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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0222/01 0750741
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R 160741Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4221
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2239
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2695
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2816
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1278
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2084
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2440
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2864
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5303
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1986
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000222 
 
AF/S FOR B. WALCH 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND J. HARMON 
COMMERCE FOR ROBERT TELCHIN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON ZI
 
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 03-13-2009 
 
----------- 
¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
 
Topics of the week: 
 
- Tragic Car Accident Results in Death of Tsvangirai's Wife... 
- Roy Bennett Out on Bail... 
- Surge in Land Invasions Continues... 
- Retired Army Chief Dies... 
- New Independent Newspaper Seeks Approval... 
- Australia Makes Non-Humanitarian Donation... 
- Cholera on the decline... 
- Emergency Health Summit... 
- Marketing/Media Survey Results Released... 
- IMF Article IV Mission Reports Traction... 
- Postal Authority Holds up Delivery of U.S. Mail for Lack of 
Payment... 
- Internet, E-Mail and International Calls Reduced to a Crawl... 
- Slight Decline in Cost of Consumer Basket... 
- COMESA Summit on... 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  Tragic Car Accident Results in Death of Tsvangirai's Wife... 
Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was 
killed in a tragic car accident on March 6 while driving to a MDC 
rally in Manicaland.  Their vehicle was struck by an oncoming truck 
at an accident-prone stretch of road.  The prime minister was also 
in the vehicle, but emerged with only minor injuries.  A church 
service and public memorial held in Harare resulted in an outpouring 
of support, as thousands of well-wishers paid their respects. 
President Mugabe and a handful of senior ZANU-PF officials 
(excluding security chiefs) set aside political animosities and paid 
their respects in person at the church service.  Ambassador McGee 
attended both events and also the internment the following day in 
the Tsvangirai home village.  Tsvangirai will take several weeks off 
with his family in South Africa before returning to work.  See 
Harare 194 and 217. 
 
¶3.  Roy Bennett Out on Bail...  The incarcerated Deputy Minister of 
Agriculture-designate, Roy Bennett, was freed on bail from a Mutare 
prison on March 12, following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a 
lower court decision to grant him bail.  State prosecutors had 
sought to delay Bennett's release and even arrested the Mutare 
magistrate who had authorized his release on February 24 after the 
initial High Court ruling.  See Harare 218. 
 
¶4.  Surge in Land Invasions Continues...  The surge in land 
invasions, eviction notices, and prosecutions targeting the 400 to 
600 white farmers remaining in Zimbabwe has been encouraged by 
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, President Mugabe, and a 
controversial High Court ruling that stated that Zimbabwe was not 
bound by the SADC Tribunal judgment in November 2008 that upheld the 
property rights of 77 white-owned farms.  Tsvangirai has 
unsuccessfully pressed Mugabe on calling for an end to the 
invasions.  See Harare 207. 
 
¶5.  Retired Army Chief Dies...  Former commander of the Zimbabwe 
defense forces General Vitalis Zvinavashe died on March 10 following 
a struggle with cancer.  Zvinavashe was an independence fighter who 
entered politics and most recently lost a parliamentary campaign to 
an MDC opponent in 2008.  Following those elections, Zvinavashe, who 
Qan MDC opponent in 2008.  Following those elections, Zvinavashe, who 
prior to the 2002 presidential election said that service chiefs 
would not recognize a president who had not been part of the 
liberation war (read Tsvangirai), told other ZANU-PF candidates to 
"accept the reality" that the MDC had won and urged people to 
preserve the peace.  The MDC issued a statement praising him as a 
 
HARARE 00000222  002 OF 003 
 
 
liberation hero and mourning his death.  See Harare 217. 
 
¶6.  New Independent Newspaper Seeks Approval...  Trevor Ncube's 
local media company, Zimind Publishers Group, has announced their 
intention to begin publishing a daily independent newspaper in 
Zimbabwe.  The group has applied for licenses and is awaiting 
approval to launch the new publication that will be entitled 
"NewsDay."  Zimind CEO Raphael Khumalo told us that the publishing 
company has been in discussion with media regulatory authorities 
since the signing of the September 15, 2008 global political 
agreement, and had recently discussed the project with the new 
Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu. 
Currently, the state-controlled Herald is the only daily newspaper. 
Zimind already publishes two weekly newspapers, the Zimbabwe 
Independent and the Standard. 
 
¶7.  Australia Makes Non-Humanitarian Donation...  The Australian 
government this week shifted its policy towards Zimbabwe by saying 
it will expand assistance beyond humanitarian aid to help the 
national unity government in Harare serve the population. 
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith announced on March 
11 that his government would pledge US$6.5 million to help restore 
Zimbabwe's water, sanitation, and health sectors.  Smith stated that 
the Australian government "recognizes there are some risks to this 
approach. We are under no illusions about the fragility of the 
political situation in Zimbabwe." 
 
¶8.  Cholera on the decline...  The World Health Organization (WHO) 
reports that, for the week ending 28 February, there was a 25 
percent decrease in suspected new cases and a 42 percent decrease in 
deaths when compared to the prior week.  WHO attributes the decline 
to improved case management at cholera treatment centers (CTCs) and 
to cholera prevention campaign programs emphasizing early treatment; 
funded in part by USAID.  However, the same report notes that the 
proportion ofcommunity deaths - i.e. those occurring outside 
clinics and cholera treatment centers - remains "appalling" in 
Midlands, Mashonaland East, and Manicaland provinces.  As of March 
10, the outbreak has claimed 4,041 and affected more than 89,000. 
 
¶9.  Emergency Health Summit...  A two-day Summit in Harare was 
attended by over 300 senior health professionals on March 5-6.  The 
theme was Get the Zimbabwe Health System Moving within the next 100 
days.  Prime Minister Tsvangirai encouraged participants to ensure 
that a "health system was put in place that is the pride of our 
nation and the envy of our continent."  The health system has 
suffered a decade of neglect with the entire system near collapse 
and major hospitals in urban areas barely functioning.  While 
practical solutions were offered, significant donor funding is 
required. 
 
¶10.  Marketing/Media Survey Results Released...  The latest data 
from the Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation survey of urban 
households revealed a host of media and household trends.  The most 
Qhouseholds revealed a host of media and household trends.  The most 
prevalent media trend was a decline in viewership and readership of 
state-controlled media.  Respondents reported ZBC viewership fell 
from 63 percent in Q4 2007 to just 38 percent in Q4 2008. Readership 
of the Herald declined 6 percentage points to 38 percent.  Reported 
usage of most household products and staple foods also declined. 
Among the steepest drops was milk, which fell from 53 percent 
regular usage to just 35 percent.  Only 14 percent of urban 
residents reported being employed full time in the formal sector. 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  IMF Article IV Mission Reports Traction...  On day four of its 
mission, IMF staff reported to donor economists good data provision 
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and a good level of competence 
among interlocutors at the RBZ, Finance Ministry and Zimbabwe 
 
HARARE 00000222  003 OF 003 
 
 
Revenue Authority.  The inflow of foreign exchange to banks has 
increased significantly in two months and tax revenues could be 
adequate to finance another round of close to US$100/person foreign 
exchange payments to civil servants in March.  An IMF accountant 
will arrive this weekend to lay the groundwork for an external audit 
of the RBZ by an international accountancy firm. 
 
¶12.  Postal Authority Holds up Delivery of U.S. Mail for Lack of 
Payment...  Zimbabwe Post recently informed us it was holding up 
delivery of over 600 bags of incoming mail from the U.S. pending 
payment of terminal dues and transit charges.  We learned that the 
U.S. Postal Service's bank had held up payments under the erroneous 
belief that Zimbabwe was under sanctions.  Upon clarification, USPS' 
corporate treasury department authorized a $110,000 payment to 
Zimbabwe Post last week. 
 
¶13.  Internet, E-Mail and International Calls Reduced to a Crawl... 
Zimbabwe's internet service providers said their services had been 
adversely affected by the cessation of operation on March 2, 2009 of 
one of the two ComOne gateways for data traffic flow out of the 
country.  We learned that international service was disconnected for 
non-payment of fees. 
 
¶14.  Slight Decline in Cost of Consumer Basket...  The Herald 
reported this week that the cost of the consumer basket for an urban 
family of six fell by 1.83 percent from US$381.23 in January to 
US$374.25 in February, 2009, underpinned by the continued decline in 
the price of food.  The fall could have been greater were it not for 
significant increases in transport, rent, and utilities. 
 
¶15.  COMESA Summit on...  The Director for International Trade in 
the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Beatrice Mutetwa, told us 
that the COMESA Summit, scheduled to occur in Zimbabwe last year but 
postponed twice, will now take place here before the end of June 
¶2009.  The Secretary General of COMESA was in Zimbabwe recently and 
is consulting with Kenya, which holds the chairmanship, to firm up 
the date. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶16.  "Rest assured we are with you, Honourable Prime Minister.  Our 
hearts on this day and the days to follow are with you." -- 
President Mugabe speaking at Susan Tsvangirai's memorial service in 
Harare on March 10. 
 
 
MCGEE