President Robert Mugabe was relying on the same basic cast of characters who had been the architects and implementers of his repressive policies over the last five years and therefore offered little hope for new directions.
This was the view of the United States embassy after Mugabe appointed his post 2005 elections cabinet in which he reappointed most of the old guard including those who had lost the elections.
The losers included Emmerson Mnangagwa, Patrick Chinamasa, Amos Midzi, Paul Mangwana and Samuel Mumbengegwi.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 05HARARE575, MOSTLY OLD GUARD IN NEW GOZ APPOINTMENTS
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
131514Z Apr 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000575
SIPDIS
AF FOR DAS T. WOODS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
OVP FOR NULAND
NSC FOR DNSA ABRAMS, SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010
SUBJECT: MOSTLY OLD GUARD IN NEW GOZ APPOINTMENTS
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d
¶1. (U) Following the swearing in of all 150 new members of
Parliament on April 12, legislators elected ZANU-PF Party
Chairman John Nkomo as Speaker and Mashonaland West ZANU-PF
stalwart Edna Madzongwe as Deputy Speaker. Nkomo replaces
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who lost his parliamentary race last
month but was named by President Mugabe on April 11 as one of
the Parliament’s 30 non-constituency MPs. Despite threats to
boycott, all 41 of the elected MDC MPs joined in the
swearing-in.
¶2. (U) Joining Mnangagwa as non-constituency MPs were
outgoing ministers Patrick Chinamasa (Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs), Amos Midzi (Energy and Power
Development), Paul Mangwana (Public Service, Labor, and
Social Welfare), and Samuel Mumbengegwi (Industry and
International Trade), each of whom either lost in ZANU-PF
primary contests or chose not to run. The rest of the thirty
are generally lock-step Mugabe loyalists and include
hardliners such as Willard Chiwewe, former permanent
secretary of Foreign Affairs who caused a diplomatic incident
SIPDIS
in 2001 when he threatened violence against staff at Western
embassies.
¶3. (U) The GOZ on April 11 also announced Mugabe,s
appointments for provincial governors, who comprise ten of
the President’s 30 parliamentary appointments. Four of the
governors appointed are first-time governors; the other six
are reappointments. Ten chiefs, all ruling party loyalists
led by outgoing Deputy Minister of Local Government Chief
Fortune Charumbira, round out the 30 presidential
parliamentary appointments.
¶4. (C) COMMENT: The appointments reflect the continued
ascendancy of the Mujuru/Zezuru faction within ZANU-PF and
appear to do little to appease disaffected Karanga and Young
Turk elements. Apparent losers, such as moderate outgoing
Masvingo Governor Josiah Hungwe, previously the
longest-serving provincial governor, are aligned with
Mnangagwa, who in spite of being tossed a crumb is clearly
out of favor. The appointments further confirm that die-hard
loyalty to Robert Mugabe is the chief criterion for
advancement in today,s Zimbabwe. They also offer little
hope for new directions within the regime as Mugabe is
relying on the same basic cast of characters who have been
the architects and implementers of his repressive policies
over the last five years.
Dell
(23 VIEWS)
