Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s plan to reward Abednico Bhebhe of the Arthur Mutambara faction for backing Lovemore Moyo to become Speaker of Parliament backfired when his lieutenants complained that he was sidelining the people of Matebeleland.
Tsvangirai had planned to appoint Bhebhe as Minister of Water and Eddie Cross as Minister of Public Enterprises and Parastatals.
He was forced to make an about turn appointing Joel Gabbuza to take Cross’s post and Samuel Sipepa Nkomo to take over the Ministry of Water.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE180, THE ZIMBABWEAN CABINET: PERSONAL LOYALTY KEY TO
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Reference ID |
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VZCZCXRO9285
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0180/01 0631432
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 041432Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4128
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2668
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2789
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1259
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2057
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2413
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2837
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5265
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1958
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000180
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2019
SUBJECT: THE ZIMBABWEAN CABINET: PERSONAL LOYALTY KEY TO
PICKS
REF: HARARE 162
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) President Mugabe filled his ministerial selections
by primarily rewarding loyalty to himself, and secondarily
maintaining ethnic representation amongst Shona tribes, and,
in keeping with the 1987 Unity Accords, Ndebeles. Mugabe was
challenged in findin sufficient positions for a number of
high-level ZANU-PF stakeholders demanding inclusion in the
Cabinet, and pressed successfully for a further expansion of
what has now become a grossly bloated government (Ref).
¶2. (SBU) Prime Minister Tsvangirai also heavily weighted
personal loyalty in his picks, although he made an effort to
include technocrats. After largely snubbing Matabeleland in
his initial selections, Tsvangirai was forced to reshuffle
some picks to accommodate Ndebele candidates. END SUMMARY.
——————————————-
Loyalty Primary Determinant in Mugabe Picks
——————————————-
¶3. (C) President Mugabe’s ministerial selections reflect a
decision-making process in which he foremost rewarded
personal loyalty, and secondarily maintained traditional
ethnic balances within the party. Mugabe last year had
famously referred to the previous Cabinet as his worst in 28
years, and yet he chose many of those same officials again.
Political analyst John Makumbe argued that this was a strong
indication that Mugabe was prepared once again to reward
loyalty over competence.
¶4. (C) According to discussions with Makumbe and
parliamentary advisor John Makamure, of the 22 ministerial
positions assigned to ZANU-PF, only six were awarded to the
rival ZANU-PF successor camps led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, and
Solomon and Joyce Mujuru. Besides Mnangagwa himself
(Defense), nominees to his camp included Walter Mzembi
(Tourism and Hospitality Industry), Stan Mudenge (Higher and
Tertiary Education), and the late addition of Flora Bukha
(Minister of State in Vice President Msika’s Office). The
Mujurus were particularly disregarded and only managed to get
Herbert Murerwa positioned as Minister of Lands and Rural
Resettlement and Sydney Sekeramayi as Minister of State for
National Security. Makumbe suspected that excluded former
Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa was a Mujuru supporter.
¶5. (SBU) The remaining 16 ZANU-PF ministers, including most
of the important ministries, were all awarded to long-time
Mugabe supporters and recycled previous Cabinet ministers
such as Patrick Chinamasa (Justice and Legal Affairs),
Ignatius Chombo (Local Government), Nicholas Goche (Transport
and Infrastructural Development), Saviour Kasukuwere (Youth
Development, Indigenization, and Empowerment), Joseph Made
(Agriculture), Obert Mpofu (Mines and Mining Development),
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (Foreign Affairs), and Webster Shamu
(Media, Information, and Publicity).
Q(Media, Information, and Publicity).
————————————
Unity Accords and Ethnicity a Factor
————————————
¶6. (C) In keeping with the Unity Accords practice of
awarding some ministries to representatives from
Matabeleland, Mugabe nominated Kembo Mohadi (co-chair Home
HARARE 00000180 002 OF 003
Affairs), Obert Mpofu (Mines and Mining Development), and
Sithembiso Nyoni (Small and Medium Enterprises). All of
these individuals are loyal to Mugabe despite being Ndebele.
Makumbe said that they had been “bought a long time ago.”
¶7. (SBU) While Zezurus (Mugabe’s Shona ethnicity) made up
the largest tribal bloc on the ZANU-PF slate, Mugabe also
appeared to make an effort to create some balance by
including Manicas, and Karangas. This has been a
long-standing Mugabe strategy to maintain widespread Shona
support.
———————– —————————-
When the Music Stopped, Mugabe Asked for More Chairs
———————– —————————-
¶8. (C) Mugabe’s selection process was constrained by a
reduction in ZANU-PF ministerial slots from 30 in the
previous Cabinet, to only 15 under the Interparty Political
Agreement signed last September. This was then expanded to
19 to accommodate three Cabinet-level ministers of state and
a co-minister of Home Affairs. Mugabe then lobbied
successfully for an additional three ministers of state who
hold ministerial rank, but are not attached to a ministry nor
have standing in Cabinet; Tsvangirai and Mutambara each
received one additional non-Cabinet minister of state.
Mugabe used these three slots to recycle senior ZANU-PF
officials John Nkomo (Minister of State in the President’s
Office), Flora Bukha (Minister of State in VP Msika’s Office)
and Sylvester Nguni (Minister of State in VP Mujuru’s Office).
——————————————— –
Morgan Picks a Mix of Insiders and Technocrats
——————————————— –
¶9. (SBU) Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s selections also
appeared to be based primarily on personal loyalty and
familiarity as he drew heavily from the MDC-T’s National
Standing Committee (NST). Five of Tsvangirai’s 15 ministers
came from the 12 person NST that is responsible for the
day-to-day administration of the party. These officials are
Tendai Biti (Finance), Nelson Chamisa (Information
Communication Technology), Theresa Makone (Public Works),
Elton Mangoma (Economic Planning and Investment Promotion),
and Elias Mudzuri (Energy and Power Development).
¶10. (C) Makamure and Makumbe believe that some of
Tsvangirai’s selections were based on the perception that
they had the fortitude to challenge ZANU-PF resistance,
despite lacking technical or managerial expertise. Biti and
Chamisa fall into this group, and have already gamely taken
on their ZANU-PF counterparts * ResQR7QYtQ~ower Development), Dr. Henry Madzorera (Health
and Child Welfare), Prof. Heneri Dzinotyiwei (Science and
Technology), and lawyer Eric Matinenga (Constitutional and
QTechnology), and lawyer Eric Matinenga (Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs).
¶12. (SBU) Tsvangirai also favored Manicas in his Cabinet
picks – and to a lesser extent Karangas – as eight of his 15
ministers came from Manicaland and Masvingo. (NOTE:
Tsvangirai grew up in a Karanga area that is now part of
Manicaland and he is considered to have mixed loyalties. END
NOTE.)
————————-
Morgan Snubs Matabeleland
HARARE 00000180 003 OF 003
————————-
¶13. (C) Tsvangirai may have initially miss-stepped by
under-representing Ndebeles in his nominations. He only
nominated two ministers from Matabeleland despite that
region’s strong support in the parliamentary elections of
March 2008. One of these was MDC-T MP Eddie Cross and the
other was Abednico Bhebhe of the MDC-M faction. Cross told
us that Tsvangirai had to convene an impromptu meeting when
party leaders from the region reacted angrily to the lack of
Ndebeles in his picks. Cross said his ministerial
appointment was pulled because, although he was from
Matabeleland, he was Caucasian and not Ndebele.
¶14. (SBU) As for Bhebhe, it was widely believed that
Tsvangirai selected him as a reward for persuading a majority
of the MDC-M MPs to support Lovemore Moyo’s successful bid
for the seat of Speaker of the House of Assembly. MDC-M
President Arthur Mutambara initially acquiesced in the
nomination, but other MDC-M leaders subsequently objected and
threatened to expel Bhebhe from the party which could have
resulted in the loss of his seat. Tsvangirai subsequently
withdrew Bhebhe’s name.
¶15. (SBU) Attempting to quell his Matabeleland critics,
Tsvangirai replaced Cross with Joel Gabbuza (Enterprises and
Parastatals) and Bhebhe with Samuel Sipepa Nkomo (Water
Resources). Tsvangirai also chose Gordon Moyo from Bulawayo
to fill the post of Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s
Office.
¶16. (U) The four MDC-M ministerial posts were filled by
senior officials in the party; Secretary General Welshman
Ncube (Industry and Commerce) (Ndebele), Deputy Secretary
General Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Regional Integration
and International Cooperation) (mixed Shona/Ndebele), and
Bulawayo-based senator David Coltart (Education). The
additional minister of state slot awarded to the MDC-M was
filled by MDC-M Vice President and Senator Gibson Sibanda
(Ndebele).
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶17. (C) Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai rewarded personal loyalty
and achieved a large degree of ethnic diversity. In doing
so, Mugabe recycled the old guard which will do little for
ZANU-PF partisans seeking a rejuvenation of the party in
order to combat the ncreasingly popular MDC. For his part,
Tsvangirai sacrificed technical expertise, but did manage to
fill important positions such as Finance and Information
Communication Technology with individuals (Tendai Biti and
Nelson Chamisa, respectively) who will be tough political
combatants. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(27 VIEWS)
