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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