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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000083 
 
SIPDIS 
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALSH 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/04 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: Conversations with MDC-T Minister-in-Waiting Roy Bennett 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Charles A. Ray, Ambassador, STATE, EXEC; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
 
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¶1.  (C)  MDC-T Finance Chairman Roy Bennett told the Ambassador 
that while the MDC is good at campaigning, it lacks a cadre of 
people who know how to run a government.  While much of U.S. and 
other Western support has focused on the party, there is a 
compelling need for institution building.  Apart from the MDC, 
Bennett acknowledged that ZANU-PF will be involved in a future 
Zimbabwe; the challenge is to identify those in ZANU-PF who can 
play constructive roles, and to find ways to bolster them against 
extremists. 
 
¶2.  (C) In a separate conversation with polecon chief, Bennett 
focused on MDC-T strategy.  MDC-T has concluded that the Global 
Political Agreement (GPA) is deadlocked.  The MDC-T Standing 
Committee has resolved to make a last effort to negotiate with 
ZANU-PF, and then appeal to SADC.  But it expects little assistance 
in that forum and will focus on elections which it would like to 
see occur next year.  Bennett also discussed perceptions of MDC-T 
corruption.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Ambassador discussed MDC-T with Bennett at a dinner 
hosted by the British ambassador for visiting UK parliamentarians 
on February 1.  Attending the dinner, in addition to the usual cast 
of Western diplomats, were representatives of the coalition 
government, including the deputy foreign minister, and Bennett, the 
MDC-T Finance Chairman.  Polecon chief met separately with Bennett 
on February 2. 
 
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MDC WEAKNESS IS IN GOVERNING, NOT IN CAMPAIGNING 
 
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¶4.  (C)  Bennett talked with the Ambassador about MDC-T's inability 
to 'deliver the goods' to the people, despite its strong ability to 
campaign; he saw a need to refocus external assistance more toward 
institution building and strengthening civil society.  He said the 
MDC-T under Morgan Tsvangirai's leadership had a tremendous amount 
of popularity throughout the country, in part due to Tsvangirai's 
sincerity and humility, and in part due to ZANU-PF arrogance and 
lack of concern for the common citizen.  The party was very good at 
campaigning, but lacked a strong bench in terms of governing. 
Campaigning was limited to a degree by a paucity of resources. 
Bennett said, for instance, in one province, with several hundred 
thousand voters, the party had only one vehicle to transport 
campaign workers around.  Hardly any of the MDC ministers had any 
previous experience in administration, and the few with any 
capability were overstretched. 
 
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NEED FOR MORE THAN GOOD INTENTIONS 
 
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¶5.  (C)  According to Bennett, Western aid (primarily EU and U.S.) 
has had a strong focus on the MDC as a party.  While this has been 
appreciated, it has not done enough to build the party's capacity 
to provide government services or manage the bureaucracy.  He said 
he understood the limitations on working with elements of the 
 
HARARE 00000083  002 OF 003 
 
 
government because of sanctions and ZDERA, but without more 
capacity building, democratic reform would be delayed even longer. 
He also said there was a compelling need to do more to build civil 
society.  While there are a number of civil society organizations 
in Zimbabwe, there is no mass civil consciousness that can act as a 
counterweight to ZANU-PF depredations.  (COMMENT:  What also seems 
to be lacking is a sense of interconnectedness among all the 
various civil society groups.  The culture of fear and violence 
that has been created over the past several decades has so cowed 
the general population that tens of thousands of people can be 
intimidated by the murder or beating of a few hundred.  END 
COMMENT.)  Bennett contrasted Zimbabwe with South Africa where, 
although apartheid was as odious as the colonial exploitation was 
here, there was at least the pretense of a black society that was 
along side but separate from the whites.  In Zimbabwe there was not 
even the pretense - blacks had been seen as merely labor to be 
exploited, and coloreds as caudal appendages that were tolerated as 
long as they didn't make trouble.  The result is that in South 
Africa there is a strong and vibrant civil society that the West 
concentrated on building during apartheid, and while there is 
likely to be ethnic strife, the country will most likely survive 
it. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Bennett said that Mugabe and ZANU-PF did not actually 
create this culture of a privileged few lording it over the masses 
(this was done by British colonial masters and the Ian Smith 
regime), but they have adopted it lock, stock, and barrel.  If 
there is ever to be sustainable progress in this country, he said, 
in addition to building a strong, responsive governance capacity, 
the people must be taught their civic rights and be empowered to 
demand them. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Western support for Mugabe and ZANU in the 1960s and 
1980s, Bennett said, can be understood in the context of the Cold 
War.  The slaughter of Ndebeles in Matabeleland was viewed as an 
internal incident less important than the chess game between the 
USSR and the West, and the killing and dispossessing of ZAPU went 
unremarked because ZAPU was supported by the USSR, the West's main 
enemy at the time.  In the same vein, revulsion at ZANU-PF for 
events since the late 1990s, particularly the violence associated 
with farm invasions and the election-related killings, is 
understandable.  This should not, however, blind the West to the 
fact that ZANU-PF will not go away.  There are in ZANU-PF, people 
who want to see progress, but they have no power to influence 
events.  We need to do a better job of identifying them, and 
finding ways, without compromising or endangering them, to empower 
them with a view to a future multi-party country and a need to 
recognize that wishing for a future Zimbabwe without ZANU-PF is 
naC/ve and counterproductive. 
 
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MDC-T Strategy 
 
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¶8.  (C)  Bennett told polecon chief that MDC-T had been unfocused. 
The Office of the Prime Minister was weak and the party had been 
left largely unattended as party stalwarts such as Tendai Biti were 
occupied with government.  Two weeks ago, according to Bennett, the 
MDC-T Standing Committee, consisting of the top 12 ranking 
officials, held a series of strategy sessions to address these 
issues. 
 
¶9.  (C) The party concluded that ZANU-PF would not allow it to 
effectively participate in government; it therefore resolved to 
focus its efforts on the party in order to build it and prepare for 
elections.  MDC-T, according to Bennett, believes there will be no 
significant progress on the GPA and that there is a stalemate.  It 
has not yet been declared a deadlock because it wants the Media, 
 
HARARE 00000083  003 OF 003 
 
 
Electoral, and Human Rights Commissions established before it does 
so - it is concerned that declaring a deadlock first would cause 
Mugabe to backtrack on the commissions.  MDC-T's plan after it does 
declare a deadlock is to appeal to SADC.  It believes SADC will be 
unsuccessful in moving Mugabe.  The next step will be to press for 
elections. 
 
¶10.  (C) Bennett told us that the Standing Committee also discussed 
the Marange diamond situation and resolved to take a firm stand. 
He acknowledged that Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Minister of Mines, 
is close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and is possibly 
corrupt.  Turning to the issue of corruption, Bennett said there 
were rumors about several MDC-T ministers, but the party could not 
act on rumors.  He admitted, however, that the perception of 
corruption was harmful.  He was aware of reports that Tsvangirai 
was buying a US$1 million house in Harare.  Bennett said he 
investigated and discovered that two individuals associated with 
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had proposed buying 
the house for Tsvangirai.  Bennett said he urged Tsvangirai to turn 
off the arrangement and Tsvangirai agreed.  Tsvangirai had, 
however, accepted two vehicles from these individuals. 
 
¶11.  (C) Bennett said the Standing Committee had resolved that 
elections take place in 2011.  He admitted that most MDC-T 
parliamentarians were opposed to this, but said the party 
leadership would prevail over the desires of parliamentarians or 
the rank and file.  We noted that a couple of weeks ago, Tsvangirai 
had said the country was not ready for early elections, but had 
apparently reversed course in Davos and supported 2011 elections. 
Bennett said the party leadership had always supported 2011 
elections; but despite party decisions, Tsvangirai had a tendency 
to publicly take inconsistent positions. 
 
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COMMENT 
 
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¶12.  (C) Bennett is an MDC "hardliner" who has been frustrated with 
the MDC's progress in the coalition government and in party 
building.  While he was encouraged by the determination of the 
Standing Committee to take a more assertive approach vis-C -vis 
ZANU-PF, we have seen this scenario before.  Hardliners in the 
party convince Tsvangirai to be more assertive.  He agrees, there 
is a flurry of activity, and then MDC-T falls back into the same 
dance with ZANU-PF.  We'll see if this time is any different.  END 
COMMENT. 
RAY