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O 251443Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4089
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
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RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1943
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UNCLAS HARARE 000149 
 
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STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: TSVANGIRAI CHALLENGES ZANU-PF ACTIONS 
 
¶1.  (U) Today's "The Herald" announced that Zimbabwean 
president Robert Mugabe had reassigned a number of permanent 
secretaries and would make additional appointments of 
permanent secretaries in due course.  Prime Minister Morgan 
Tsvangirai held a noon press conference, accompanied by 
deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara, to address this and 
other problematic issues. 
 
¶2.  (U) Tsvangirai said he had not been consulted about the 
appointments.  They were not legally made and were without 
effect.  (NOTE:  Recently adopted Amendment 19 provides the 
appointment of senior officials, including permanent 
secretaries, to be made by "the leadership in Government, 
comprising the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Prime 
Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers" after consultation and 
agreement.  END NOTE.) He stated he would discuss this with 
Mugabe tomorrow. 
 
¶3.  (U) Referring to the SADC Communique of January 27, 
Tsvangirai said the appointments of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 
governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, as 
well as those of governors, should be dealt with immediately. 
 (NOTE:  Tsvangirai's position is that the appointments of 
Gono and Tomana violated the September 15 Global Political 
Agreement as they should have awaited the formation of the 
new government.  ZANU-PF and the MDC have agreed that six of 
the 10 ZANU-PF governors should be replaced by five MDC-T 
governors and one MDC-M governor, but this has not yet 
occurred.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4.  (U) A spate of farm invasions has taken place within the 
last few weeks.  Tsvangirai said this was disruptive to 
farming operations and the economy, and was in violation of 
the rule of law.  He was directing the Ministers of Home 
Affairs to bring the weight of the law against those 
responsible in order to end a "culture of impunity and 
entitlement." 
 
¶5.  (U) Turning to political detainees, Tsvangirai said he 
had met with Mugabe last week and that the president had 
agreed that those charged be released on bail, and that those 
not charged be released unconditionally.  The Attorney 
General was "willfully obstructing" release of detainees by 
abusing the appeals process. 
 
¶6.  (U) Tsvangirai concluded by saying that he was encouraged 
by the momentum the government was developing toward finding 
a solution to the country's problems. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7.  (SBU) Despite Mugabe's "offer of friendship and 
solidarity" to work with Tsvangirai made at Tsvangirai's 
inauguration, the appointment of permanent secretaries is a 
provocative act which, combined with continued detentions, is 
clear evidence of bad faith.  While there are press reports 
indicating that the MDC is considering pulling out of the 
government in response, this does not appear, however, to be 
the case.  To his credit, Tsvangirai is confronting ZANU-PF 
backsliding publicly and also directly with Mugabe.  Whether 
Tsvangirai can pressure ZANU-PF and Mugabe to respond 
appropriately is another question.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
Q 
MCGEE