No land audit until sanctions are lifted

Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray way back in January 2010 that there would be no land audit in Zimbabwe until sanctions had been lifted.

A land audit was one of the issues that was agreed at the signing of the Global Political Agreement but it has not been carried out since.

Made said sanctions were responsible for reduced supplies of electricity which in turn made irrigation difficult and curtailed fertilizer production.

With agricultural production consequently reduced, it was impossible to determine the productivity of land, a determination which would be necessary in a land audit.

Made singled out sanctions on Agribank as particularly harmful since this was the bank that customarily made loans to peasant farmers.

Claiming that he was a “chief strategist” for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, Made said GPA negotiations were deadlocked and there would be no ZANU-PF movement until sanctions were lifted.

He maintained that the Movement for Democratic Change and Britain had asked for sanctions to be imposed. ZANU-PF was now happy that the UK had admitted that it was up to the MDC to request that sanctions be lifted.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 10HARARE50, AMBASSADOR’S MEETING WITH ZIMBABWE MINISTER OF

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000050 

SIPDIS 

AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH 

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2020 

TAGS: EAGR PREL PGOV PINR ZI

SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ZIMBABWE MINISTER OF 

AGRICULTURE 

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. RAY FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) 

------- 

SUMMARY 

------- 

¶1. (C) During a courtesy call by the Ambassador, Zimbabwe 

Minister of Agriculture Joseph Made stated that the Global 

Political Agreement was deadlocked and there would be no 

movement by ZANU-PF unless sanctions were lifted. Hewing to 

the ZANU-PF party line, Made touted land reform, denied there 

had been violence associated with it, and blamed the plight 

of the agricultural sector on sanctions which he said 

prevented farmers from accessing credit. He proposed a 

working-level group be established between the Embassy and 

the Ministry of Agriculture to strategize about helping small 

farmers through projects such as irrigation and dam 

clearance. He also commented that a drought, superimposed on 

dry conditions, boded poorly for agricultural production this 

season. END SUMMARY. 

¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador called on ZANU-PF Minister of 

Agriculture Made at the Ministry on January 25. Made was 

accompanied by his permanent secretary and a notetaker. In 

contrast to other meetings with ZANU-PF ministers, a 

representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not 

present. 

¶3. (C) Acknowledging none of the problems generally 

associated with land reform in Zimbabwe, including violence 

and radical declines in production, Made told the Ambassador 

that restoration of land and the right to vote were the 

cornerstones of the liberation struggle. When the Ambassador 

stated that the U.S., as a matter of policy, did not object 

to land reform but was concerned with violence and lack of 

due process, Made countered there had been no violence 

related to land reform. Perhaps there had been 10 or so 

deaths because of hooliganism, but this was nothing compared 

to the over 4,000 deaths (with more to come) in South Africa 

associated with land reform in that country. Made added that 

all Zimbabwean farmers whose land had been acquired as part 

of the land reform process had contested the loss of their 

lands in court and had lost. 

¶4. (C) The Ambassador asked whether a land audit would be 

carried out as stipulated in the Global Political Agreement 

(GPA).  Made replied there would be no audit until sanctions 

were lifted. Sanctions were responsible for reduced supplies 

of electricity which in turn made irrigation difficult and 

curtailed fertilizer production. With agricultural 

production consequently reduced, it was impossible to 

determine the productivity of land, a determination which 

would be necessary in a land audit. 

¶5. (C) Made asserted that sanctions (read ZDERA) were 

responsible for the state of the agricultural sector since 

they made lines of credit unavailable. We pointed out the 

IMF had ceased lending to Zimbabwe before the passage of 

ZDERA; Made responded that the IMF's actions were part of a 

coordinated process leading to ZDERA. He added that private 

lenders had refused to become involved in Zimbabwe because of 

sanctions. Made singled out sanctions on Agribank as 

Qsanctions. Made singled out sanctions on Agribank as 

particularly harmful since this was the bank that customarily 

made loans to peasant farmers. 

¶6. (C) Claiming that he was a "chief strategist" for 

ZANU-PF, Made said GPA negotiations were deadlocked and there 

would be no ZANU-PF movement until sanctions were lifted. 

(NOTE: Made clarified that those sanctions which would have 

to be lifted were sanctions on parastatals and ZDERA. The 

parastatal sanctions would have to be removed en masse. END 

NOTE.) He maintained that the MDC and UK had asked for 

sanctions to be imposed; ZANU-PF was now happy that the UK 

had admitted that it was up to the MDC to request that 

HARARE 00000050 002 OF 003 

sanctions be lifted. (NOTE: Newspapers here last week 

quoted British Foreign Secretary David Miliband as telling 

the House of Commons with respect to the lifting of sanctions 

that "...we have to calibrate our response to the progress on 

the ground, and, above all, to be guided by what the MDC says 

to us about the conditions under which it is working and 

leading the country." The UK Embassy in Harare tried to walk 

back Miliband's comment in a statement issued over the 

weekend which said the UK would respond to change and reform 

on the ground. Nevertheless, the ZANU-PF propaganda machine 

is claiming that Miliband has proved that the MDC has the 

power to end sanctions. END NOTE.) Made said he did not 

understand why the U.S. had imposed sanctions, that 

Zimbabwe's argument was not with the U.S., but with the UK; 

it was a battle between kith and kin. ZANU-PF was in the 

right and for this reason had the support of the AU and SADC. 

¶7. (C) Made said he was aware that Minister of Finance 

Tendai Biti had called for the lifting of sanctions on some 

parastatals. He called Biti a strong person who had been 

under a lot of pressure, and who had broken with his party on 

the sanctions issue. 

¶8. (C) Made acknowledged that despite sanctions, the U.S. 

continued to do business with Zimbabwe. Numerous John Deere 

and Case tractors and irrigation combines were in use, 

although without credit it was impossible for Zimbabwe to buy 

as many as they would like because they must pay cash for 

them. 

¶9. (C) Turning to agricultural assistance, Made stated that 

NGO assistance was supplanting the private sector; this was 

not the way to do business. He expressed concern that some 

NGOs were partisan in their distribution of food and inputs. 

Nevertheless, he had no plans at this time to deny NGOs the 

ability to operate. 

¶10. (C) Made stated that Zimbabwe was suffering from a 

mid-season drought. Such droughts usually occurred for two 

to three weeks; this year it followed a moisture deficit 

which had made planting impossible. The Ministry was about 

to begin a first crop assessment. Made said he was aware 

that USAID had satellite information on the crop situation, 

but because of land reform clashes, USAID was reluctant to 

cooperate and exchange information with the Ministry. He 

hoped that improving relations would allow for such 

cooperation. (NOTE: While USAID has participated in crop 

assessments that have included the GOZ, it has not shared 

USDA satellite information because of the lack of a 

relationship with the Ministry. END NOTE.) 

¶11. (C) Made said that personal sanctions had precluded him 

from traveling to DC and European capitals to discuss 

agricultural policy with his counterparts. He suggested, 

however, that the Embassy and the Ministry put together 

technical teams at the working level to strategize about 

assistance to small farmers in areas such as irrigation and 

desilting dams. 

------- 

COMMENT 

------- 

¶12. (C) The meeting was cordial, at times friendly, and Made 

Q12. (C) The meeting was cordial, at times friendly, and Made 

clearly relished the opportunity to meet with the U.S. 

Ambassador. It is impossible to know whether ZANU-PF 

stalwarts believe what they're saying, particularly in the 

case of an individual like Made who received his education in 

the U.S. and should know better. Regardless, in his 

conversation with the Ambassador, Made was clearly spouting 

the ZANU-PF party line. 

¶13. (C) Made is close to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. 

 He ran for a seat from Manicaland in the March 2008 

HARARE 00000050 003 OF 003 

parliamentary elections and was defeated. Mugabe 

subsequently appointed him to the Senate. Based on his 

performance as the Minister of Agriculture and previously as 

the Minister of Agriculture Mechanization (since merged with 

the Ministry of Agriculture) over the last several years, he 

is widely regarded as incompetent. END COMMENT. 

¶14. BIO NOTE: Made received his B.A., M.A., and PhD from 

the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His thesis was on 

land reform in Nicaragua and Zimbabwe. He has also done 

research on China. Made's wife is from Florida. His son was 

sentenced in Texas last year to five years in prison for tax 

fraud. END BIO NOTE. 

RAY

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