Zvobgo advised Mudzuri to challenge Chombo’s suspension

Outspoken critic Eddison Zvobgo, who was a lawyer, advised Movement for Democratic Change mayor of Harare Elias Mudzuri to file a petition with the High Court charging that Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo had overreached his authority because Chombo had no reasonable grounds for suspending him as mayor.

Mudzuri’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa did not intend to take the case to court though she was going to write Chombo that he had no legal basis for suspending Mudzuri.

Mtetwa said she was advising Mudzuri not to go to court because the likelihood that he would face a judge sympathetic to ZANU-PF was great. 

The objective was to force Chombo to prove his case rather than Mudzuri to prove his innocence.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 03HARARE833, HARARE MAYOR SUSPENDED

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

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

301442Z Apr 03

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000833 

SIPDIS 

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 

LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 

PARIS FOR C. NEARY 

NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2013 

TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC ZI

SUBJECT: HARARE MAYOR SUSPENDED 

REF: HARARE 77 

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER KIMBERLY JEMISON FOR REASONS 1.5 (C) A 

ND (D). 

 Summary 

--------- 

¶1. (C) The suspension of Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri, on April 

29 for alleged mismanagement of the city is an effort by the 

ruling party ZANU-PF to regain control of the capital city. 

The Minister of Local Government, Public Works, and National 

Housing, Ignatius Chombo, by applying Section 54 of the Urban 

Councils Act, seems to be trying to pave the way for 

Mudzuri,s dismissal despite having no legal basis to do so. 

We are not certain how Mudzuri will react to this attempt--he 

has been counseled to challenge the suspension in High 

Court--but in the interim we think that the USG's position 

should be that Mudzuri remains the legally elected and 

empowered mayor. End Summary. 

Minister Suspends Mayor for Mismanagement 

----------------------------------------- 

¶2. (U) Following the April 29 Cabinet meeting, Minister of 

Local Government, Public Works, and National Housing, 

Ignatius Chombo announced Executive Mayor of Harare Elias 

Mudzuri,s suspension from office pending the results of an 

investigation for misconduct. The Deputy Mayor, Sekesayi 

Makwavarara, also MDC is a woman whom Mudzuri has privately 

characterized as ¬ sharp8 in a conversation with the 

Ambassador, will be acting mayor. The suspension came on the 

opening day of the Harare International Festival of the Arts 

and during the visit by the Deputy Mayor of Harare's sister 

city Munich, who was outraged with the suspension. Since 

Mudzuri took office in March 2002, ZANU-PF, Chombo has been 

ZANU-PF's hatchet man in a campaign to discredit the mayor 

and undermine his influence. The GOZ even went so far as to 

arrest the mayor, deputy mayor, and several councilors in 

January for meeting with constituents, in supposed 

contravention of the Public Order and Security Act. (See 

Reftel). 

¶3. (U) Chombo told the government-controlled newspaper, 

Herald that a committee of inquiry would be appointed next 

week to investigate the allegations and recommend a course of 

action. Chombo said the committee, unlike a commission, 

would not run the affairs of the city--leaving the 

overwhelmingly MDC-dominated council intact to continue 

governing Harare. Mudzuri told the Ambassador that he urged 

his councilors not to quit in protest at his suspension. 

(NOTE: Under the Urban Councils Act, the Minister may appoint 

a commission to act as council if all the councilors have 

been suspended or are unable to exercise all or some of their 

functions. END NOTE.) 

¶4. (U) Chombo claimed that Mudzuri was suspended because of 

mismanagement of city affairs that has led to a decline in 

service delivery. In particular, Chombo accuses Mudzuri of: 

--Failing to deliver and publicize a strategic turnaround 

plan for the city. 

--Arbitrarily suspending key management staff without a staff 

audit. 

--Abusing his authority by selectively reprimanding employees 

for misconduct. 

--Encouraging illegal activities within the city through 

press advertisements, contrary to one of the council mandates 

to protect the public health of residents. 

--Flouting and ignoring tender procedures to benefit 

individuals and companies of his choosing. He is also 

accused of manipulating these procedures in tendering 

services related to water billing systems, street light 

fittings, procurement of water treatment chemicals, and 

refuse collection. 

--Mismanaging public finances by producing partisan documents 

not in the interest of sound, smooth governance. 

--Encouraging employees to participate in the stayaways in 

March and April. 

--Failing to sufficiently supply water to the city and 

satellite towns since September. 

Measured Response By Party 

-------------------------- 

¶5. (U) Mudzuri dismissed Chombo,s accusations telling the 

independent newspaper, Daily News, denying that there are 

suitable grounds for suspension. However he would be willing 

to submit his performance and continued tenure in office to 

city residents in a referendum. (NOTE: The Urban Councils 

Act states that the Minister may suspend a mayor if he is 

suspected of having been guilty of conduct that renders him 

unsuitable as a mayor. The same clause states that the 

President may dismiss a mayor if he is guilty of conduct that 

makes him unsuitable to be mayor. END NOTE.) Mudzuri 

claimed that Chombo wants to trigger unnecessary chaos and 

confusion in the city. At a subsequent dinner with the 

Ambassador, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the Ambassador 

the MDC would not rush into street protests over this issue. 

He said the MDC would stick to its own timetable. Another 

dinner guest, former Finance Minister Simba Makoni speculated 

that this latest development could be part of a move by the 

&Gang of Four8 (Chombo, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made, 

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, and Minister of Justice 

Patrick Chinamasa) to consolidate their positions and 

"radicalize" the situation amid reports that their sole 

source of influence and power--President Robert Mugabe--may 

be contemplating retirement. 

¶6. (U) Beatrice Mtetwa, Mudzuri's attorney, outlined the 

mayor's response to Chombo. Mtetwa said she would deliver a 

letter to Chombo today stating that he has no legal basis for 

suspending Mudzuri but that they would not take him to court 

over the matter. Mtetwa told us she is advising Mudzuri to 

not go to court because the likelihood that he would face a 

judge sympathetic to ZANU-PF was great. The objective is to 

force Chombo to prove his case rather than have Mudzuri prove 

his innocence. Elder ZANU-PF statesman, Eddison Zvobgo, who 

told the Ambassador that he had talked with Mudzuri about the 

suspension and informed Mudzuri that Chombo has no 

"reasonable grounds" as stated in the act for suspending 

Mudzuri. He counseled Mudzuri to file a petition with the 

High Court charging Chombo with overreaching his authority. 

Comment 

------- 

¶7. (C) The suspension of Mayor Mudzuri--a popular mayor who 

has had some successes in improving city services despite the 

ZANU-PF campaign to sabotage his efforts--is a transparent 

attempt to prevent the MDC's most prominent office-holder 

from delivering services effectively and thus further 

diminishing the ruling party's waning support in the capital 

city. Since other ZANU-PF tactics have not succeeded in 

dashing Mudzuri's popularity, ZANU-PF has ignored legal 

niceties in its attempts to unseat the mayor. Chombo 

probably intends to use a section of the Urban Councils Act 

to assemble a hand-picked committee assembled to 

"investigate" the allegations and determine that the 

President has grounds to dismiss the mayor. 

¶8. (C) Mudzuri told the Ambassador that in spite of the 

suspension he would still like to attend the International 

Conference of Mayors in Denver in June and fulfill his prior 

Washington appointments. We strongly support this course of 

action. Given the clearly political nature of his suspension 

and the fact that this is only a suspension and not a 

dismissal, our maintaining USG sponsorship of this trip would 

send a strong signal of support for the MDC mayor at this 

difficult time. Chombo's machinations aside, it remains our 

view that Mudzuri is still the legally elected leader of this 

city. End Comment. 

SULLIVAN

(52 VIEWS)