Mugabe relies on the same cast of characters

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

TAGS: PGOV PHUM ZI

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)