VZCZCXRO9497
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0008/01 0050630
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050630Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3882
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2151
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2526
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2649
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1142
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1918
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2273
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2698
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5126
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1805
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000008 
 
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 01-02-2009 
 
----------- 
¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
Topics of the week: 
 
-  MDC and Civil Society Activists in Court... 
-  Next Steps... 
-  Bob Sent Morgan a Passport for Christmas... 
-  Wedding Bells Unite Zuma and MDC-M... 
-  Unproductive Year for Parliament... 
-  Cholera Response Continues... 
-  No Drought This Year... 
-  Miss Tourism Zim Crowned... 
-  Zimbabwe Not Quite Last In Global Competitiveness... 
-  Mobile Phone Providers Join The Dollarization Bandwagon... 
-  CFX Bank Chief Executive Officer Resigns... 
-  Demand For Zimbabwe Dollars Plummets... 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶2.  Price Movements-Exchange Rate 
and Selected products 
--------------------------------- 
 
Parallel rate for cash rose twelve-fold to Z$6,000,000,000:US$1 
 
Check rate is steady at Z$10 quadrillion:US$1 against inter-bank 
average of Z$5,840,000:US$1 
 
Bread on the parallel market went up to Z$6,000,000,000 
 
Sugar rose twelve-fold to Z$18,000,000,000/2kg 
 
Petrol and diesel rose to Z$7,200,000,000/liter 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  MDC and Civil Society Activists in Court... At least 18 MDC and 
civil society activists abducted between late October and 
mid-December suddenly appeared in police custody on December 22 and 
23 and are now the subject of numerous court cases.  Lawyers believe 
an additional 14 who remain unaccounted for are also in State 
custody.  Some are charged with conspiring to recruit and train 
armed militias in Botswana and others are charged with recent police 
station bombings.  On December 24 a High Court judge ordered the 
release of most detainees, but the State appealed and the case is 
now pending with the Supreme Court.  In the High Court on December 
31, lawyers for human rights activist Jestina Mukoko urged Justice 
Chitakunye to compel the State to investigate and arrest her 
captors.  State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa urged the Court to 
limit details of any investigation on grounds of national security. 
In its argument, the State claimed that the Attorney General's 
office is not subject to court directives.  Chitakunye will issue a 
decision on January 2, and the group of 16 will appear in the 
magistrate's court for a bail hearing (again) on January 5; two were 
ordered released on the 30th.  Lawyers continue to experience 
difficulty accessing abductees in custody.  At least nine were 
tortured in custody, as confirmed by medical examination late on 
December 30.  See 08 Harare 1183, 1145, and 1147. 
 
¶4.  Next Steps...The MDC is considering strategy and whether and how 
to participate in a power-sharing government. 
See Harare 006 and 08 Harare 1146. 
 
¶5.  Bob Sent Morgan a Passport for Christmas... On Christmas Day, 
Morgan Tsvangirai received his passport, after a seven month wait. 
Robert Mugabe and MDC-M leader Arthur Mutambara have urged 
 
HARARE 00000008  002 OF 003 
 
 
Tsvangirai to return to Zimbabwe.  Tsvangirai remains outside of 
Zimbabwe, for now, but plans to return soon.  See Harare 1139 and 
¶1146. 
 
¶6.  Wedding Bells Unite Zuma and MDC-M...  South African's African 
National Congress's President Jacob Zuma was in Bulawayo on December 
27 for his daughter Gugulethu's marriage to Bongai Ncube, son of 
MDC-M Secretary General Welshman Ncube.  Gugu's mother, Zuma's 
ex-wife and current South African Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and officials from both MDC factions and 
ZANU-PF also attended the celebration.  The happy couple met at the 
University of Cape Town, where they are both students.  Zimbabwean 
Minister of Information and Publicity, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, dubbed 
it the "wedding of the year." 
 
¶7.  Unproductive Year for Parliament... 2008 was one of the most 
unproductive years on record for the Zimbabwean parliament.  Just 
three bills were passed - all in January.  In addition, the House of 
Assembly only sat for 13 days, the Senate for 11 days, and no 
parliamentary committees have been appointed since August.  The GOZ 
enters 2009 without a budget, meaning that the government is only 
allotted one-third of its 2008 budget - a paltry sum given 
hyperinflation - until parliament passes a new budget.  The House of 
Assembly is due to reconvene on January 20, and the Senate on the 
27th.  The first order of business will be Constitutional Amendment 
¶19. 
 
¶8.  Cholera Response Continues... The epidemic has now affected all 
10 provinces and resulted in 31,656 suspected cases and 1,586 deaths 
since August. However, some rural cholera treatment centers have not 
reported in days or, in some cases, weeks.  The USG pledge of US$6.8 
million is being rapidly allocated, mostly to NGOs and UN agencies 
for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. 
Nevertheless, the government mouthpiece The Herald has portrayed 
other donors as more generous and implied the U.S. is not 
assisting. 
 
¶9.  No Drought This Year... The Herald reported on December 31 that 
Zimbabwe's major reservoirs are 85% full.  Despite this, most urban 
areas do not have access to piped water due a number of problems 
including lack of chemicals, inadequate pumping capacity and 
numerous leaks along the distribution mains, thanks to years of 
neglect and under-investment. 
 
¶10.  Miss Tourism Zim Crowned... Vanessa Sibanda beat out 29 other 
contestants for the title of Miss Tourism Zimbabwe on December 30. 
Pageant organizers, the parastatal Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, 
reportedly paid Congolese drummer Kanda Bongo Man US$100,000 to 
perform at the televised pageant.  The event was attended by 
numerous ministers, ZANU-PF MPs, and the Presidential Guard. 
Sibanda will receive a Mercedes Benz C200 for use during her reign. 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  Zimbabwe Not Quite Last In Global Competitiveness...  According 
to the newly released World Economic Forum's 2008-2009 Report on 
Global Competitiveness, Zimbabwe edged out Chad to rank 133 out of 
134 countries evaluated. 
 
¶12.  Mobile Phone Providers Join The Dollarization Bandwagon... 
Zimbabwe's mobile service providers are now allowed to bill clients 
in foreign currency,joining a growing number of businesses charging 
or services in foreign exchange.  The largest servce provider, 
Econet, said this will allow it to xpand coverage and meet growing 
foreign obligatios.  Calls, however, are expensive, with the 
 
HARARE 00000008  003 OF 003 
 
 
cheapest mobile phone call running US$0.29 per minute. 
 
¶13.  CFX Bank Chief Executive Officer Resigns... The Chief Executive 
Officer (CEO) of CFX has resigned in an apparent response to the 
Reserve Bank Governor's decision to dissolve CFX and other banks' 
boards following allegations of misconduct that culminated in the 
suspension of five banks from the payments system on November 16, 
¶2008.  The CEO of the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) continues 
to be suspended. 
 
¶14.  Demand For Zimbabwe Dollars Plummets... The introduction of 
shops that sell goods in foreign currency has seen a drastic fall in 
demand for Zimbabwe dollars on the once-vibrant parallel market for 
foreign exchange.  Most people with free foreign exchange see no 
reason to change it into Zimbabwe dollars as most goods and services 
are now sold in forex even on informal markets.  The Zimbabwe dollar 
continues to lose value on the parallel market where it is now 
trading at Z$6 billion:US$1. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶15.  "We should have been the ones who for a very long time occupied 
the moral high ground.  I'm afraid we have betrayed our legacy."  -- 
Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaking to BBC on December 24 on South 
Africa's role in the Zimbabwe crisis. 
 
¶16.  "There is no law in Zimbabwe that allows anybody to grab you in 
your night clothes, put you in a car, blindfold you and take you to 
undisclosed places for three weeks without your family knowing where 
you are."  -- Beatrice Mtetwa, defense lawyer for Jestina Mukoko and 
other recent abduction victims. 
 
 
DHANANI