US ambassador said Madzorera was an honest broker

United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee said Health Minister Henry Madzorera had a huge job in front of him but he also had the most donor support off all government ministries.

While not as polished as his predecessor David Parirenyatwa, the ambassador said, Madzorera enjoyed the reputation of being an honest broker.

McGee said Madzorera’s biggest headache was likely to be his permanent secretary Gerald Gwinji who had been put in place by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front at the outset of the inclusive government and came from the military.

He added, however that although staunchly ZANU-PF, Gwinji was technically respected.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 09HARARE324, AMBASSADOR’S CALL ON ZIM MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD

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VZCZCXRO2764

RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN

DE RUEHSB #0324/01 1071410

ZNR UUUUU ZZH

R 171410Z APR 09

FM AMEMBASSY HARARE

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4389

INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY CLLECTIVE

RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000324

SIPDIS

AFR/SA FOR HARMON, DOBBINS

AFR/SD FOR SUKIN

AA/AFR FOR MOORE

AF/S FOR BWALCH

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELE GAVIN

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: EAID EAGR PREL PGOV ZI

SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR’S CALL ON ZIM MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD

WELFARE

——–

SUMMARY

——–

¶1. Summary: On April 8 Ambassador paid a courtesy call on

Zimbabwe’s new Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr. Henry

Madzorera. He was accompanied by USAID Mission Director Karen

Freeman and CDC Country Director, Dr. Ruth Walkup. Dr. Madzorera

was joined by his Permanent Secretary Dr. Gerald Gwinji and a

representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was

cordial and brief. The Ambassador assured Dr. Madzorera of the

USG’s continuing support for the health sector in Zimbabwe,

particularly HIV/AIDS. Very briefly USAID and CDC provided

summaries of their on-going programs in Zimbabwe. The meeting

closed with a brief discussion between the Minister and Ambassador

on their common interest in leadership development for Zimbabwe.

END SUMMARY.

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Madzorera Bio

————-

¶2. Dr. Henry Madzorera, who is a trained medical doctor, was born

on March 10, 1960. The Kwekwe-based physician is married with three

children. Madzorera holds an MBChB – the degrees of Bachelor of

Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. He also holds a Masters in

Business Administration Degree, and a Diploma in Occupational

Health. He is a member of the College of Primary Care Physicians of

Zimbabwe (MCPCZ). He is also an enrolled student at the University

of Zimbabwe’s Masters of Public Health program which is supported by

USG funds through CDC.

¶3. Madzorera joined the MDC in 2000. He ran and lost when he stood

as the MDC’s mayoral candidate for Kwekwe City in 2002. Madzorera

worked as the party’s district treasurer in Kwekwe from 2003 to

¶2006. In 2006, he was elected the party’s secretary for health, a

post he has held since. He was appointed Minister of Health and

Child Welfare, replacing ZANU-PF’s Dr. David Parirenyatwa, in

February 2009.

—————————————

Long Partnership and Supportive Stance

—————————————

¶4. The Ambassador opened with an expression of support for the

policies, programs, and activities of the Ministry of Health and

Child Welfare (MOHCW). The USG has worked broadly with the MOHCW

for many years but has for the past several years primarily

supported programs in HIV/AIDS with annual programming exceeding

US$60 million which includes ARV coverage for 40,000 people. The

Minister outlined the current health situation and in particular the

problems presented by a lack of investment in the health system, the

brain drain from the sector, staff retention issues, and the current

cholera crisis facing the nation. He said that since assuming his

post he has spent most of his time trying to get a clearer picture

of the Ministry and its staff as well as the health systems and the

current emergency. He said that he was well aware of the extensive

support of the U.S. and looked forward to continued partnership.

The Ambassador said that it was the USG’s intent to support MOHCW

programs, not to create new or parallel ones. Furthermore, he said

that we understood that given the rising interest in Zimbabwe by

donors and funded NGOs, the immediate future of health care

assistance could be chaotic – without express planning and

determination by the MOHCW and other Ministries.

—————

Beyond HIV/AIDS

—————

¶5. The Ambassador went on to say that although our programs have

been largely focused on HIV/AIDS, USG programs actually support more

areas. Dr. Walkup explained how CDC laboratory support cuts across

Qareas. Dr. Walkup explained how CDC laboratory support cuts across

diseases. She offered that CDC can also facilitate short- or

medium-term specific health systems strengthening assistance to

MOHCW staff. This would be in the form of specialists who would

work directly with MOHCW staff.

¶6. The Ambassador noted that we have new funding this year in

measles and TB, and increases in family planning funding. Ms.

Freeman added that USAID has had a long partnership with the

Ministry and its very competent staff. She emphasized that U.S.

assistance has always been systems-based and would continue to be so

in order to support the very strong planning framework of the MOHCW.

That said, in addition to the Ambassador’s list, malaria support

had also been added this year in support of the MOHCW plans. She

HARARE 00000324 002 OF 002

said that the USAID Mission is in the process of transition planning

which includes expansion in the area of general health and that they

would welcome the Minister and his staff’s input.

¶7. The Ambassador turned the conversation to the Global Fund and

expressed the USG’s concern that the Fund represented a huge

resource that needed to be managed carefully. The Minister

acknowledged that this was a great resource and that he had met with

the Global Fund representatives recently. The Ambassador informed

the Minister that the USG has been an active participant in the

Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) as a donor representative and

would continue to be so.

¶8. The meeting closed with a cordial exchange between the Ambassador

and the Minister on their mutual interest in youth and leadership in

Zimbabwe. The Minister reiterated how much he welcomed the

partnership of the United States and that he looked forward to

working with USAID and CDC.

¶9. COMMENT: Accompanied by several “minders” Minister Madzorera

said very little but clearly was aware of the past contribution of

USG health programs. Madzorera’s Permanent Secretary Dr. Gwinji,

was one of those put into place by ZANU-PF at the outset of the GNU

and comes from the military. Although staunchly ZANU-PF, Gwinji is

technically respected. Madzorera has a huge job in front of him but

probably also has the most donor support of all of the Ministries.

While not as polished as his predecessor, Madzorera enjoys the

reputation of being an honest broker. He is expected to travel to

the U.S. at the end of April on a Freedom House-sponsored trip with

other members of the government. END COMMENT.

MCGEE

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