Mpofu denied visa to UK

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu was denied a visa to the United Kingdom to attend the 6^th 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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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

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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

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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

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