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RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2339
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2931
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3049
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1478
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RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000554 
 
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 07-02-2009 
 
----------- 
¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
 
Topics of the week: 
 
- MDC Boycotts Cabinet... 
- Makoni Launches Opposition Party... 
- Chiadzwa Abuses Exposed... 
- ...As KP Visit Begins... 
- Bennett Trial Set for October... 
- No UZ Grads in 2009? 
- The End of School Fees? 
- Senator Offers $30 Child Support... 
- MP Mudiwa Sentenced to Seven Years... 
- Expand VOA?  Not Yet... 
- Biti to Present Mid-term Fiscal Review... 
- Crops Shortfalls Projected... 
- Recovery Threatened by High Wage Demands... 
- Wheat Farmers Allocated Electricity... 
- Olivine Receives Soya from China... 
- Government Secures US$60 Million For Tobacco... 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  MDC Boycotts Cabinet...  MDC Ministers staged a boycott of this 
week's Cabinet meeting after ZANU-PF leaders moved it up a day from 
Tuesday to Monday.  According to Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani 
Khupe, the change was made to prevent Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who 
had not yet returned to Zimbabwe, from chairing Cabinet on Tuesday 
while President Mugabe was attending the AU Summit in Libya.  Khupe 
seized on the issue to issue a strongly-worded statement criticizing 
ZANU-PF's refusal to finalize long outstanding issues, unilateral 
decision making, continued manipulation of the media, and overall 
disrespect for the MDC.  In a noted departure from Tsvangirai's 
repeated assurances that the MDC-T would stick it out, Khupe 
reserved her party's right to disengage from the government.  Upon 
his return, Tsvangirai issued his own statement endorsing Khupe's 
statement, criticizing obstructionists in government, and calling 
for resolution of Global Political Agreement outstanding issues. 
 
¶3.  Makoni Launches Opposition Party...  Former ZANU-PF finance 
minister and 2008 independent presidential candidate, Simba Makoni, 
launched his opposition party Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) on June 30 
in Harare.  The event drew several hundred people consisting 
primarily of university students.  Makoni justified the formation of 
another political party in Zimbabwe as an opportunity to "open up 
more political space in Zimbabwe."  Makoni criticized the 
performance of the inclusive government thus far, and referred to 
the MDC as part of the ruling party.  The MKD got off to a rocky 
start last month when several senior officials of the then 
"movement" left the MKD after accusing Makoni of abuse of election 
funds and donated vehicles. 
 
¶4.  Chiadzwa Abuses Exposed... Human Rights Watch published a 
damning report, "Diamonds in the Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the 
Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe," detailing smuggling and human 
rights abuses perpetrated by the Zimbabwean military and other 
government officials.  The report calls on the Kimberley Process 
(KP) to revoke Zimbabwe's KP certification.  Although Zimbabwean 
officials deny the abuses, this week the MDC called for an 
investigation into the allegations.  See: http://www.hrw.org/en 
Qinvestigation into the allegations.  See: http://www.hrw.org/en 
/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough-0. 
 
¶5.  ...As KP Visit Begins...  A delegation from the Kimberley 
Process is in Zimbabwe this week to examine Zimbabwe's compliance 
with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.  The delegation, 
led by the Liberian Deputy Minister of Planning and Development 
 
HARARE 00000554  002 OF 003 
 
 
Kpandel Fayia, has met with officials from the national and local 
governments, traditional leaders, NGOs, and private mining 
executives and toured diamond mining facilities at Chiadzwa. 
 
¶6.  Bennett Trial Set for October...  Senior MDC-T official and 
Deputy Agriculture Minister-Designate Roy Bennett appeared in court 
for a routine hearing on July 1.  Prosecutor Michael Mugabe set 
October 13 as the trial date for Bennett to face charges of 
terrorism, banditry, and illegally possessing firearms. 
 
¶7.  No UZ Grads in 2009?   Zimbabwe's flagship public university, 
the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), will not be graduating any students 
in 2009.  Except for a few weeks in February, UZ has not opened for 
undergraduate studies this year, citing lack of water and 
sanitation.  However, a protracted political and policy battle 
between Vice Chancellor Nyagura and Minister of Higher Education 
Mudenge over the lack of a UZ budget or mechanism to pay the faculty 
is a primary reason the UZ's doors remain closed.  For an overview 
of education in Zimbabwe, see a new report by the Institute for 
Democracy in Africa:  http://www.idasa.org.za/index.asp 
?page=output_details.asp%3FRID 
%3D1839%26OTID%3D2%26PID%3D54. 
 
¶8.  The End of School Fees?  In a policy reversal this week, 
Minister of Education Coltart announced that the government will 
waive schools fees for all primary and secondary students attending 
government schools.  Since the main expense for parents remains 
school-determined levies as opposed to the centralized school fees, 
it remains unclear how this policy will affect students' ability to 
attend school and whether it will equally apply to students 
attending low-density, high-density and rural schools. 
 
¶9.  Senator Offers $30 Child Support... Murehwa Senator Tendai 
Makunde (ZANU-PF) appeared in a civil court case this week brought 
by a 20-year-old woman seeking financial maintenance for their 
four-year-old child.  According to local press reports, Makunde (in 
his 60s) fathered the child with Cynthia Mateyu when she was just 
¶16.  Although Makunde initially offered Mateyu $30, the presiding 
magistrate ordered him to pay $350 per month, noting that Makunde 
also owns a farm and earns more than his $100 senatorial allowance. 
During the hearing, Mateyu told the court that Makunde had "too many 
girlfriends." 
 
¶10.  MP Mudiwa Sentenced to Seven Years...  Mutare West MP Shua 
Mudiwa was ordered to spend four and a half years in prison for 
allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in late 2007; two and a half 
years of his seven-year sentence were suspended.  Mudiwa remains in 
jail pending appeal.  Mudiwa is the MP for the area that includes 
the Chiadzwa diamond fields.  See Harare 522. 
 
¶11.  Expand VOA?  Not Yet... Representatives from the Broadcast 
Board of Governors (BBG) visited Zimbabwe and met with numerous 
officials, although they were rebuffed by Minister of Information 
Webster Shamu.  ZANU-PF figures including Shamu continue to 
QWebster Shamu.  ZANU-PF figures including Shamu continue to 
criticize current Voice of America programming.  Accordingly, 
prospective license holders fear that public connections to USG 
programs could jeopardize their chances of getting licenses. See 
Harare 549. 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  Biti to Present Mid-term Fiscal Review... Finance Minister Biti 
says he will present the mid-term fiscal review on July 16, 2009. 
The minister hinted that there will be a review of taxes; industry 
has expressed its desire to see a simplification of the process of 
issuing export permits and a review of the timeframe for remitting 
value added taxes from mid-month to end of month in order to improve 
market liquidity. 
 
HARARE 00000554  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13.  Crops Shortfalls Projected... Based on several crop 
projections, 1.4 million people to 2.8 million Zimbabweans will 
require food assistance during the 2009/10 consumption period. See 
Harare 530. 
 
 
¶14.  Recovery Threatened by High Wage Demands... Although 
manufacturing firms want to reinstate efficiency in operations, 
worker demands for higher wages is becoming a critical challenge. 
The hyperinflationary mindset remains among workers despite price 
stability brought about by dollarization.  See Harare 531. 
 
¶15.  Wheat Farmers Allocated Electricity... The Zimbabwe Electricity 
Supply Authority (ZESA) has allocated 300 mega watts to this year's 
wheat growers to enable them to irrigate their crops without 
interruptions caused by power cuts. Farmers will pay a tariff of 
7.53 US cents per kilowatt which will enable both farmers and ZESA 
to remain viable. 
 
¶16.  Olivine Receives Soya from China... China donated 4,000 tons of 
soya bean seed worth US$500,000 to Zimbabwe which will be processed 
by Olivine Industries. The managing director of Olivine Industries 
said the donation, which is equivalent to a month's supply of seed 
to the company, will yield 500 tons of oil, or half the national 
requirement per month. 
 
¶17.  Government Secures US$60 Million For Tobacco... Government 
secured US$60 million from the African Export-Import (Afrexim) Bank 
to boost tobacco production. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the 
amount will be disbursed through a consortium of local banks. 
However, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association says the industry requires 
US$120 million to increase output from the expected 42 million kgs 
in 2009 to 75 million kgs in 2010. 
 
------------------ 
Quotes of the Week 
------------------ 
 
¶18.  "It is time that for Christ's sake toxicity and insanity are 
removed from the GPA." -- Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, 
explaining the MDC boycott of parliament on June 29, 2009. 
 
¶19.  "The new government could generate significant amounts of 
revenue from the diamonds, perhaps as much as US$200 million per 
month, if Marange and other mining centers were managed in a 
transparent and accountable manner.  This revenue could fund a 
significant portion of the new government's economic recovery 
program, which would benefit ordinary villagers like the residents 
of Marange." -- Human Rights Watch Report, "Diamonds in the Rough: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe" June 
26, 2009. 
 
 
MCGEE