President Robert Mugabe and a handful of senior Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front officials, excluding security chiefs, set aside their political animosities to pay their respects in person at a memorial service for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife Susan.
Susan was killed in a car accident when the vehicle in which she was travelling with her husband was struck by an oncoming truck.
Tsvangirai sustained minor inquiries.
“Rest assured we are with you, Honourable Prime Minister. Our hearts on this day and the days to follow are with you,” Mugabe said.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE222, ZIM NOTES 03-13-2009
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Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO0158
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0222/01 0750741
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160741Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4221
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2239
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2695
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2816
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1278
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2084
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2440
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2864
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5303
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1986
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000222
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 03-13-2009
———–
¶1. SUMMARY
———–
Topics of the week:
– Tragic Car Accident Results in Death of Tsvangirai’s Wife…
– Roy Bennett Out on Bail…
– Surge in Land Invasions Continues…
– Retired Army Chief Dies…
– New Independent Newspaper Seeks Approval…
– Australia Makes Non-Humanitarian Donation…
– Cholera on the decline…
– Emergency Health Summit…
– Marketing/Media Survey Results Released…
– IMF Article IV Mission Reports Traction…
– Postal Authority Holds up Delivery of U.S. Mail for Lack of
Payment…
– Internet, E-Mail and International Calls Reduced to a Crawl…
– Slight Decline in Cost of Consumer Basket…
– COMESA Summit on…
—————————–
On the Political/Social Front
——————————
¶2. Tragic Car Accident Results in Death of Tsvangirai’s Wife…
Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was
killed in a tragic car accident on March 6 while driving to a MDC
rally in Manicaland. Their vehicle was struck by an oncoming truck
at an accident-prone stretch of road. The prime minister was also
in the vehicle, but emerged with only minor injuries. A church
service and public memorial held in Harare resulted in an outpouring
of support, as thousands of well-wishers paid their respects.
President Mugabe and a handful of senior ZANU-PF officials
(excluding security chiefs) set aside political animosities and paid
their respects in person at the church service. Ambassador McGee
attended both events and also the internment the following day in
the Tsvangirai home village. Tsvangirai will take several weeks off
with his family in South Africa before returning to work. See
Harare 194 and 217.
¶3. Roy Bennett Out on Bail… The incarcerated Deputy Minister of
Agriculture-designate, Roy Bennett, was freed on bail from a Mutare
prison on March 12, following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a
lower court decision to grant him bail. State prosecutors had
sought to delay Bennett’s release and even arrested the Mutare
magistrate who had authorized his release on February 24 after the
initial High Court ruling. See Harare 218.
¶4. Surge in Land Invasions Continues… The surge in land
invasions, eviction notices, and prosecutions targeting the 400 to
600 white farmers remaining in Zimbabwe has been encouraged by
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, President Mugabe, and a
controversial High Court ruling that stated that Zimbabwe was not
bound by the SADC Tribunal judgment in November 2008 that upheld the
property rights of 77 white-owned farms. Tsvangirai has
unsuccessfully pressed Mugabe on calling for an end to the
invasions. See Harare 207.
¶5. Retired Army Chief Dies… Former commander of the Zimbabwe
defense forces General Vitalis Zvinavashe died on March 10 following
a struggle with cancer. Zvinavashe was an independence fighter who
entered politics and most recently lost a parliamentary campaign to
an MDC opponent in 2008. Following those elections, Zvinavashe, who
Qan MDC opponent in 2008. Following those elections, Zvinavashe, who
prior to the 2002 presidential election said that service chiefs
would not recognize a president who had not been part of the
liberation war (read Tsvangirai), told other ZANU-PF candidates to
“accept the reality” that the MDC had won and urged people to
preserve the peace. The MDC issued a statement praising him as a
HARARE 00000222 002 OF 003
liberation hero and mourning his death. See Harare 217.
¶6. New Independent Newspaper Seeks Approval… Trevor Ncube’s
local media company, Zimind Publishers Group, has announced their
intention to begin publishing a daily independent newspaper in
Zimbabwe. The group has applied for licenses and is awaiting
approval to launch the new publication that will be entitled
“NewsDay.” Zimind CEO Raphael Khumalo told us that the publishing
company has been in discussion with media regulatory authorities
since the signing of the September 15, 2008 global political
agreement, and had recently discussed the project with the new
Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu.
Currently, the state-controlled Herald is the only daily newspaper.
Zimind already publishes two weekly newspapers, the Zimbabwe
Independent and the Standard.
¶7. Australia Makes Non-Humanitarian Donation… The Australian
government this week shifted its policy towards Zimbabwe by saying
it will expand assistance beyond humanitarian aid to help the
national unity government in Harare serve the population.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith announced on March
11 that his government would pledge US$6.5 million to help restore
Zimbabwe’s water, sanitation, and health sectors. Smith stated that
the Australian government “recognizes there are some risks to this
approach. We are under no illusions about the fragility of the
political situation in Zimbabwe.”
¶8. Cholera on the decline… The World Health Organization (WHO)
reports that, for the week ending 28 February, there was a 25
percent decrease in suspected new cases and a 42 percent decrease in
deaths when compared to the prior week. WHO attributes the decline
to improved case management at cholera treatment centers (CTCs) and
to cholera prevention campaign programs emphasizing early treatment;
funded in part by USAID. However, the same report notes that the
proportion ofcommunity deaths – i.e. those occurring outside
clinics and cholera treatment centers – remains “appalling” in
Midlands, Mashonaland East, and Manicaland provinces. As of March
10, the outbreak has claimed 4,041 and affected more than 89,000.
¶9. Emergency Health Summit… A two-day Summit in Harare was
attended by over 300 senior health professionals on March 5-6. The
theme was Get the Zimbabwe Health System Moving within the next 100
days. Prime Minister Tsvangirai encouraged participants to ensure
that a “health system was put in place that is the pride of our
nation and the envy of our continent.” The health system has
suffered a decade of neglect with the entire system near collapse
and major hospitals in urban areas barely functioning. While
practical solutions were offered, significant donor funding is
required.
¶10. Marketing/Media Survey Results Released… The latest data
from the Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation survey of urban
households revealed a host of media and household trends. The most
Qhouseholds revealed a host of media and household trends. The most
prevalent media trend was a decline in viewership and readership of
state-controlled media. Respondents reported ZBC viewership fell
from 63 percent in Q4 2007 to just 38 percent in Q4 2008. Readership
of the Herald declined 6 percentage points to 38 percent. Reported
usage of most household products and staple foods also declined.
Among the steepest drops was milk, which fell from 53 percent
regular usage to just 35 percent. Only 14 percent of urban
residents reported being employed full time in the formal sector.
———————————–
On the Economic and Business Front
———————————-
¶11. IMF Article IV Mission Reports Traction… On day four of its
mission, IMF staff reported to donor economists good data provision
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and a good level of competence
among interlocutors at the RBZ, Finance Ministry and Zimbabwe
HARARE 00000222 003 OF 003
Revenue Authority. The inflow of foreign exchange to banks has
increased significantly in two months and tax revenues could be
adequate to finance another round of close to US$100/person foreign
exchange payments to civil servants in March. An IMF accountant
will arrive this weekend to lay the groundwork for an external audit
of the RBZ by an international accountancy firm.
¶12. Postal Authority Holds up Delivery of U.S. Mail for Lack of
Payment… Zimbabwe Post recently informed us it was holding up
delivery of over 600 bags of incoming mail from the U.S. pending
payment of terminal dues and transit charges. We learned that the
U.S. Postal Service’s bank had held up payments under the erroneous
belief that Zimbabwe was under sanctions. Upon clarification, USPS’
corporate treasury department authorized a $110,000 payment to
Zimbabwe Post last week.
¶13. Internet, E-Mail and International Calls Reduced to a Crawl…
Zimbabwe’s internet service providers said their services had been
adversely affected by the cessation of operation on March 2, 2009 of
one of the two ComOne gateways for data traffic flow out of the
country. We learned that international service was disconnected for
non-payment of fees.
¶14. Slight Decline in Cost of Consumer Basket… The Herald
reported this week that the cost of the consumer basket for an urban
family of six fell by 1.83 percent from US$381.23 in January to
US$374.25 in February, 2009, underpinned by the continued decline in
the price of food. The fall could have been greater were it not for
significant increases in transport, rent, and utilities.
¶15. COMESA Summit on… The Director for International Trade in
the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Beatrice Mutetwa, told us
that the COMESA Summit, scheduled to occur in Zimbabwe last year but
postponed twice, will now take place here before the end of June
¶2009. The Secretary General of COMESA was in Zimbabwe recently and
is consulting with Kenya, which holds the chairmanship, to firm up
the date.
—————–
Quote of the Week
—————–
¶16. “Rest assured we are with you, Honourable Prime Minister. Our
hearts on this day and the days to follow are with you.” —
President Mugabe speaking at Susan Tsvangirai’s memorial service in
Harare on March 10.
MCGEE
(59 VIEWS)
