbabwe to boycott the conference. At least 11 companies attended.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE521, ZIM NOTES 06-26-2009
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO1282
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0521/01 1800846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290846Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4647
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2328
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2908
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3027
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1459
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2290
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2657
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3075
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5518
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2203
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000521
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND J. HARMON
COMMERCE FOR ROBERT TELCHIN
SIPDIS
E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 06-26-2009
———–
¶1. SUMMARY
———–
Topics of the week:
– Next Stage in Constitutional Process Begins…
– MP for Chiadzwa Convicted…
– MDC Director General Still in Jail…
– UK Ups Commitment Slightly…
– State (Reluctantly) Admits Violating Mukoko’s Rights…
– South Africa Reconsiders Permit for Zimbabwean Migrants…
– Mining Minister Denied Visa to UK…
– Constitution Stipulates Gibson Sibanda to Lose Ministry…
– Kingdom and Meikles Split…
– Zim to Review Indigenization Requirement?
– Leading Zim Hotelier Renovating Hotels…
– Metallon Gold Reopens Mines…
– Is a Two-Day Workshop Sufficient to “Rebrand” Zimbabwe?
—————————–
On the Political/Social Front
——————————
¶2. Next Stage in Constitutional Process Begins… Public hearings
began on the Constitutional drafting process on June 25 with a
hearing in Harare, which will be followed by consultative hearings
held throughout the country in the next few days. This stage in the
process is intended to educate voters for an eventual referendum,
and identify delegates for an “All Stakeholder’s Conference” in
mid-July. Addressing foreign diplomats separately, parliamentary
speaker Lovemore Moyo appealed to the envoys to help raise funds to
bankroll the constitutional reform process and ensure the views of
Zimbabweans were adequately represented in the final document.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe reiterated that the Kariba draft
Consitution negotiated by the three parties in 2007 would form the
basis of a new draft Constitution. The MDC-T and civil society have
opposed this position as not being people driven.
¶3. MP for Chiadzwa Convicted… On June 20, a Mutare magistrate
convicted Mutare West MP Shua Mudiwa on trumped-up charges of
kidnapping that date back to 2007. Mudiwa will be sentenced on June
27; when his lawyers tried to launch an appeal on June 22, court
officials “couldn’t find” Mudiwa’s paperwork. People close to
Mudiwa told us that police took his clothes from him and he is in
the filthy Mutare jail (where Roy Bennet was held earlier this year)
with nothing more than a dirty blanket. Mudiwa narrowly beat the
ZANU-PF incumbent in the March 2008 election last year. His
constituency includes the Chiadzwa diamond fields, and Mudiwa has
been a vocal advocate for the local community. His arrest and
conviction comes just prior to the Kimberley Process Review Team’s
visit to Zimbabwe next week.
¶4. MDC Director General Still in Jail… Toendepi Shonhe is still
in jail, following his arrest on June 16 on perjury charges. When
we visited him this week, he appeared dejected but healthy. Shonhe
told us the Harare remand prison, where he is held, has new
blankets. He will appear in court again on June 26. The State is
fighting his release.
¶5. UK Ups Commitment Slightly… Britain on June 23 said it was
giving Zimbabwe an extra #4.9 million (US$8 million) of aid which
will be channeled through humanitarian organizations, bringing
Qwill be channeled through humanitarian organizations, bringing
British aid for Zimbabwe this year to a total of #60m (US$100
million). Speaking after meeting Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said
US$6.5 million of the money will be channeled towards food aid and
the rest to buying textbooks for Zimbabwean schools.
¶6. State (Reluctantly) Admits Violating Mukoko’s Rights… In the
HARARE 00000521 002 OF 003
Supreme Court on June 25, attorneys for human rights activist
Jestina Mukoko argued that the criminal case against her should be
dropped because of the extreme violation of her constitutional
rights by State agents during her abduction from December 3-22, 2008
and her unlawful treatment in State custody after that. The State
sent an unprepared lawyer who argued the Zimbabwean government’s
position that although her rights were violated, the proper remedy
is a civil suit against the State rather than a stay of the criminal
proceedings. Importantly, the State did not contest the details of
Mukoko’s abduction, torture, and inhumane treatment.
¶7. South Africa Reconsiders Permit for Zimbabwean Migrants… The
six-month special permit for Zimbabwean migrants, announced by the
South African government in April, is being put on hold pending a
review of the decision by the South African Cabinet. Chairperson of
the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (a
Johannesburg-based NGO), Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, said that the
permits had never been implemented and the formation of a new
government in Zimbabwe has neither stopped nor slowed new arrivals
of Zimbabweans.
¶8. Mining Minister Denied Visa to UK… The British Embassy denied
ZANU-PF Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu a visa
to travel to the UK to attend the 6th International Mining in Africa
symposium where he was expected to give a key address on June 23.
PM Tsvangirai was expected to address the symposium in his stead.
Despite calls by Mpofu for Zimbabwean mining firms to boycott the
conference, as many as 11 mining companies attended.
¶9. Constitution Stipulates Gibson Sibanda to Lose Ministry… The
onstitutional requirement that all Ministers be members of
Parliament has put National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration
Minister Gibson Sibanda of the MDC-M on unsteady ground following
his failure to secure a seat within three months of his appointment.
The MDC-M party is already in turmoil following the suspensions of
three MPs and a few other senior officials.
———————————–
On the Economic and Business Front
———————————-
¶10. Kingdom and Meikles Split… Following a two-year marriage
between the Kingdom banking group and the Meikles conglomerate,
shareholders voted overwhelmingly on June 22 to separate the two
companies. The separation was in part brought about by a spat
between Meikles majority shareholder John Moxon and CEO Nigel
Chanakira over accusations Chanakira made that Moxon had
externalized foreign currency.
¶11. Zim to Review Indigenization Requirement? PM Tsvangirai said
on June 23 that the GOZ plans to review the Indigenization and
Economic Empowerment Act with the aim of reducing the 51 percent
local ownership requirement that has been a primary deterrent for
foreign investors. Speaking at the London mining conference,
Tsvangirai said, “Fifty-one percent is far, far too high.”
QTsvangirai said, “Fifty-one percent is far, far too high.”
¶12. Leading Zim Hotelier Renovating Hotels… African Sun,
Zimbabwe’s largest hotel chain, is renovating the majority of its
hotels in Zimbabwe, at a cost of about US$15 million with the
funding coming from multilateral institutions, CEO Shingi Munyeza
told an analysts’ briefing. He said the group was forecasting
occupancies to rise to 48 percent in Zimbabwe but will add fewer
rooms this year than initially projected. Munyeza said Zimbabwean
occupancies were slowly picking up. “Already city hotels were
nearly back to 1999 levels.”
¶13. Metallon Gold Reopens Mines… Zimbabwe’s largest gold miner,
Metallon Gold, has reopened two of its five mines –How and Shamva–
after securing US$15 million in foreign and local financing. CEO
Collin Guraq said that Metallon had received US$10 million from the
HARARE 00000521 003 OF 003
Tunisia-based African Export-Import Bank and another US$5 million
from a local bank.
¶14. Is a Two-Day Workshop Sufficient to “Rebrand” Zimbabwe? The
GOZ sponsored a two-day workshop consisting of a mix of government
officials, business leaders, civic organizations, and religious
groups to set about rebranding Zimbabwe’s image as a safe business
and tourist destination. It was unclear what concrete steps the
workshop would direct, but participants said that the words used to
describe Zimbabwe would be a guiding principal of the rebranding
process.
—————–
Quotes of the Week
—————–
¶15. “Only a dead imperialist is a good one. We are Africans, our
friends are those of the African community, of the African
continent, of the Non-Aligned Movement, of the Third World, those we
think like us, those who when they assist you will not lay down
conditions.” — President Mugabe lambasting the West on June 25 for
refusing to lift sanctions.
¶16. “I do not think the inclusive government would have been
established if Russia and China had not vetoed the U.S. resolution.”
— Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yuan Nansheng, crediting China
and Russia for the formation of the inclusive government by voting
against UN sanctions.
MCGEE
(36 VIEWS)
