John Nkomo, who was Minister of Home Affairs at the time, ordered police to arrest people who were masquerading as liberation war veterans who were going around extorting money from company owners and employees on the pretext of solving long-standing labour disputes.
Nkomo said their actions constituted extortion and kidnapping and he advised anyone who had been forced to pay money to report their experiences to the nearest police station.
He emphasised that the government would leave no stone unturned in its quest to bring the perpetrators to book.
The move seemed to have been engineered by Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge who had promised Western diplomats that the invasions would be put to an end.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 01HARARE1632, FOREIGN MINISTER INFORMS WESTERN
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
170813Z May 01
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ3613
PAGE 01 HARARE 01632 01 OF 02 170805Z
ACTION AID-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AF-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 COME-00 DODE-00
WHA-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EB-00 EUR-00 FBIE-00 VC-00
TEDE-00 INR-00 LAB-01 VCE-00 NSAE-00 OES-01 SSO-00
SS-00 STR-00 TRSE-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02 NFAT-00 SAS-00
/004W
——————ECEEAD 170806Z /38
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8892
INFO NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
AMEMBASSY BERLIN
AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001632
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR CHARLES GURNEY
PARIS FOR BISA WILLIAMS
PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA – C. PALMA AND N. NEWMAN
PASS USTR FOR ROSA WHITAKER
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 01632 01 OF 02 170805Z
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/11
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS ETRD ZI CA DA
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER INFORMS WESTERN
AMBASSADORS OF CABINET DECISION TO REIN IN WAR VETERANS
REF: (A) HARARE 1535 (NOTAL)
(B) HARARE 1447 (NOTAL)
CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES EARL M. IRVING FOR
REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).
¶1. (C) CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER JAMES WALL TOLD
CHARGE ON MAY 16 THAT FOREIGN MINISTER STANISLAUS
MUDENGE HAD SUMMONED HIM, THE GERMAN AND DANISH
AMBASSADORS EARLIER THAT DAY TO COMMUNICATE CABINET’S
DECISION TO PUT AN END TO PELL-MELL INVASIONS OF URBAN
FIRMS BY OSTENSIBLE WAR VETERANS SEEKING PAY OUTS FOR
DISMISSED EMPLOYEES. HE EXPLAINED THAT CABINET HAD
DISCUSSED THE MATTER AND CONCLUDED THAT THERE WAS NO
HISTORICAL BASIS FOR THE INVASIONS AND THAT GOVERNMENT
STRUCTURES EXISTED TO DEAL WITH WORKERS’ COMPLAINTS.
THE FOREIGN MINISTER SAID THAT MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
JOHN NKOMO WOULD MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO THAT EFFECT
LATER IN THE DAY.
¶2. (U) THE CHOICE OF AMBASSADORS WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT.
HIGH COMMISSIONER WALL DISAPPEARED INTO ZANU-PF HARARE
PROVINCIAL HEADQUARTERS ALONG WITH THE CANADIAN CITIZEN
DIRECTOR OF CARE ON MAY 4. A DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE WHO
HAD BEEN LAID OFF SOUGHT REINSTATEMENT AND BACK PAY FROM
CARE THAT THE WAR VETERANS WERE HAPPY TO HELP HIM
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 HARARE 01632 01 OF 02 170805Z
SECURE. WHILE IN THE PARTY PROVINCIAL HEADQUARTERS WALL
PROTESTED THE KANGAROO COURT AND WAS ASSAULTED BY WAR
VETERANS (REF A). WAR VETERANS INVADED THE DANISH-OWNED
DANDY CHEWING GUM FACTORY ON MAY 11, RESULTING IN THE
FACTORY BEING CLOSED AND ALL 550 EMPLOYEES BEING
FURLOUGHED INDEFINITELY. ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTING,
THE DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MOGENS LYKKETOFT WROTE HIS
ZIMBABWEAN COUNTERPART PROTESTING THE INVASION. WAR
VETERANS ALSO INVADED THE OFFICES OF THE FRIEDRICH EBERT
FOUNDATION ON APRIL 23, AND LATER THE FOOD WAREHOUSE,
WHICH THEY LOOTED CLEAN, OF THE GERMAN-OPERATED NON-
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION “HELP,” AND THE S.O.S.
CHILDREN’S VILLAGE, A GERMAN-SUPPORTED ORPHANAGE (REF
B) .
¶3. (U) AS MUDENGE PROMISED OUR DIPLOMATIC COLLEAGUES,
MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS JOHN NKOMO ON MAY 16 ORDERED
POLICE TO ARREST “PEOPLE MASQUERADING AS LIBERATION WAR
VETERANS, [WHO HAVE BEEN] GOING AROUND EXTORTING MONEY
FROM COMPANY OWNERS AND EMPLOYERS UNDER THE PRETEXT OF
SOLVING LONG-STANDING LABOUR DISPUTES.” NKOMO SAID
THEIR ACTIONS CONSTITUTED EXTORTION AND KIDNAPPING AND
HE ADVISED ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN FORCED TO PAY MONEY TO
REPORT THEIR EXPERIENCES TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION.
NKOMO THEN EMPHASIZED THAT “WE WILL LEAVE NO STONE
UNTURNED IN OUR QUEST TO BRING THE PERPETRATORS TO
BOOK.”
¶4. (C) COMMENT: IT HAS TAKEN OVER A MONTH AND A STORM
OF PROTESTS FROM EMBASSIES AND CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS,
FOREIGN AND LOCAL, TO GET THE GOVERNMENT’S ATTENTION AND
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 HARARE 01632 01 OF 02 170805Z
ACTION. MANY SENIOR OFFICIALS IN GOVERNMENT ARE
DISGUSTED WITH THE TARGETING OF COMPANIES AND NGOS.
FOLLOWING ON THE HEELS OF THE RESIGNATION OF INDUSTRY
AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE MINISTER NKOSANA MOYO, WE HAVE
HEARD THAT THE PERMANENT SECRETARY IN THE MINISTRY OF
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING AND
OTHER SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS PLAN TO SUBMIT THEIR
RETIREMENT PAPERS IMMINENTLY. IN ADDITION, VETERAN
ZANU-PF POLITICIAN EDDISON ZVOBGO RECENTLY TOLD US THAT
A NUMBER OF SENIOR GOVERNMENT PEOPLE — INCLUDING
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MINISTER SIMBA MAKONI –
– HAVE ASKED HIM PRIVATELY HOW THEY CAN GET OUT.
DESPITE THE WIDESPREAD REALIZATION IN OFFICIAL CIRCLES
THAT THE LATEST
ITERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT’S “URBAN
CAMPAIGN” IS BACKFIRING DOMESTICALLY AND
INTERNATIONALLY, THE ULTIMATE POWER TO REIN IN THE WAR
VETERANS RESTS WITH PRESIDENT MUGABE. SINCE PRESIDENT
MUGABE LAST YEAR OVERRULED BOTH NKOMO AND VICE-PRESIDENT
MSIKA WHEN THEY VOWED TO EVICT FARM INVADERS, WE WILL
NOT INVEST MUCH OPTIMISM IN NKOMO’S ORDER THIS TIME
UNLESS IT IS FOLLOWED BY REAL ACTION ON THE GROUND. END
COMMENT.
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ3614
PAGE 01 HARARE 01632 02 OF 02 170806Z
ACTION AID-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AF-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 COME-00 DODE-00
WHA-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EB-00 EUR-00 FBIE-00 VC-00
TEDE-00 INR-00 LAB-01 VCE-00 NSAE-00 OES-01 SSO-00
SS-00 STR-00 TRSE-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02 NFAT-00 SAS-00
/004W
——————ECEEB0 170806Z /38
O 170813Z MAY 01
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8893
INFO NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
AMEMBASSY BERLIN
AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HARARE 001632
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR CHARLES GURNEY
PARIS FOR BISA WILLIAMS
PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA – C. PALMA AND N. NEWMAN
PASS USTR FOR ROSA WHITAKER
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 01632 02 OF 02 170806Z
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/11
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS ETRD ZI CA DA
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER INFORMS WESTERN
AMBASSADORS OF CABINET DECISION TO REIN IN WAR VETERANS
IRVING
CONFIDENTIAL
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