VZCZCXRO7479
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #1013/01 3151320
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101320Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3676
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2123
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2418
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2538
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1038
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1814
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2169
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2594
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5022
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1687
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 001013 
 
AF/S FOR B. WALCH 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B.PITTMAN 
TREASURY FOR D. PETERS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND E.LOKEN 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON ZI
 
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 11-7-2008 
 
----------- 
¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
Topics of the week: 
 
-  SADC Extraordinary Summit on Deck... 
-  Mugabe Congratulates Obama... 
-  Global Fund "diversion" goes public... 
-  Cholera Outbreak Continues... 
-  Civil Service Corruption Rampant... 
-  WOZA Women Released on Bail... 
-  Visiting American Surgical Team in Limbo... 
-  ZBC Bars U.S. Embassy from U.S. Election Panel... 
-  Government Suspends Duty on Agricultural Inputs... 
-  RBZ Introduces New Notes and Raises Withdrawal Limits... 
-  Air Zimbabwe Now Servicing Tehran... 
-  Zimbabwean Ivory Sold... 
-  Gold Sector Starts Closing Down Mines... 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶2.  Price Movements-Exchange Rate 
and Selected products 
--------------------------------- 
 
Parallel rate for cash more than doubled to Z$180,000:US$1 
 
Check rate skyrocketed to Z$100 trillion:US$1 against inter-bank 
average of Z$770:US$1 
 
Bread on the parallel market rose to Z$250,000 
 
Sugar rose to $360,000/2kg 
 
Petrol and diesel went up to Z$240,000/liter 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Frot 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  SADC Extraordinary Summit on Deck...  The SADC extraordinary 
summit on Zimbabwe is scheduled to be held on November 9 in 
Johannesburg.  All 15 SADC heads of states have been invited, but 
Tanzania's Kikwete and Botswana's Khama are not expected due to 
other commitments. 
 
¶4.  Mugabe Congratulates Obama...  Friday's The Herald  contains a 
statement from President Robert Mugabe congratulating Barack Obama 
on his victory and expressing desire for improved U.S.-Zimbabwe 
relations.  An op-ed in Thursday's The Herald, entitled "Obama's 
victory an inspiration to many," also congratulated Obama, but 
blamed President Bush and sanctions, specified as the Zimbabwe 
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), for Zimbabwe's economic 
predicament.  It expressed hope for better relations with the U.S. 
and noted that "Our quarrel is with the British." 
 
¶5.  Global Fund "diversion" goes public...  The New York Times broke 
the story on the Reserve Bank's "diversion" of over US$7 million 
that was donated to Zimbabwe by the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and 
Malaria.  On November 6, the government mouthpiece The Herald 
declared Zimbabwe would pay the money back within seven days and 
quoted Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono as saying that only "cheap 
minds" would suggest the money was used to buy tractors and TVs for 
the judiciary.  On November 7 The Herald reported that the RBZ on 
November 6 provided the Global Fund with proof the funds had been 
repaid.  Post is seeking confirmation. 
 
¶6.  Cholera Outbreak Continues...  A cholera outbreak continues in 
the Harare high-density suburb of Budiriro, as the WHO confirmed 210 
 
HARARE 00001013  002 OF 003 
 
 
cases and 20 deaths as of Wednesday.  Harare City Health has agreed 
to "super-chlorinate" shallow wells in Budiriro, and an outbreak 
taskforce-including UNICEF, WHO, NGO partners, and the GOZ's Civil 
Protection Unit and Ministry of Health-is meeting daily to 
coordinate a response.  Water is being delivered daily throughout 
the suburbs by UNICEF, a robust health and hygiene promotion 
campaign is in process, and the Budiriro Polyclinic has been set up 
as a cholera treatment center. 
 
¶7.  Civil Service Corruption Rampant...  Another indication of 
Zimbabwean decay is the endemic corruption within the Zimbabwean 
civil service, resulting in a near total collapse of government 
controls over passports and official documents.  Civil servants, 
whose salaries have been eroded to practically nothing by 
hyperinflation, have become not only susceptible, but dependent on 
bribes and kickbacks for basic subsistence.  As a result, government 
controls over passport applications and civil documents have 
disappeared and fraudulent document vendors have become widespread. 
See Harare 996. 
 
¶8.  WOZA Women Released on Bail...  After three weeks in jail, Women 
of Zimbabwe Arise leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were 
granted bail by the High Court on November 4.  Leaving jail, they 
shared horrific stories of worsening conditions and food shortages 
that plague Zimbabwe's prisons. 
 
¶9.  Visiting American Surgical Team in Limbo...  The volunteer 
medical team providing free cleft lip and palate operations to 
individuals with facial deformities is "on temporary hold" due to 
failure to procure much-needed medical supplies. Jenifer Trubenbach, 
coordinator of Operation of Hope told journalists that the team is 
having difficulties procuring drugs locally for conducting the 
operations. 
 
¶10.  ZBC Bars U.S. Embassy from U.S. Election Panel...  The 
Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation withdrew an invitation to have a 
U.S. Embassy official on its televised panel on U.S. elections this 
week saying "their equipment needed servicing."  The producer of the 
program later told PAS that their CEO was pressured from above not 
to go ahead with the program "if a U.S. Embassy official is on 
board."  The debate went ahead with local panelists. 
 
---------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  Government Suspends Duty on Agricultural Inputs...  In a 
desperate move to augment meager local production, the government 
announced three statutory instruments suspending import duties on 
certain agricultural inputs such as seed, fertilizers, gum shoes and 
rain coats.  While welcome news for farmers, it may be a case of too 
little too late given that the 2008/09 planting season is already 
underway. 
 
¶12.  RBZ Introduces New Notes and Raises Withdrawal Limits...  In 
keeping with precedent, this week the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 
introduced a Z$100,000 note (US$0.56 at the cash rate of 
Z$180,000:US$1), a Z$500,000 note (US$2.78) and a Z$1,000,000 
(US$5.56) note.  The move comes in conjunction with an increase in 
daily cash withdrawal limits from Z$50,000 and Z$10,000 to Z$500,000 
and Z$1,000,000 for individuals and companies respectively. Given 
the prevailing hyper-inflationary environment, the new limits are 
likely to become inadequate almost immediately. 
 
¶13.  Air Zimbabwe Now Servicing Tehran...  According to state media, 
Air Zimbabwe has inked a deal with Iran allowing the airline five 
weekly flights to Tehran.  The Iranian deal is supposedly 
representative of the GOZ's "look east" policy designed to increase 
 
HARARE 00001013  003 OF 003 
 
 
trade between Zimbabwe and Middle Eastern and Asian countries. 
 
¶14.  Zimbabwean Ivory Sold...  On November 3, Zimbabwe sold 3.5 tons 
of ivory for over US$450,000, with the money purportedly earmarked 
for the country's cash-strapped wildlife authority.  Last year, the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 
ruled that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe could sell 
some 97 tons of stockpiled ivory to approved Japanese and Chinese 
buyers. 
 
¶15.  Gold Sector Starts Closing Down Mines...  According to the 
Chamber of Mines, Zimbabwe's largest gold mining group, Metallon, 
has suspended operations at five of its mines forcing more than 
3,500 employees (14% of total gold mining jobs) to go on forced 
leave. The sector is short of working capital due to the US$30 
million they are owed by the RBZ.  According to the Chamber of 
Mines, these problems are not unique to gold as Bindura Nickel is 
also facing serious problems. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶16.  "The question is, for how long shall Tsvangirai urinate in our 
faces and tell us it's raining?"  Caesar Zvayi, Senior Asst. Editor 
for The Herald, November 3, 2008. 
 
 
DHANANI