VZCZCXRO0706
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0152/01 0540858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230857Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0076
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0037
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0037
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0037
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000152 
 
SIPDIS 
AF/S FOR B. WALSH 
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 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 02-19-2010 
 
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¶1.  SUMMARY 
 
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Mugabe Welcomes Codel Meeks/Watt... 
 
Journalist thrown out of Mugabe/Codel meeting... 
 
Diamond Drama Continues... 
 
Zim Agrees to KP Monitor... 
 
Court Orders Mining at Chiadzwa to Stop... 
 
EU Extends Targeted Sanctions on Zimbabwe... 
 
ZANU-PF Hijacks Civil Servants' Strike... 
 
Police Arrest WOZA Members... 
 
Mexican Journalist Arrested... 
 
HRW Calls Gov't a "Failure"... 
 
Rising Cost of Living Fuels Wage Demands... 
 
Tobacco Selling Season Starts on High Note... 
 
Companies Resort to Rights Issues... 
 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
On the Political and Social Front 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  Congressmen Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Melvin Watt (D-NC), Jack 
Kingston (R-GA), and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) visited Harare this week 
and had a nearly two-hour long meeting with President Mugabe at 
State House. The delegation also met with Finance Minister Tendai 
Biti and visited a USAID-funded livelihoods project. Friday's 
Herald featured a large photo of Congressman Meeks and Mugabe 
shaking hands next to the headline "US pledges dialogue." 
 
 
 
¶3.  Freelance journalist (and correspondent of the Zimbabwe Times) 
Nkosana Moyo was escorted by the CIO out of a meeting between 
President Robert Mugabe and the visiting Congressional Delegation. 
Moyo tried to record the proceedings of the meeting when the CIO 
accosted him and took him out of State House. He told PAS that they 
gave him a 20- 30 minute lecture about patriotism. "They told me I 
should not be used by the Americans to demonize Zimbabwe, and took 
all my details- address, phone numbers, next of kin, rural home- 
and let me go," said Moyo. Moyo said he could not go back to State 
house to cover meeting because "I was no longer a in a state of 
mind to do anything." 
 
 
 
¶4.  Transcripts of closed-door hearings led by the parliamentary 
committee on mines and energy have revealed probable corruption and 
a lack of oversight in the troubled Chiadzwa diamond fields. The 
committee, led by the ZANU-PF former Mining Minister Edward 
 
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Chindori-Chininga, has grilled senior leadership from the 
parastatals Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the 
Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) on their lack of 
oversight of the two joint ventures operating in Chiadzwa, Mbada 
Diamonds and Canadile Miners in several hearings this month. Mining 
Minister Obert Mpofu is allegedly due to testify soon as well. 
 
 
 
¶5.  This week Zimbabwe agreed to allow a South African 
industrialist with extensive diamond mining experience, Abbey 
Chikane, to serve as the resident monitor for the Kimberley Process 
Certification Scheme (KPCS) after several other potential monitors 
were rejected. Chikane's appointment is the result of the KP work 
plan developed in October 2009 at the KP Plenary in Namibia. 
Chikane is to have "unfettered" access to Chiadzwa is will need to 
approve of diamond shipments before they can be granted a KP 
certificate. 
 
 
 
¶6.  The Supreme Court has ruled that ZMDC and the MMCZ must stop 
mining operations at Chiadzwa pending finalization of the ownership 
dispute with African Consolidated Resources (ACR). Although ZMDC's 
two partners, Mbada and Canadile, may remain on site, they have 
been ordered to stop operations. In the meantime, the GOZ has 
reportedly cancelled ACR's license to mine the Chiadzwa fields, 
giving it up to March 10 to lodge an appeal. ACR contends the 
cancellation is unlawful. 
 
 
 
¶7.  On February 16, the EU extended targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe 
for another year and also removed six individuals (mostly deceased) 
and nine companies from the list. Of note, sanctions were lifted on 
Dumiso Dabengwa, a former ZANU-PF Minister of Home Affairs, who 
left ZANU-PF two years ago to reform ZAPU. The EU justified the 
extension on the lack of progress in the implementation of the GPA. 
Although ZANU-PF dismissed the extension of the sanctions as a 
non-event, it has nevertheless said it will not make any 
concessions in the GPA talks until all the sanctions are removed. 
 
 
 
¶8.  Striking civil servants have said that ZANU-PF has hijacked the 
strike for political reasons. Civil servants' representatives 
reported that ZANU-PF was forcing teachers to join the strike. They 
reported that in Masvingo province in southern Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF 
and the CIO forced Victoria High School to close at gun point and 
ordered the teachers to join the strike. The civil servants are 
pressing the government to increase their $150 monthly wages to a 
minimum of $630. The government has said it can only increase the 
paltry wages by a further $16 because it has no money. 
 
 
 
¶9.  On February 17 the police arrested two members of Women of 
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) in the eastern city of Mutare. One of the 
women, Rose Rukwewo, is an elderly woman who suffers from hyper 
tension. The police arrested the women at their homes for no 
apparent reason other than to harass them after they had 
participated in a WOZA protest march on February 16. Although the 
police admitted they have no evidence to charge the women, they 
insisted on detaining them for 48 hours--the maximum period the 
police can hold a suspect in detention before they must appear in 
court. The women were initially denied access to their lawyer for 
several hours. 
 
 
 
¶10.  In Masvingo on February 12, police arrested a Mexican 
journalist who was filming potential tourist sites. The journalist, 
 
HARARE 00000152  003 OF 004 
 
 
who was in a vehicle belonging to Minister of Tourism Walter Mzembi 
(ZANU-PF) and who had a letter of authorization signed by Mzembi, 
was held for several hours before being released after Mzembi's 
personal intervention. Mzembi later fumed, "We cannot attract 
tourists if we do not look at our law and order. [The journalist] 
wanted to film for Mexican tourists ahead of the World Cup in South 
Africa, but the first call I received once he got there was he was 
at a police station. He has understood that we are in a transition 
and we have said it will not happen again." 
 
 
 
¶11.  Human Rights Watch issued a harsh statement this week, calling 
the inclusive government a "failure." According to HRW's Director, 
Georgette Gagnon, "The transitional power-sharing government is a 
sham. From a human rights perspective, nothing has changed for the 
better. Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF are still fully in control." HRW 
went on to call for the government to begin preparations for 
holding internationally supervised free, fair, and credible 
elections that will lead to a legitimate and democratic government 
with the political will to bring about change. An article in The 
Economist this week also suggested early elections wouldn't be a 
bad idea: 
http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-afr ica/displayStory.cfm?s 
tory_id=15549373 
 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
On the Economic and Business Front 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶12.  According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), the 
average cost of a basket of goods for a family of six rose by about 
seven percent from $488.11 in December 2009 to $520.53 in January 
¶2010. The jump was attributed to an anticipated increase in civil 
servants' salaries and high utility tariffs. To the extent that CCZ 
figures are now the basis for determining minimum wages in the 
public and private sectors, there will be more pressure for a 
general rise in wages. 
 
 
 
¶13.  The opening of this year's tobacco selling season started on 
February 9 amidst expecations of substantial growth in the quantity 
sold. The Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) projects sales 
this year of 77 million kilograms, up from 56 million in 2009. The 
TIMB cites favorable prices and an increase in the number of 
farmers growing the crop as the main factors behind the increase. 
The use of the out-grower schemes has attracted a lot of farmers 
since they are well supported by tobacco merchants when compared to 
other commercial crops. 
 
 
 
¶14.  Liquidity constraints in banks and the high cost of borrowing 
have forced most companies to go for rights issues and private 
placements to raise money for expansion projects. During the week 
under review, for example, two publicly listed companies proposed 
to raise a total of $40 million through both rights issues and 
private placements. 
 
 
 
¶15.  "We know their attitude. They do not want anyone, any country 
in the developing world to make any meaningful development 
strides." -- President Robert Mugabe, referring to the West's 
alleged efforts to block development in Africa, at the opening of 
 
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the Pan-African Tourism Investment Summit in Harare, February 17, 
¶2010. 
 
 
 
RAY 
Dhanani