Environment Minister Francis Nhema told United States ambassador Charles Ray two years ago that the government had decided way back in 2000 that conservancy owners should look for local partners but Save Valley was the only one out of seven giving problems on indigenisation.
He said wildlife land in seven conservancies, about 1.8 million hectares, was transferred to the Ministry of Environment on condition that indigenisation was accommodated.
The ministry had not established percentage requirements but looked at each case individually.
Nhema said of the 26 properties in the SVC, 18 or 19 had been resolved and he was working with the remaining owners to complete the indigenisation process.
He said that no owners were being unduly pressured and he continued to mediate between them and prospective partners.
Any deal had to be based on a business negotiation. A government official could not just impose himself.
An American citizen who owned one of the properties Weldon Schenck told the embassy that the governor of Masvingo Province Titus Maluleke and an army official Lt. Col David Moyo were pressuring him to become partners.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 10HARARE66, AMBASSADOR’S COURTESY CALL ON ZIMBABWE MINISTER OF
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO3682
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0066/01 0330701
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 020701Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5358
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3289
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3400
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1823
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2657
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0006
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 0088
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0090
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2560
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000066
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV SENV CITES KGHG ZI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR’S COURTESY CALL ON ZIMBABWE MINISTER OF
ENVIRONMENT
REF: A. HARARE 064
¶B. HARARE 063
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. RAY FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d)
¶1. (U) The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on Minister of
Environment Frances Nhema on January 29 and delivered
demarches on the Copenhagen Accord and CITES (Refs). Other
discussion focused on land conservancies and indigenization,
conservation of rhinos, and the political situation in
Zimbabwe.
¶2. (U) Nhema said that in 2000, as land reform was
undertaken, Cabinet made a decision to treat wildlife land
different from agricultural land. Wildlife land in seven
private conservancies, about 1.8 million hectares, was
transferred to the Ministry of Environment on condition that
indigenization be accommodated. As part of the
indigenization process, according to Nhema, conservancy
owners are expected to look for partners, partner with local
councils, or ask the Ministry for suggestions of partners.
The Ministry has not established percentage requirements but
looks at each case individually.
¶3. (U) According to Nhema, the only conservancy area that
has presented problems as far as indigenization is the Save
Valley Conservancy (SVC). Of 26 properties in the SVC, 18 or
19 have been resolved and he is working with the remaining
owners to complete the indigenization process. Nhema said
that no owners are being unduly pressured and he continues to
mediate between them and prospective partners. Any deal must
be based on a business negotiation; a government official
cannot just impose himself. (NOTE: One of the outstanding
conservancy owners is Amcit Weldon Schenck who has told the
Embassy that the governor of Masvingo Province and an army
official, Lt Col David Moyo, are pressuring him to become
partners. According to Schenck, many of the owners who have
accepted new partners are white Zimbabweans who fear violent
takeovers of their properties. END NOTE.)
¶4. (U) Nhema told the Ambassador that Zimbabwe has lost 50
rhinos over the last two or three years; he said that a
population that was once 2000 is now 900. The Parks and
Wildlife Service has cut horns and placed tracking devices on
rhinos, according to Nhema, but poaching continues. (NOTE:
Many of these successful rhino monitoring projects are
carried out by local NGOs with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
funding. END NOTE.) Nhema added that he continued to search
for solutions. He denied that high-ranking Zimbabwean
officials were involved in rhino poaching and said he is
trying to determine who is responsible. (NOTE: Nhema’s
numbers are optimistic and gravely out of date. According to
a November 2009 report to the CITES Secretariat by local
rhino specialists, Zimbabwe has roughly 700 rhinos — 300
white and 420 black — and 235 rhinos have been killed in
Zimbabwe since 2006. END NOTE.)
¶5. (U) Turning to politics, Nhema said that the Global
Political Agreement had reduced tensions and there now was a
more civil discourse between the parties. With Zimbabweans
beginning to find common ground, elections should not take
Qbeginning to find common ground, elections should not take
place next year. The Western world, according to Nhema,
wanted to rush Zimbabwe’s development, but that would not
work; Zimbabwe had to develop at its own pace.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶6. (C) Nhema, who is separated from the daughter of Joshua
Nkomo, is considered by some to be a ZANU-PF moderate, but he
is reportedly close to Mugabe. He is soft-spoken and comes
across as reasonable. He is, however, at least somewhat
disingenuous. With respect to conservancies, as noted, we
have credible reports that some owners in the SVC are in fact
receiving significant pressure to take on local partners, and
HARARE 00000066 002 OF 002
Nhema is not playing a neutral role. When we posited to
Nhema, again based on credible reports, that ZANU-PF was
using intimidation in rural areas to gain support for its
positions in the constitutional process, he denied this. In
short, he toes the ZANU-PF line. END COMMENT.
RAY
(20 VIEWS)
