Career diplomat Machivenyika Mapuranga may have been saved by then Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge who posted him as High Commissioner to Ghana because he apparently could not just ditch such a loyal and capable diplomat.
According to the United States embassy, Mapuranga had fallen out of favour because his brother Leonard had challenged Higher Education Minister Herbert Murerwa in Goromonzi as a Movement for Democratic Change candidate.
Murerwa won the seat.
The embassy came up with this possible explanation because it could not find any reasonable explanation as to why Mapuranga had been moved to the obscure post of “special projects” after such a high profile which had seen him serve on the African Union and at the United Nations.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 01HARARE1596, MAPURANGA TO BE ZIMBABWE’S HIGH COMMISSIONER TO
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
140901Z May 01
CONFIDENTIAL PTO0937
PAGE 01 HARARE 01596 140854Z
ACTION AF-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 USNW-00 DINT-00 DODE-00
DOTE-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EB-00 FAAE-00 FBIE-00 VC-00
H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 L-00 VCE-00 AC-01
NSAE-00 NSCE-00 OIG-03 OMB-01 PA-00 PM-00 PRS-00
ACE-00 P-00 SP-00 SS-00 TRSE-00 T-00 USIE-00
PMB-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02 G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 SWCI-00
/008W
——————EB274E 140854Z /38
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8863
INFO AMEMBASSY ACCRA
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001596
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/11
SUBJECT: MAPURANGA TO BE ZIMBABWE’S HIGH COMMISSIONER TO
GHANA
CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES EARL M. IRVING FOR
REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).
¶1. (U) ACCORDING TO,THE MAY 12 EDITION OF THE
GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED “THE HERALD” NEWSPAPER, PRESIDENT
MUGABE HAS APPOINTED THE FORMER PERMANENT SECRETARY OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DR. MACHIVENYIKA TOBIAS MAPURANQA, TO
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 01596 140854Z
BE ZIMBABWE’S HIQH COMMISSIONER TO GHANA. THE ARTICLE
CONTINUED THAT MAPURANQA WOULD OPEN A NEW MISSION IN
ACCRA. BY WAY OF BIOQRAPHIC INFORMATION THE ARTICLE
SAYS THAT MAPURANQA IS A CAREER DIPLOMAT WHO SERVED AS
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORQANIZATION OF
AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) BETWEEN 1987 AND 1995 AND WAS
APPOINTED IN 1996 AS ZIMBABWE’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE
TO THE UNITED NATIONS. HE ALSO SERVED AS A SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE OAU SECRETARY GENERAL TO RWANDA
FROM 1992 TO 1995 AND LED THE OAU DELEGATION THAT
BROKERED THE PEACE TALKS THAT RESULTED IN THE SIGNING OF
THE ARUSHA PEACE AGREEMENT ON RWANDA. MAPURANGA,
ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS, SERVED AS ZIMBABWE’S HIGH
COMMISSIONER TO TANZANIA AND ZAMBIA AND AS DEPUTY
PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
IN THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
¶2. (C) COMMENT: MAPURANGA IS A SMOOTH DIPLOMAT WHOSE
PROMISING CAREER WAS SIDELINED BY THE APPOINTMENT OF
WILLARD CHIWEWE AS SENIOR SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
IN AUGUST 2000. ALTHOUGH NO ONE IN THE NORMALLY
SECRETIVE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS WOULD TALK ABOUT
SIPDIS
THE REASON FOR MAPURANGA’S ABRUPT REMOVAL, OBSERVERS
HERE SPECULATE IT WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT HIS BROTHER,
LEONARD MAPURANGA, RAN FOR PARLIAMENT IN GOROMONZI
DISTRICT ON THE MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE TICKET.
HE LOST TO THE CURRENT MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND
TECHNOLOGY, HERBERT MURERWA. MINISTER OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS STANISLAUS MUDENGE THEN PLACED DR. MAPURANGA IN
CHARGE OF “SPECIAL PROJECTS,” WHERE THE LATTER KEPT AN
EXTREMELY LOW PROFILE UNTIL HIS CURRENT APPOINTMENT. WE
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PAGE 03 HARARE 01596 140854Z
SURMISE THAT MUDENGE MUST HAVE PERSONALLY INTERVENED TO
RESCUE AND PLACE THE LOYAL AND CAPABLE MAPURANGA.
¶3. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: WE FOUND MAPURANGA TO BE
FORMAL AND CORRECT IN HIS DEALINGS WITH US (HE NEVER
ASKED US TO REFER TO HIM AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN DR.
MAPURANGA). AN EXCEEDINGLY CAUTIOUS DIPLOMAT, HE NEVER
REVEALED INFORMATION TO US THAT WE COULD NOT READ IN THE
NEWSPAPER. EVEN WHEN INFORMATION CAME FROM HIS
GOVERNMENT, SUCH AS IN AUGUST 1999 WHEN THE CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION SOUGHT THE EXPULSION OF A
USAID CONTRACTOR, MAPURANGA WOULD PRESENT HIS CASE IN
SUCH AN ELLIPTICAL FASHION THAT IT WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY
POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE
CONVERSATION. FORMER UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR REFUGEES REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OLUSEYI BAJULAIYE
TOLD US THAT HE RELIED HEAVILY ON HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH
“MACH” MAPURANGA TO WORK THROUGH THE RELEASE OF THE TWO
CUBAN DOCTORS WHO DEFECTED IN MAY 2000 IN ZIMBABWE.
MAPURANGA IS CAPABLE OF TESTINESS, PARTICULARLY WHEN HE
PERCEIVES AN INTERLOCUTOR TO SAY SOMETHING THAT HE
PERCEIVES AS INFRINGING UPON ZIMBABWE’S SOVEREIGNTY. HE
IS MARRIED, DOES NOT SMOKE, AND DRINKS IN MODERATION.
IRVING
CONFIDENTIAL
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