President Robert Mugabe cleaned up his cabinet, a month before the formation of the inclusive government, both to save himself from the embarrassment of dismissing them later and to put pressure on the Movement for Democratic Change to make up their mind by showing that he could go it alone.
He dismissed nine ministers and three deputy ministers who lost their seats in parliament in the March 2008 elections.
Those dismissed were:
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE19, MUGABE SHUFFLES MINISTERS AS HE AWAITS MDC DECISION
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Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO1484
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0019/01 0071552
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 071552Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3895
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2533
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2655
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1148
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1924
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2279
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2704
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5132
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1811
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000019
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2018
SUBJECT: MUGABE SHUFFLES MINISTERS AS HE AWAITS MDC DECISION
Classified By: Charge d’Affaires a.i., Katherine Dhanani for reason 1.4
(d).
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (U) In early January, President Robert Mugabe dismissed
12 ministers and deputy ministers, and shifted their
portfolios to other senior ZANU-PF officials. The dismissals
were in keeping with constitutional requirements that
stipulate that all ministers and deputies need to be sitting
members of Parliament. The decision not to fill these seats
with new ZANU-PF parliamentarians likely reflects Mugabe’s
continued desire to bring the MDC into government. END
SUMMARY.
¶2. (U) During the first week of January, President Mugabe
issued letters of dismissal to nine ministers and three
deputy ministers who lost their seats in Parliament in the
March 2008 elections. The dismissals came as a result of a
standing constitutional requirement that stipulates that
ministerial appointments be filled from sitting members of
one of the two chambers of Parliament, the House of Assembly
and the Senate. The dismissals consisted of Chen
Chimutengwende, minister of Public and Interactive Affairs;
Rugare Gumbo, minister of Agriculture; Amos Midzi, minister
of Mines and Mining Development; Oppah Muchinguri, minister
of Gender, Women’s Affairs and Community Development; Samuel
Mumbengegwi, minister of Finance; Munacho Mutezo, minister of
Water Resources and Development; Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, minister
of Information and Publicity; and Michael Nyambuya, minister
of Energy and Power Development. The dismissed deputy
ministers consisted of David Chapfika, deputy minister of
Agriculture; Edwin Muguti, deputy minister of Health and
Child Welfare; and Kenneth Mutiwekuziva, deputy minister of
Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
¶3. (U) On January 6, Mugabe appointed eight interim
ministers to temporarily serve as acting heads. These
appointments consisted of Aeneas Chigwedere, who previously
served as minister of Education, Sport and Culture and is
continuing on as the acting minister; Patrick Chinamasa,
currently minister of Justice and now also the acting
minister of Finance; Joseph Made, currently minister of
Agriculture Mechanization and now also the acting minister of
Water Resources and Infrastructural Development; Munyaradzi
Paul Mangwana, currently minister of Indigenization and
Empowerment and now also the acting minister of Information
and Publicity; Christopher Mushohwe, previously the minister
of Transport and Communications and continuing on as the
acting minister; Sylvester Nguni, currently minister of
Economic Development and now also the acting minister of
Agriculture; Sithembiso Nyoni, currently minister of Small to
Medium Enterprises Development and now also the acting
minister of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community
Development; and Sydney Sekeremayi, currently minister of
Defense and now also the acting minister of Mines and Mining
Development.
¶4. (U) Chigwedere, Chinamasa, Made, and Mushohwe all lost
their parliamentary seats, but are eligible for ministerial
posts by virtue of having been appointed non-constituency
senators.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶5. (C) The dismissals do not reflect divisions or problems
HARARE 00000019 002 OF 002
within ZANU-PF. Six of the eight appointed acting ministers
are assuming the duties of a second ministry. We interpret
this to mean that by choosing not to fill those seats with
other ZANU-PF MPs, Mugabe is leaving himself flexibility to
negotiate with the MDC and managing the risk of having to
dismiss ZANU-PF ministers to accommodate future MDC
appointments. He could also fill these positions at a later
time with other ZANU-PF parliamentarians should he move
forward with recent threats to form a government without the
MDC in February. END COMMENT.
DHANANI
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