Former Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo threatened in 2001 to revoke the passports of Zimbabweans who were campaigning abroad for the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Nkomo made the threats after a Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front politburo member Joshua Malinga was barred from entering the United Kingdom because of the European Union travel ban.
Information Minister at the time Jonathan Moyo accused the British government of “going bananas” and harassing disabled people who required assistance.
He warned that it was time for Zimbabwe to draw up its own list of foreign visitors to be denied entry to Zimbabwe.
Nkomo said having a Zimbabwean passport was not a right but a privilege.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 02HARARE1806, MUGABE TURNS UP HEAT ON OPPOSITION
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001806
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2012
SUBJECT: MUGABE TURNS UP HEAT ON OPPOSITION
Classified By: Political section chief Matt Harrington. Reasons: 1.5 (
B) and (D).
Summary
——–
¶1. (C) The Zimbabwean government has stepped up its
harassment of the MDC leadership, arresting the national
treasurer in the hospital as he recuperated from major eye
surgery, and raiding Morgan Tsvangirai’s home in an alleged
search for arms of war and subversive materials. In
addition, the Home Affairs Minister has threatened to
confiscate the passports of opposition party members and
other Zimbabweans he accused of lobbying for the
international imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe. It is
clear from these recent developments that the country’s
continuing political crisis and consequent economic implosion
are driving ZANU-PF further into a corner, leading the ruling
party to intensify its internal repression and to lash out at
perceived enemies. End Summary.
Dulini-Ncube Arrested
———————–
¶2. (c) On August 3, MDC national treasurer and Member of
Parliament Fletcher Dulini- Ncube was arrested in connection
with the 2001 murder of war veteran Cain Nkala, the latest
chapter of an unfortunate saga. High Court Judge Justice
George Chiweshe ruled on August 1 that the State had
presented sufficient evidence against Dulini-Ncube to warrant
his indictment, and effectively reversed an earlier High
Court decision to grant bail. Plainclothes police officers
wasted little time in arresting Dulini-Ncube at a Bulawayo
hospital where he was recovering from major surgery — the
removal of one of his eyes. The MDC treasurer was kept in a
police cell for six hours before his lawyer was able to
convince the authorities that he required urgent medical
attention. Dulini-Ncube was then allowed to return to the
hospital, where he remains, but police have posted 24- hour
guards in his hospital room. Dulini-Ncube is set to appear in
the Bulawayo Magistrate,s Court on August 6 to be formally
indicted.
¶3. (C) Dulini-Ncube, who is a diabetic in very poor health,
spent several weeks in detention in November 2001, shortly
after the murder. He was denied access to adequate medical
care and his strict diet, which damaged his eyesight. After
significant pressure was brought to bear, including by AF
Assistant Secretary Secretary Kansteiner in a December 2001
meeting with Speaker of Parliament and ZANU-PF Secretary for
Administration Emmerson Mnangagwa, Dulini-Ncube was released
on bail. Since that time, he has dutifully complied with his
bail conditions, including reporting twice a week to the
police station, so Judge Chiweshe’s August 1 ruling was
suprising. Josphat Tsuma, Dulini-Ncube’s lawyer, told poloff
on August 5 that the police had insisted it was necessary to
keep Dulini-Ncube in custody this time, despite the fact that
he was in a great deal of pain and needed constant medical
monitoring, so that he could be escorted to court for the
formal indictment. The trial has been set for November 11,
and some senior MDC officials have confided to us that they
doubt whether Dulini-Ncube can survive another three months
in prison.
¶4. (C) Comment: Considering that Dulini-Ncube has complied
with his bail conditions for more than nine months and could
in no way be considered a flight risk, the police action
appears heavy handed and purely intimidatory. It is widely
believed that the Nkala murder was committed by rival ZANU-PF
supporters and war veterans, and that the government has
sought to frame the MDC. As far as we are aware, the only
evidence against Dulini-Ncube and the two other defendants
(who are MDC activists) is a confession by the two supposed
murderers, who later recanted, saying their confessions had
been extracted under police torture. Nkala’s widow witnessed
his abduction but has not been permitted to recount in public
her version of events nor to identify those responsible. It
is clear that ZANU-PF is not interested in bringing to
justice the real perpetrators, but rather in using the murder
as a convenient opportunity to increase its pressure on a key
MDC leader (one of only a handful who know the details of the
party’s funding sources), seriously damaging his health and
draining the financially-strapped party of yet more legal
fees.
Tsvangirai’s house searched
SIPDIS
—————————
¶5. (C) On Sunday, August 4 — the day after Dulini-Ncube’s
detention — heavily-armed police, some in riot gear,
searched the home of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. They
first produced a warrant authorizing a search for arms of
war, subversive materials, and illegal immigrants. Not
surprisingly, they found none of the above, but took away
several documents Tsvangirai described as “news items,” and
confiscated the pickup truck used by his special advisor,
Gandi Mudzingwa. Tsvangirai criticized the search as
“desperation of the worst kind,” and asked “who in his right
senses would keep arms of war, subversive materials or
so-called illegal immigrants in his home?” Mudzingwa
surmised to us that the search might presage an
intensification of harassment against the MDC leadership, and
said the party needed to brace itself.
Passports to be Seized
———————-
¶6. (C) When the Politburo’s wheelchair-bound deputy
secretary for the handicapped, Joshua Malinga, was barred
SIPDIS
entry to the United Kingdom in late July because of the EU
travel ban, ZANU-PF’s propaganda machinery kicked into high
gear. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accused the British
government of “going bananas” and harassing disabled people
who required assistance, and he warned that perhaps it was
time for the GOZ to draw up its own list of foreign visitors
to be denied entry to Zimbabwe (a position that Foreign
Minister Mudenge and other officials have since repudiated).
In more worrisome remarks apparently aimed at the MDC,
Minister for Home Affairs John Nkomo said the GOZ was
contemplating revoking the passports of those Zimbabweans who
had allegedly campaigned abroad for the imposition of
sanctions against Zimbabwe. Having a Zimbabwean passport is
not a right but a privilege, Nkomo insisted. Mudzingwa told
us that his party’s leadership had interpreted Nkomo’s
comments as a sign that the passports of key leaders would be
confiscated imminently. He noted that the passports of
Tsvangirai, Secretary-General Welshman Ncube, and shadow
SIPDIS
agriculture minister Renson Gasela had already been seized
pending their trial on (contrived) treason charges in
November. The likely next targets are Vice-President Gibson
Sibanda and Deputy Secretary-General Gift Chimanikire.
Comment
——-
¶7. (C) The Mugabe government’s gut reaction to Zimbabwe’s
continuing political crisis and its disastrous economic
effects is not to seek a reconciliation that mitigates the
damage to their country, but to lash out at those they hold
responsible for their predicament. Mugabe and his inner
circle continue to consider the MDC a major threat to
ZANU-PF’s 22-year hold on power, and are gradually tightening
the noose around the necks of the MDC’s leaders. Suspension
of travel documents is likely only the latest move in the
GOZ’s efforts to emasculate the party that has dared to
challenge Mugabe’s perceived right to rule Zimbabwe as long
as he chooses.
WHITEHEAD
(31 VIEWS)
