US embassy’s assessment of Mugabe’s new ministers

Do you know who Webster Shamu, Josiah Tungamirai, Shadreck Chipanga, Cain Mathema, David Chapfika, Andrew Langa or Ambrose Mutinhiri are?

The United States embassy in Harare produced their biographies when they were appointed to President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet in 2004.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 04HARARE292, NEW CABINET MEMBER BIOS

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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

191044Z Feb 04

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000292

SIPDIS

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, TEITELBAUM

LONDON FOR C. GURNEY

PARIS FOR C. NEARY

NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2014

TAGS: PGOV ZI

SUBJECT: NEW CABINET MEMBER BIOS

REF: HARARE 249

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER KIMBERLY JEMISON FOR REASONS 1.5 B/D.

¶1. (C) Reftel reported President Mugabe’s February 9

cabinet reshuffle. As promised reftel, we provide below

additional biographic information on the new appointees (we

have not included cabinet members who retained the same

portfolios or were switched to another portfolio):

——————-

MINISTERS OF STATE

——————-

For Policy Implementation

————————-

¶2. (U) Webster Shamu is the Minister of State for Policy

Implementation, a new cabinet position. A war veteran of

Zezeru ethnicity, he is the MP for Chegutu and the Chair of

the Parliament Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare

Committee. He is also a former Mashonaland West ZANU-PF

provincial chair and former editor of The People,s Voice,

the ZANU-PF mouthpiece. He recently acquired a safari

company, HHK Safaris, in connection with which he traveled to

the U.S. in February 2004 to solicit business.

¶3. (SBU) Shamu,s MP election was a violent affair with

ZANU-PF mobs accused of enforcing no-go areas against MDC

activists. The black commercial farmer defeated by Shamu for

the seat alleged that Shamu had threatened him with the loss

of his farm if he did not withdraw a petition contesting the

election results. After he did not withdraw the petition,

his farm was invaded. Shamu denied any involvement with the

loss of the successful farm, which reportedly was parceled

out to ZANU-PF supporters.

¶4. (U) Shamu on occasion has publicly called for more harmony

between parties and for equal protection of MDC interests

under the law. He spoke out publicly in support of jailed

colleague Philip Chiyangwa in January 2004. Shamu is a key

political figure in Mashonaland West and is understood to be

a supporter of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker of Parliament

and aspiring successor to Mugabe.

¶5. (U) Shamu was born June 6, 1945 in Harare. His nom de

guerre during the liberation struggle was Charles Ndhlovu.

For Indigenization and Empowerment

———————————-

¶6. (U) Retired Chief Air Marshal Josiah Tungamirai is the new

Minister of State for Indigenization and Empowerment and the

newly elected MP for Gutu North, the seat left vacant by VP

Simon Muzenda,s death. He is also the ZANU-PF Secretary for

Empowerment and Indigenization.

¶7. (U) After independence, Tungamirai was commissioned into

the army with the rank of Major General as Army Chief of

Staff from 1980-1982. In December 1982, he switched to the

Air Force and became an Air Vice Marshal and from 1983 to

1985 he was the Chief of Staff Operations for Air Force

Zimbabwe. In 1986, he became Air Force Commander with the

rank of Air Marshal, a position he held until he retired in

¶1992.

¶8. (U) Tungamirai received a B.A. in history and a M.A. in

strategic studies from the University of Zimbabwe in 1984 and

1987, respectively. He was born Thomas Mberikwazvo on October

8, 1948 in the Gutu district. Tungamirai is the nom de

guerre he affected during the liberation struggle. He is

married to Pamela and they have three sons.

¶9. (C) Tungamirai has exhibited independent and strong minded

tendencies in the past. He reportedly vied with party elder

Muzenda for the Gutu North seat in an earlier election,

reportedly withdrawing only after direction from the

President’s Office. He has been associated with the Masvingo

faction headed by ailing party intellectual Eddison Zvobgo.

Tungamirai’s latest candidacy was opposed by certain party

provincial leaders, such as provincial chairman Josiah

Hungwe, and it remains unclear whether he has successfully

united Masvingo’s sparring ruling party factions. MDC

figures told emboffs that Tungamirai was somebody they

respected and with whom they could work.

——————————————

SPECIAL AFFAIRS IN THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

——————————————

Anticorruption and Antimonopolies

———————————

¶10. (U) Didymus Noel Edwin Mutasa is the new Minister of

Special Affairs for Anticorruption and Antimonopolies, a new

cabinet position. He is also the ZANU-PF Secretary for

External Relations, a position he has held since July 1992.

Mutasa has held two ministerial positions, once in 1990 as

Senior Minister for the now defunct Ministry of Political

Affairs and again in 1992 as Senior Minister of National

Affairs, Employment Creation, and Cooperatives. Prior to his

post as Minister for Political Affairs, he was the Speaker of

the House of Assembly in Zimbabwe’s First and Second

Parliaments. He was elected to Parliament three times (1980,

1985, and 1990) as the MP for Makoni Central, Manicaland.

¶11. (SBU) Historically a party hard-liner, Mutasa has made

his Rusape hometown a no-go area for the MDC. In November

2002, as a response to the food crisis, Mutasa declared that

the country would be better off without half of its

population (a reference to opposition party MDC supporters).

He reportedly was behind the ouster last year of Oppah

Muchinguri, the moderate ZANU-PF governor of Manicaland.

Mutasa has signaled interest in occupying the

vice-presidential slot vacated on Simon Muzenda,s death in

¶2003.

¶12. (U) Mutasa became active in politics in the early 1950s

during his student years and eventually took up the cause of

the Tangwena people of Manicaland who were resisting forced

removal from their traditional lands in 1959. He was

eventually imprisoned for his involvement with the Tangwena

in 1970 and forced to leave the country upon his release in

¶1972. He attended the Geneva Conference on a settlement of

the Rhodesia Conflict in 1976 and a year later began working

full-time for ZANU in Maputo (which he had joined in 1963).

He served as ZANU-PF Secretary for External Affairs and

Deputy Finance Secretary in the party. In December 1989, he

was elected to the 160-member ZANU-PF Central Committee and

appointed Secretary for Administration in the Politburo.

¶13. (U) Mutasa did his secondary education in Goromonzi.

Mutasa studied social science at Faircraft College in Britain

for one year before reading a joint honors degree in

Sociology and Political Science at the University of

Birmingham. He was born on July 27, 1935 in Rusape,

Manicaland, to a Manyika chieftaincy family. He is married

to Lt. Colonel Gertrude Mutasa and has nine children. He

enjoys watching and playing soccer and playing table tennis.

——————————————–

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

——————————————–

¶14. (U) David Chapfika is the new Deputy Minister of Finance

and Economic Development. He is also the MP for Mutoko North

and chairs the parliamentary Budget and Finance Portfolio

Committee.

¶15. (U) According to the recently launched Mutoko North

website, Chapfika is a banker by profession and has worked

for many international banks. He also is associated with a

variety of agricultural and commercial enterprises. He

studied international trade and finance but does not hold a

tertiary degree.

¶16. (U) Chapfika was born on April 1, 1957 in Mutoko. He and

his wife, Abby, have four children (Tinase, Komborerai,

Danai, and Anotida). He enjoys traveling, golf, squash, and

jogging.

¶17. (C) Embassy officers have not been particularly impressed

with Chapfika. He is more the businessman looking out for

his own interests than an intellectual heavyweight. Chapfika

reportedly was involved in some of the dealings that brought

down fellow ZANU-PF MP Philip Chiyangwa in early 2004 but

quickly distanced himself from Chiyangwa and publicly denied

any wrongdoing. In his role as Parliament Budget committee

chairman, he has been critical of some of the GOZ,s economic

decisions.

———————————

MINISTRY OF STATE OF HOME AFFAIRS

———————————

¶18. (U) Tongesai Shadreck Chipanga is the Deputy Minister of

State for Home Affairs. He is also the MP for Makoni East

and chairman of the Parliament Justice, Legal and

Parliamentary Affairs Committee. Prior to his debut into

politics, Chipanga worked in the Central Intelligence

Organization, which he joined in the early 1980s. Chipanga

was appointed Deputy Director General sometime in 1990s and

held that position until he was appointed Director General in

¶1998. He was fired from that position in either November

1998 or May 1999.

¶19. (SBU) Chipanga,s MP election was a violent affair with

groups of ZANU-PF supporters accused of committing acts of

violence against MDC supporters. Chipanga has denied

knowledge and participation in acts of violence in his

constituency during the run-up period to the election. His

seat is one of several of the 2000 parliamentary seats

challenged in the High Court by the MDC. In October 2003,

the judge ruled in favor of the MDC and Chipanga was

technically removed from his parliamentary seat on the

grounds of violent intimidation during the election but

Chipanga retains the seat because he filed an appeal.

¶20. (U) Chipanga was born on October 10, 1940. He is

married. He holds a B.A. in Politics and International

Studies from a university in the U.K.

——————————————— ————–

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

——————————————— ————–

21.(U) Andrew Langa is the Deputy Minister of Transport and

Communications and the MP for Insiza, a seat he won in the

violent 2002 by-election. Prior to becoming MP for Insiza,

Langa was the district head for the Ministry of Youth

Development, Gender and Employment Creation, a position he

had held since 1999.

¶22. (U) Langa,s father, who was a ZAPU leader in Filibusi,

got Langa interested in politics. In 1989, Langa was elected

into the Matabeleland South provincial youth league as the

security guru. In 1993, he became secretary for

administration in the youth league. In 1994, he became

secretary for administration for the Filibusi ZANU-PF

SIPDIS

headquarters and in 2000 he was elected to be secretary for

education in Matabeleland South.

¶23. (U) Langa has a diploma in adult education from the

University of Zimbabwe and claims to be studying for a degree

in business administration from the University of South

Africa.

¶24. (U) Langa was born on January 13, 1965 in Filibusi.

Langa and his wife, Clara, have one 15 or 16 year old

daughter and two sons, one aged 13 or 14 the other aged 11 or

¶12.

——————————————— ————–

MINISTRY OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT CREATION

——————————————— ————–

¶25. (U) Retired Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri is the new

Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment

Creation. He is also the MP for Marondera West. He was the

Ambassador to Yugoslavia during the mid-1990s. In 2002,

Mutinhiri forcibly seized a tobacco farm in Marondera.

¶26. (U) Mutinhiri was commissioned into the Zimbabwe National

Army in 1980, after having served 17 years in the liberation

struggle. He became Brigadier in 1987 and retired in May

¶1992.

¶27. (U) Mutinhiri has a B.S. in Public Administration.

Mutinhiri was born in 1944. He is married and has four

children. He enjoys watching soccer, tennis, playing golf

and politics.

——————–

PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS

——————–

¶28. (U) Ndabazekhaya Cain G. Mathema is the new provincial

governor of Bulawayo. Prior to this post he was the

Zimbabwean Ambassador to Zambia. He became the Deputy

Minister of Lands and Water Resources in 1997. Mathema joined

the public service after independence and held many jobs

among them deputy secretary for administration, finance, and

human resources of the defunct parastatals commission and

Vice President Joshua Nkomo,s deputy secretary. He was the

elected MP for Tsholotsho until he was defeated in the 2000

parliamentary election.

¶29. (U) After secondary school in 1968, Mathema trained in

military communications and intelligence in Moscow. He then

studied for an honors degree in public administration and

economics, a diploma in cooperative management and history,

and a diploma in cooperatives in London and the U.S. during

the liberation struggle in the 1970s.

¶30. (U) Mathema was born on January 28, 1949 in Sipepa,

Tsholotsho. He is married and has three children and three

SIPDIS

stepchildren.

¶31. (SBU) Mathema has been very outspoken in his criticism of

Britain, the U.S. and the Breton Woods institutions, blaming

them for ruining Zimbabwe’s economy. He has been combative

and didactic in engagements with American diplomats.

SULLIVAN

(55 VIEWS)