The arrival of United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray was delayed by a day after his flight from Johannesburg on a South African Airways flight was cancelled because of a freak accident at the Harare airport.
An Air Zimbabwe plane struck a group of five warthogs and veered off the runway, destroying some of the runway lights, on takeoff to Bulawayo on the afternoon of 3 November 2009.
Passengers on the flight were stuck in the plane for about two hours.
Security authorities reportedly forced passengers to surrender any photographic evidence of the crash before they were allowed to leave.
All night flights on that day, including Ambassador Ray’s South African Airways flight from Johannesburg, were cancelled.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE888, ZIM NOTES 11-09-2009
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Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO2846
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0888/01 3130732
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090732Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5121
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3162
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3274
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1701
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2535
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2904
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3322
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5770
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2454
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000888
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND J. HARMON
COMMERCE FOR ROBERT TELCHIN
SIPDIS
E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 11-09-2009
———–
¶1. SUMMARY
———–
Topics of the week:
SADC Summit-MDC to Reengage…
Warthogs Delay Ambassador’s Arrival…
…And May Have Prevented Abduction of Labor Leader…
Nkomo Nominated for VP Slot…
Zim Can Still Export Diamonds, With Greater Oversight…
Another Human Rights Lawyer Arrested…
Prisons Conditions Remain Dire…
RBZ Deputy Governor’s Thugs Shoot Farm Workers…
MDC Official Appears in Jail after Abduction and Torture…
All Quiet on the Banking Front…
Time for Another Indigenization Scare…
Salary and Wagepge^Qk Cabinet. The Organ directed the parties to resolve
outstanding issues, as contained in the Global Political Agreement
and SADC Communiqu of January 27, within 30 days. The Organ also
called for the lifting of all international sanctions. South
Africa, represented by President Jacob Zuma who will travel to
Harare next week, will facilitate the inter-party dialogue between
ZANU-PF, MDC-T, and MDC-M. See Harare 885
¶3. Warthogs Delay Ambassador’s Arrival… This week we are
thrilled to welcome Ambassador Charles A. Ray to Post. He arrived
on November 4 after his November 3 arrival was delayed because of a
bizarre accident hours earlier. On takeoff to Bulawayo on the
afternoon of November 3, an Air Zimbabwe flight struck a group of
about five warthogs and veered off the runway, destroying some of
the runway lights. Passengers on the Air Zim flight were stuck in
the plane for about two hours; security authorities forced
passengers to surrender any photographic evidence of the crash
before they were allowed to leave. All night flights on November 3,
including Ambassador Ray’s South African Airways flight from
Johannesburg, were cancelled. The government did not comment on the
warthogs’ fate.
¶4. …And May Have Prevented Abduction of Labor Leader… The
Secretary General of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers
Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), Gertrude Hambira, was also scheduled to
arrive in Harare on the cancelled November 3 flight. That night, a
team of armed men in masks broke into her home, put a gun to her
husband’s head, and demanded to know where she was. They
force-marched him through the house to look for her. When they
discovered she was not there, they ransacked the home, stole photo
albums and US$100 and left. Hambira is now in hiding and other
civil society leaders fear this may mean a new round of abductions
similar to Jestina Mukoko’s abduction and torture in December 2008.
¶5. Nkomo Nominated for VP Slot… The Herald is reporting that
Q5. Nkomo Nominated for VP Slot… The Herald is reporting that
former PF-ZAPU members who sit in ZANU-PF’s Central Committee met on
Thursday and nominated National Chairman John Nkomo to fill the post
of Vice President, left vacant following the death of Vice President
Joseph Msika in August. According to the 1987 Unity Accord, the
position must be filled by someone who belonged to PF-ZAPU before
the merger with ZANU-PF. Last week ZANU-PF’s Politburo directed
former PF-ZAPU members in the Central Committee to nominate a
candidate to fill the vacant post.
HARARE 00000888 002 OF 003
¶6. Zim Can Still Export Diamonds, With Greater Oversight… This
week at the Kimberley Process plenary session in Namibia, the 37
members present agreed to a partial suspension of Zimbabwe’s
diamonds and a detailed work plan that will allow Zimbabwe to
continue exporting diamonds from Chiadzwa, but only with the
approval of a KP monitor. Local traditional leader, Newman
Chiadzwa, surprised many by appearing in favor of the government
when he read a letter to the plenary declaring that there had not
been any rapes in Chiadzwa; previously he had spoken out against the
government. We heard that he was escorted at the meeting by several
suspected Zimbabwean intelligence officials. Civil society leader
Farai Maguwu spoke out about the ongoing abuses; he was later
berated by the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Namibia who accused him of
“selling out” Zimbabwe. Human rights groups criticized the
decision, saying it gives Zimbabwe a carte blanche for “business as
usual.”
¶7. Another Human Rights Lawyer Arrested…On November 2, Harare
police, acting on instructions from Attorney General Johannes
Tomana, arrested human rights and media lawyer Mordecai Mahlangu,
who represents Peter Hitschmann in the upcoming Roy Bennett trial.
Tomana subpoenaed Hitschmann to testify against MDC-T treasurer Roy
Bennett on November 9, when he appears in court on insurgency,
banditry, and terrorism charges. Hitschmann has said that he will
not testify as he has no evidence to implicate Bennett. Mahlangu
wrote Tomana and challenged the subpoena on the ground that the
evidence attributed to Hitschmann was obtained through torture.
Within hours of writing Tomana, police arrested Mahlangu at his
office and charged him with obstruction of justice. He was detained
overnight. The court granted him bail on November 3 and remanded
him to November 16 for trial.
¶8. Prisons Conditions Remain Dire… Despite some dramatic
improvements in food availability in prisons, conditions remain
dire, particularly for women and juveniles. A Red Cross feeding
program has reduced malnutrition in prisons, but some local NGOs
continue to contend that prison conditions are far from acceptable.
Although the government has allowed greater access to prisons than
in years past, the prison system remains cloaked in secrecy. See
Harare 879
¶9. RBZ Deputy Governor’s Thugs Shoot Farm Workers… On October 29,
“Tichiona,” who works for RBZ Deputy Governor Edward Mashiringwani,
shot and injured farm workers at Friedawil Farm in Mashonaland West.
Reports indicate he hired thugs to evict workers from the contested
farm. When they refused to heed his warning shot, he fired rubber
bullets, injuring more than 10 workers. Two sustained deep cuts to
their heads. Friedawil Farm is owned by Louis Fick, a South African
citizen and Vice President of the Commercial Farmers’ Union.
Mashiringwani, protg of RBZ Governor Gideon Gono, has been waging
QMashiringwani, protg of RBZ Governor Gideon Gono, has been waging
a violent campaign to evict Fick. This week Fick requested urgent
help for his 1,000 pigs that have not been fed or watered in days.
¶10. MDC Official Appears in Jail after Abduction and Torture… On
October 31, MDC Transport Manager Pascal Gwezere was taken to the
Harare Remand Prison and to court, after being abducted on October
¶27. In the unusual Saturday court session, without the benefit of a
lawyer present, Gwezere was charged with stealing 21 weapons from
Pomona military barracks in Harare. He is due to appear in court
again on November 13. During detention he was badly tortured and
may have suffered a fractured rib. Throughout the week his lawyer
has struggled to get court permission for access to a private
medical doctor, but magistrates have refused, saying he should see a
prison doctor. However, no doctor has yet attended to him.
———————————–
On the Economic and Business Front
HARARE 00000888 003 OF 003
———————————-
¶11. All Quiet on the Banking Front… A week has gone by since the
press reported that the central bank had been spending the reserve
deposits of the commercial banks. But so far, there have been no
bank runs, and the bankers themselves seem not to be bothered by the
news. Either they know something we don’t, or they’ve become
accustomed to life down the rabbit hole.
¶12. Time for Another Indigenization Scare… A ZANU-PF minister has
been promoting a plan to give the GOZ authority to seize majority
ownership of foreign-owned firms. Saviour Kasukuwere, Minister of
Indigenization and Empowerment, recently met with bU[k]isxQQtation rules would
only apply to new companies. As long as the MDC is in the
government, Kasukuwere’s proposed regulations will not be
introduced. But even talk of implementing the Act is enough to make
businesspeople nervous, and the inevitable headlines in the foreign
press will be another reminder to the world that it is too early to
invest in Zimbabwe.
¶13. Salary and Wage Negotiations Deadlocked… According to the
Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ), most companies have
failed to agree on salary and wage increases with their employees.
EMCOZ told us that at a recent meeting held two weeks ago, employee
representatives from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions proposed
a minimum wage equivalent to 60 percent of the USD 500/month poverty
line. EMCOZ says employers are unable to meet such high wage
demands. Instead, they propose to negotiate annual adjustments
rather than the current quarterly adjustments in exchange for
monthly salary increases based on productivity gains.
¶14. Sweet Deal for Sable Chemicals… Having closed their
electrolysis factory a month ago due to high electricity tariffs,
Zimbabwe’s sole fertilizer manufacturer, Sable Chemicals, has
re-opened its plant. According to the general manager, Sable
Chemicals eventually managed to strike a deal with the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority for a lower tariff of US 3 cents per
kilowatt hour instead of the normal US 7 cents paid by the other
consumers. The development is set to improve the availability of
fertilizers on the market.
—————–
Quote of the Week
—————–
“The countries of Europe and America want to dictate which way our
politics should go and they talk about regime change. They want us
to go down on our knees and beg. One day we should think about
fighting them in the international courts.”
— President Robert Mugabe, speaking at a funeral at Heroes Acre on
Q– President Robert Mugabe, speaking at a funeral at Heroes Acre on
October 31.
RAY
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