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RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2328
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2908
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3027
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RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2203
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000521 
 
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 06-26-2009 
 
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¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
 
Topics of the week: 
 
- Next Stage in Constitutional Process Begins... 
- MP for Chiadzwa Convicted... 
- MDC Director General Still in Jail... 
- UK Ups Commitment Slightly... 
- State (Reluctantly) Admits Violating Mukoko's Rights... 
- South Africa Reconsiders Permit for Zimbabwean Migrants... 
- Mining Minister Denied Visa to UK... 
- Constitution Stipulates Gibson Sibanda to Lose Ministry... 
- Kingdom and Meikles Split... 
- Zim to Review Indigenization Requirement? 
- Leading Zim Hotelier Renovating Hotels... 
- Metallon Gold Reopens Mines... 
- Is a Two-Day Workshop Sufficient to "Rebrand" Zimbabwe? 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  Next Stage in Constitutional Process Begins...  Public hearings 
began on the Constitutional drafting process on June 25 with a 
hearing in Harare, which will be followed by consultative hearings 
held throughout the country in the next few days.  This stage in the 
process is intended to educate voters for an eventual referendum, 
and identify delegates for an "All Stakeholder's Conference" in 
mid-July.   Addressing foreign diplomats separately, parliamentary 
speaker Lovemore Moyo appealed to the envoys to help raise funds to 
bankroll the constitutional reform process and ensure the views of 
Zimbabweans were adequately represented in the final document. 
Meanwhile, President Mugabe reiterated that the Kariba draft 
Consitution negotiated by the three parties in 2007 would form the 
basis of a new draft Constitution.  The MDC-T and civil society have 
opposed this position as not being people driven. 
 
¶3.  MP for Chiadzwa Convicted...  On June 20, a Mutare magistrate 
convicted Mutare West MP Shua Mudiwa on trumped-up charges of 
kidnapping that date back to 2007.  Mudiwa will be sentenced on June 
27; when his lawyers tried to launch an appeal on June 22, court 
officials "couldn't find" Mudiwa's paperwork.  People close to 
Mudiwa told us that police took his clothes from him and he is in 
the filthy Mutare jail (where Roy Bennet was held earlier this year) 
with nothing more than a dirty blanket.  Mudiwa narrowly beat the 
ZANU-PF incumbent in the March 2008 election last year.  His 
constituency includes the Chiadzwa diamond fields, and Mudiwa has 
been a vocal advocate for the local community.  His arrest and 
conviction comes just prior to the Kimberley Process Review Team's 
visit to Zimbabwe next week. 
 
¶4.  MDC Director General Still in Jail...  Toendepi Shonhe is still 
in jail, following his arrest on June 16 on perjury charges.  When 
we visited him this week, he appeared dejected but healthy.  Shonhe 
told us the Harare remand prison, where he is held, has new 
blankets.  He will appear in court again on June 26.  The State is 
fighting his release. 
 
¶5.  UK Ups Commitment Slightly...  Britain on June 23 said it was 
giving Zimbabwe an extra #4.9 million (US$8 million) of aid which 
will be channeled through humanitarian organizations, bringing 
Qwill be channeled through humanitarian organizations, bringing 
British aid for Zimbabwe this year to a total of #60m (US$100 
million).  Speaking after meeting Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan 
Tsvangirai in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said 
US$6.5 million of the money will be channeled towards food aid and 
the rest to buying textbooks for Zimbabwean schools. 
 
¶6.  State (Reluctantly) Admits Violating Mukoko's Rights...  In the 
 
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Supreme Court on June 25, attorneys for human rights activist 
Jestina Mukoko argued that the criminal case against her should be 
dropped because of the extreme violation of her constitutional 
rights by State agents during her abduction from December 3-22, 2008 
and her unlawful treatment in State custody after that.  The State 
sent an unprepared lawyer who argued the Zimbabwean government's 
position that although her rights were violated, the proper remedy 
is a civil suit against the State rather than a stay of the criminal 
proceedings.  Importantly, the State did not contest the details of 
Mukoko's abduction, torture, and inhumane treatment. 
 
¶7.  South Africa Reconsiders Permit for Zimbabwean Migrants...  The 
six-month special permit for Zimbabwean migrants, announced by the 
South African government in April, is being put on hold pending a 
review of the decision by the South African Cabinet.  Chairperson of 
the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (a 
Johannesburg-based NGO), Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, said that the 
permits had never been implemented and the formation of a new 
government in Zimbabwe has neither stopped nor slowed new arrivals 
of Zimbabweans. 
 
¶8.  Mining Minister Denied Visa to UK...  The British Embassy denied 
ZANU-PF Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu a visa 
to travel to the UK to attend the 6th International Mining in Africa 
symposium where he was expected to give a key address on June 23. 
PM Tsvangirai was expected to address the symposium in his stead. 
Despite calls by Mpofu for Zimbabwean mining firms to boycott the 
conference, as many as 11 mining companies attended. 
 
¶9.  Constitution Stipulates Gibson Sibanda to Lose Ministry...  The 
onstitutional requirement that all Ministers be members of 
Parliament has put National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration 
Minister Gibson Sibanda of the MDC-M on unsteady ground following 
his failure to secure a seat within three months of his appointment. 
 The MDC-M party is already in turmoil following the suspensions of 
three MPs and a few other senior officials. 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Kingdom and Meikles Split...  Following a two-year marriage 
between the Kingdom banking group and the Meikles conglomerate, 
shareholders voted overwhelmingly on June 22 to separate the two 
companies.  The separation was in part brought about by a spat 
between Meikles majority shareholder John Moxon and CEO Nigel 
Chanakira over accusations Chanakira made that Moxon had 
externalized foreign currency. 
 
¶11.  Zim to Review Indigenization Requirement?  PM Tsvangirai said 
on June 23 that the GOZ plans to review the Indigenization and 
Economic Empowerment Act with the aim of reducing the 51 percent 
local ownership requirement that has been a primary deterrent for 
foreign investors.  Speaking at the London mining conference, 
Tsvangirai said, "Fifty-one percent is far, far too high." 
QTsvangirai said, "Fifty-one percent is far, far too high." 
 
¶12.  Leading Zim Hotelier Renovating Hotels...  African Sun, 
Zimbabwe's largest hotel chain, is renovating the majority of its 
hotels in Zimbabwe, at a cost of about US$15 million with the 
funding coming from multilateral institutions, CEO Shingi Munyeza 
told an analysts' briefing.  He said the group was forecasting 
occupancies to rise to 48 percent in Zimbabwe but will add fewer 
rooms this year than initially projected.  Munyeza said Zimbabwean 
occupancies were slowly picking up.  "Already city hotels were 
nearly back to 1999 levels." 
 
¶13.  Metallon Gold Reopens Mines...  Zimbabwe's largest gold miner, 
Metallon Gold, has reopened two of its five mines --How and Shamva-- 
after securing US$15 million in foreign and local financing.  CEO 
Collin Guraq said that Metallon had received US$10 million from the 
 
HARARE 00000521  003 OF 003 
 
 
Tunisia-based African Export-Import Bank and another US$5 million 
from a local bank. 
 
¶14.  Is a Two-Day Workshop Sufficient to "Rebrand" Zimbabwe?  The 
GOZ sponsored a two-day workshop consisting of a mix of government 
officials, business leaders, civic organizations, and religious 
groups to set about rebranding Zimbabwe's image as a safe business 
and tourist destination.  It was unclear what concrete steps the 
workshop would direct, but participants said that the words used to 
describe Zimbabwe would be a guiding principal of the rebranding 
process. 
 
----------------- 
Quotes of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶15.  "Only a dead imperialist is a good one. We are Africans, our 
friends are those of the African community, of the African 
continent, of the Non-Aligned Movement, of the Third World, those we 
think like us, those who when they assist you will not lay down 
conditions." -- President Mugabe lambasting the West on June 25 for 
refusing to lift sanctions. 
 
 
¶16.  "I do not think the inclusive government would have been 
established if Russia and China had not vetoed the U.S. resolution." 
-- Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yuan Nansheng, crediting China 
and Russia for the formation of the inclusive government by voting 
against UN sanctions. 
 
 
MCGEE