VZCZCXRO2651
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0996 3091341
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041341Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3656
INFO RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0148
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS HARARE 000996 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP AND AF/S B. WALCH 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO KCC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT CVIS KFRD ZI
SUBJECT: RAMPANT ZIMBABWEAN CIVIL SERVICE CORRUPTION 
 
REF: HARARE 000928 
 
¶1. (SBU) As yet another sign of a failed nation, corruption has 
become endemic 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 hyper-inflation, 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.  Post no longer has any 
confidence in Zimbabwean passports or government certificates issued 
within the past two years. 
 
¶2. (SBU) PrintFlow is the GOZ owned company charged with all 
official printing, except passports and money.  During a visit to 
the company, Conoff observed a moribund facility with ample 
opportunity for malfeasance.  Once employing over 2000 workers with 
12 operating presses, the facility now has less than 125 employees 
and 3 operational presses.  According to PrintFlow's Production 
Manager, Joseph Makande, the employees were not "let-go," but 
rather, just "disappeared."  Salaries, still paid in local currency, 
have not kept-up with the country's hyper-inflation and average less 
than 2 USD per month.  As a result, the remaining workers are highly 
susceptible to corruption which supports a flourishing black market 
document industry.  In just one of many recent cases, two PrintFlow 
employees were arrested with 8 burial order forms, 40 national 
registration forms, 634 blank government receipts, 27 birth 
confirmations, 185 blank birth certificates, 113 emergency travel 
documents, and 21 blank passports.  A trusted contact close to the 
case tells us that this was not their first arrest, and that the two 
are part of a well-known document ring able to pay its way out of 
judicial trouble. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Contacts associated with the Ministry of Home Affairs 
Registrar General (passports) tell us the situation with passport 
issuance is similarly corrupt.  Zimbabwean passport offices are 
plagued by absenteeism from workers whose salaries don't even cover 
bus fare to come to work.  With no incentive to work within the 
system, many choose to do nothing without a kickback.  Given a 
continuing desire on the part of impoverished Zimbabweans to flee 
the country for economic opportunity (reftel), the demand for 
passports has overwhelmed capacity.  Normal passport processing time 
exceeds two years.  In typical Zimbabwean fashion, people have 
developed a plan to cope, namely a thriving under-the-table process. 
 A reliable source explained how 250 USD could buy one a passport 
application and a contact at the passport office.  This contact 
would then walk the application through adjudication and printing, 
with everyone getting a "piece of the action."  The result is an 
official passport printed with whatever biographical data is 
required by the applicant. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  Our contacts within the government are reluctant 
to disclose anything negative for fear of retaliation.  Nonetheless, 
symptoms of a failed state--lack of food, a collapsed health care 
system, closed schools, and ubiquitous bank queues--are evident 
throughout Zimbabwe.  Less visible, but also representative of a 
failed state, is now endemic corruption.  Passport and document 
fraud are a small but important part of this.  End Comment. 
 
MCGEE