Tsvangirai payback for Bhebhe foiled

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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FM AMEMBASSY HARARE

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000180

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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

TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC ZI

SUBJECT: THE ZIMBABWEAN CABINET: PERSONAL LOYALTY KEY TO

PICKS

REF: HARARE 162

Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)

——-

SUMMARY

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¶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

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¶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

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