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R 120833Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4802
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2364
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2975
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3091
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1520
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2354
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2721
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3139
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5582
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2269
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000651 
 
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 08-07-2009 
 
----------- 
¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
 
Topics of the week: 
 
- VP Msika Dies... 
- Parliament Recommends 12 for Media Commission... 
- Protesting Students Arrested... 
- GOZ Forms Diamond Committee... 
- ZLHR Wins ABA award... 
- Magistrate Acquitted... 
- Women Speak Out on Political Rape... 
- Hillary Who? 
- Bus Company Denies Juju... 
- Mayor to Get New Merc? 
- Air Zimbabwe Losing Altitude... 
- Zim Dollar Casts Shadow from its Grave... 
- Farm Output Expected to Decline... 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  VP Msika Dies...  Vice President Joseph Msika died on Wednesday 
at 85 after years of poor health.  Leaders from all political 
parties have issued statements praising the late Msika who has been 
a leader since the liberation struggle.  Msika was named a national 
hero by the ZANU-PF politburo and will be buried at hero's acre.  We 
believe Mugabe will appoint another Ndebele politician to replace 
Msika, but there are no clear-cut favorites.  See Harare 643. 
 
¶3.  Parliament Recommends 12 for Media Commission...  Parliament 
concluded interviews this week for the Zimbabwe Media Commission 
(ZMC) and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), recommending 
12 nominees for appointment by the President.  Mugabe is bound by 
law to appoint eight ZMC commissioners and a chairperson.  After 
former Media and Information Commission Chairman Tafataona Mahoso 
received a low score and did not make the short list of nominees, 
eliciting anger among some ZANU-PF stalwarts who called the process 
biased.    Media and human rights lawyer Chris Mhike received the 
top score in the interviews.   Other nominees include journalists 
Nqobile Nyathi, Mathew Takaona, Miriam Madziwa, Henry Muradzikwa, 
Godfrey Majonga and Wabata Munodawafa, academic Rino Zhuwarara, 
pastor Useni Sibanda, Roger Stringer, academic Clemence Mabaso and 
banker Millicent Mombeshora. 
 
¶4.  Protesting Students Arrested...  10 of the 14 students arrested 
Wednesday at the University of Zimbabwe have been released.  Four 
others, including Zimbabwe National Students' Union (ZINASU) 
president Clever Bere, remain in police custody.  The students were 
protesting high fees at the university, which now range from 
US$400-600.  The University re-opened this week, and students who 
have not paid fees have been barred from attending lectures and from 
the library. 
 
¶5.  GOZ Forms Diamond Committee...  Defense Minister Emmerson 
Mnangagwa, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu 
and Trade Minister Welshman Ncube have reportedly formed a committee 
to respond to concerns raised by the Kimberley Process.  This is 
apparently in response to a letter the KP Chair, Namibian Bernard 
Esau, sent to the government this week regarding concerns for the 
safety of Zimbabweans who met with the KP delegation members during 
their visit in late June. 
 
¶6.  ZLHR Wins ABA award...  Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) 
Q6.  ZLHR Wins ABA award...  Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) 
received the American Bar Association (ABA)'s Rule of Law award at 
the ABA's national congress in Chicago on August 1.  In her remarks, 
ZLHR Director Irene Petras acknowledged the economic progress made 
in Zimbabwe but decried ongoing human rights abuses. 
 
HARARE 00000651  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶7.  Magistrate Acquitted...  Mutare acting regional magistrate 
Livingstone Chipadza was acquitted this week of criminal abuse of 
duty.  The State contended that Chipadza showed favor in sanctioning 
the release of MDC-T Treasurer and Deputy Agriculture 
Minister-designate Roy Bennett from remand prison in Mutare in 
February.  After allowing Bennett's release, Chipadza was arrested 
and held for several days in the notoriously overcrowded and filthy 
Mutare jail before being released on bail. 
 
¶8.  Women Speak Out on Political Rape...  A local NGO has published 
a video featuring stories of political rape during last year's 
election violence.  See: http://hub.witness.org/en/HearUs 
ViolenceAgainstWomeninZimbabwe2. 
 
¶9.  Hillary Who?  While press around the rest of Africa is abuzz 
with news of Secretary Clinton's ongoing visit to Africa, the 
government-run local press has not mentioned her ongoing, historic 
visit. 
 
¶10.  Bus Company Denies Juju...  This week the government revoked 
the license of Mhunga Bus Services after a head-on crash killed 40 
people on August 2.  Earlier this year a Mhunga bus was involved in 
an accident that killed 30. Since 1995, 200 people have died in 
accidents involving Mhunga's buses.  In an article in The Herald, 
the company director denied that Mhunga had used juju to enhance its 
business, following allegations that juju-gone-wrong had caused the 
crashes. 
 
¶11.  Mayor to Get New Merc?  Harare's mayor, MDC-T's Muchadeyi 
Masunda is getting a new Mercedes at the cost of USD153,000 to the 
Harare city council, according to the government mouthpiece The 
Herald. 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  Air Zimbabwe Losing Altitude...  Local press reports that Air 
Zimbabwe is technically insolvent and "on the verge of collapse." 
The airline may slash wages by 50 percent and send some workers home 
in a last-ditch effort to stay in business.  Air Zimbabwe's monthly 
wage bill is USD 1.2 million for its workforce of 1,420.  AirZim CEO 
Peter Chikumba has said he needs only half this number of workers. 
The GOZ is the airline's sole shareholder and has reportedly sought 
to sell a 60-percent stake in return for a capital injection of USD 
750 million. 
 
¶13.  Zim Dollar Casts Shadow from its Grave...  Finance Minister 
Tendai Biti has said more than once that he had put "a tombstone on 
the grave of the Zim dollar," but the public is getting different 
signals from the other side of Zimbabwe's disunited unity 
government.  Zimbabweans generally see the reintroduction of a 
national currency as inevitable, but much depends on the timing. 
Business leaders and bankers told us this week that uncertainty over 
resurrection of the Zim dollar makes people nervous about depositing 
their U.S. dollar balance in the banks, and that further reduces the 
banks' capacity to make loans.  With Zimbabwe's dollarized economy 
now showing signs of life, lack of credit is now a universal 
Qnow showing signs of life, lack of credit is now a universal 
complaint within the business community. 
 
¶14.  Farm Output Expected to Decline...  Production estimates 
published this week by the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) show 
output declining in 2009 for all crops except maize and sorghum. 
The CFU projects a 28-percent increase in maize output this year 
over 2008 with an expected harvest of 534 tons.  Production of 
cotton is expected to fall to 210 tons, down 6 percent, and 
flue-cured tobacco output will be down 18 percent to 40 tons.  The 
CFU's annual report says production has been constrained by lack of 
 
HARARE 00000651  003 OF 003 
 
 
financing for inputs, unreliable power supply, and price controls. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶15.  "Zimbabwe welcomes foreign investment and offers immense 
opportunities in the mining sector.  Acquisition of a mining title 
is relatively the simplest in Africa." - Mining Minister Obert 
Mpofu, speaking at the Fifth Annual Mining in Africa Conference in 
South Africa on August 6. 
 
 
DHANANI