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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000699 
 
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 08-28-2009 
 
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¶1.  SUMMARY 
----------- 
 
Topics of the week: 
 
- Zuma Visits Zimbabwe, Discusses GPA... 
- Elections When?... 
- Mutambara Speaks Out...and is Slammed... 
- KP Chair's Visit Stir Controversy... 
- Mugabe Seeks Health Care in Dubai... 
- Deputy Youth Minister's Trial Begins... 
- Richard Hove Dies... 
- Doctors Strike Ends... 
- Cholera Reports Not True... 
- ...But H1N1 Reports Are... 
- Villagers Beat Up Policeman... 
- Leaving on a Jet Plane - Twice... 
- Afreximbank Gives Loans to Farmers... 
- Too Little Too Late for Commercial Farmers... 
- Zimbabwe "Riskiest" Investment Destination... 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  Zuma Visits Zimbabwe, Discusses GPA...  South African president 
Jacob Zuma arrived in Harare on Thursday, his first visit to 
Zimbabwe since he took office. He met privately with Zimbabwean 
president Robert Mugabe, attended a State dinner hosted by Mugabe, 
and then met late into the night, separately, with Prime Minister 
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. He 
will meet today jointly with the three principals, as well as Vice 
President Joice Mujuru and Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe. 
According to MDC sources, Zuma is raising the outstanding issues of 
the continuing presence of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, 
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, Mugabe's refusal to appoint MDC 
governors and Roy Bennett as deputy minister of agriculture, and 
selective prosecutions. Zuma has told the MDC that if he is unable 
to move Mugabe on these issues, he will support placing them on the 
agenda of the SADC Summit in Kinshasa in early September. ANC 
secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has been quoted in the independent 
press in Harare as saying Zuma will be more vocal that former South 
African president Thabo Mbeki in attempting to curb Mugabe's 
"deviant behavior," but we have not yet seen any evidence to that 
effect. 
 
¶3.  Elections When?...  The Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed 
last September provides for an 18 month process to draft a new 
constitution, followed by a national referendum on the consttution. 
The GPA says nothing about elections. At the time of formation of 
the inclusive government in February, a widespread assumption was 
that the government would be transitional; instead of the next 
elections taking place in 2013, as they would under the current 
constitution, many believed that a new constitution would pave the 
way for new elections and an end to the transitional government in 
2010 or 2011. For the past several months, it has seemed that 
ZANU-PF was dragging its feet on the constitutional process to avoid 
the prospect of elections--as things stand now, there is no question 
they would lose reasonably fair elections. But it increasingly 
appears that the MDC also would be content to allow an election date 
to slide. Noting this, the semi-independent The Financial Gazette 
(Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono has an interest but the paper is 
Q(Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono has an interest but the paper is 
often critical of the government and ZANU-PF) in an editorial in 
Thursday's edition noted lack of progress in fulfilling the GPA and 
called for limiting the lifespan of the government to two years with 
elections to immediately follow. 
 
¶4.  Mutambara Speaks Out...and is Slammed...  At a government 
ministerial retreat last weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur 
 
HARARE 00000699  002 OF 004 
 
 
Mutambara stated that last year's elections (won by President Robert 
Mugabe after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew because of 
ZANU-PF-led violence against the MDC) were fraudulent. Most ZANU-PF 
ministers present walked out. Since, the State media has been on a 
campaign against Mutambara. An op-ed in Wednesday's The Herald 
entitled "Mutambara must grow up" took him to task and quoted 
ZANU-PF Minister of Justice Patrick Chinimasa as saying his party 
would not participate in any meeting at which Mutambara had a role. 
The same op-ed also praised Tsvangirai's growing composure as a 
leader. Mutambara has been somewhat of a loose cannon. He has 
criticized the west and called for a lifting of sanctions. He has 
also urged ZANU-PF to comply with the Global Political Agreement. At 
the Global 2009 Dialogue in Kampala in July, he incurred the ire of 
ZANU-PF by suggesting that Zimbabwe's "brand" needed acceptance by 
the west and by CNN, BBC, and Skynews. 
 
¶5.  KP Chair's Visit Stir Controversy...  Bernard Esau, the Namibian 
serving as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Chair, was in 
Zimbabwe last week claiming to represent a KP team on a routine 
mission. International diamond industry members closely followed his 
comments, with some in India rejoicing in Esau's statements that 
Zimbabwe "won't be suspended," while industry watchdogs have decried 
Esau's behavior. This week The Herald ran a long editorial pointing 
out that the KP is "not legally binding." The editorial continued, 
"the attempt to try and portray its army as a rogue force that is 
brutalizing its citizens to get diamonds mined for free can only be 
believed by the gullible who are the willing victims of Western 
propaganda" The KP team that visited Zimbabwe in late June has not 
yet issued its final report, making Esau's visit and public comments 
highly unusual. See The Herald's tirade in full: 
http://allafrica.com/ 
stories/200908241430.html 
 
 
¶6.  Mugabe Seeks Health Care in Dubai...  This week President Mugabe 
made a quick trip to Dubai. While his office reports he was on 
holiday, many believe he was receiving medical care. In the past he 
has often traveled to Malaysia for treatment of his suspected 
prostate cancer. During his brief absence, rumors raged that he was 
extremely ill, but he has assumed a full schedule since his return. 
 
 
¶7.  Deputy Youth Minister's Trial Begins...  The trial of Thamsanqa 
Mahlangu (MDC-T), who stands accused of stealing the $40 cellphone 
of war veteran Joseph Chinotimba, began this week. Unlike other 
recent prosecutions of MDC-T MPs, we're told there may be substance 
to the charge. 
 
¶8.  Richard Hove Dies...  ZANU-PF Senator and Politburo member 
Richard Hove died of natural causes this week at age 77. Hove was 
also chairman of the board of ZB Bank, which was added to the 
Treasury Department's sanctions list last year. 
 
¶9.  Doctors Strike Ends...  A three-week long strike by junior 
physicians demanding higher pay at five central hospitals has ended. 
Qphysicians demanding higher pay at five central hospitals has ended. 
Senior physicians at affected hospitals disapproved of the actions 
by the junior physicians. The impact of the strike on the health 
sector was minimal; central hospitals continued to function and 
receive patients. 
 
¶10.  Cholera Reports Not True...  This week the local and 
international press initially reported that a cholera outbreak had 
occurred in a village near the southeastern town of Chipinge. The 
local office of the World Health Organization responded quickly and 
determined that the symptoms were not consistent with cholera and 
stool samples came back negative. Health officials suspect the 
illnesses were caused by food poisoning. 
 
¶11.  ...But H1N1 Reports Are...  Zimbabwe's first five 
locally-contracted cases of H1N1 have been confirmed. The cases were 
 
HARARE 00000699  003 OF 004 
 
 
identified in a school in the eastern city of Mutare. All patients 
were treated and recovered, and their contacts were followed for a 
week after exposure 
 
 
¶12.  Villagers Beat Up Policeman...  A group of villagers assaulted 
two policemen with logs in a village near the southern town of 
Chiredzi this week. One officer lost six teeth in the beating. The 
two officers had intervened when they thought the villagers were 
buying meat from a stolen animal. Five of the villagers were 
arrested and are expected to face attempted murder charges. 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the Economic and Business Front 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  Leaving on a Jet Plane - Twice...  Despite the looming collapse 
of Air Zimbabwe, President Mugabe continues to commandeer planes for 
personal use. On August 18, he grabbed Air Zim's Boeing 737 for a 
SADC meeting in Namibia. The next day h seized a Boeing 767 for a 
private visit to Dubai. On both occasions the airline had to cancel 
scheduled flights, losing income necessary to meet its financial 
obligations that include foreign debt of USD 78 million. That 
includes USD 50 million owed to China for the purchase of two small 
aircraft. 
 
¶14.  Afreximbank Gives Loans to Farmers...  In testimony to the 
parliamentary budget committee, Finance Minister Biti said the 
African Export Import Bank had made a commitment to provide USD 30 
million to local banks for on-lending to farmers during the 2009-10 
agricultural season. This is a change from the past when farmers 
were given free inputs financed by the printing presses of the 
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. 
 
¶15.  Too Little Too Late for Commercial Farmers...  The main 
architect of Zimbabwe's indigenization law, Paul Magwana of ZANU-PF, 
spoke at an investment conference this week and was asked to compare 
indigenization with land reform. Magwana commented that land reform 
was a "revolutionary" program and "erroneous." It had backfired and 
caused Zimbabwe to lose its agricultural capacity and its status as 
a "breadbasket." Mangwana is one of the three chairs of the 
Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution. Land reform is 
considered sacrosanct by ZANU-PF, and it is noteworthy that Mangwana 
made these comments publicly. While his belated insight is welcome, 
it will do nothing to restore farm output from commercial farmers 
who still face harassment and threats from land invaders. 
 
¶16.  Zimbabwe "Riskiest" Investment Destination...  Citing 
"economic, political, commercial, external, and political 
insecurity," a recent Dunn and Bradstreet survey ranked Zimbabwe as 
the "riskiest" (along with Afghanistan) country for investment. 
 
----------------- 
Quotes of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶17.  "Nobody, and I must stress this emphatically, nobody wants to 
be removed from power. Power is so sweet that no one wants to leave 
it.... So if you continue to remind me that I am writing my own 
removal from power, the chances of me voting for a new Constitution 
Qremoval from power, the chances of me voting for a new Constitution 
will be diminished. This is across party lines." - ZANU-PF MP and 
Constitutional Committee Co-Chair Paul Mangwana, in The Zimbabwe 
Times, August 23, 2009. 
 
¶18.  "Cde Mugabe is the head of the government of the Republic of 
Zimbabwe. He is the President of this country. He is the man who 
chairs our cabinet. He is the one who tells all of us, including the 
Prime Minister, what should be done." Minister of State for 
Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa (ZANU-PF) speaking to ZBC-TV on 
Wednesday August 26, 2009. 
 
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DHANANI