VZCZCXRO5098
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0771/01 2691605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261605Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4950
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2381
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3051
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3164
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1593
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2427
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSYDAKAR 2796
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3212
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5657
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2344
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. WALCH 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
TREASURY FOR D. PETERS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LDOBBINS AND JHARMON 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON EFIN EAID ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 9-25-09 
 
---------------------------- 
SUMMARY - Topics of the week 
---------------------------- 
 
- Political Parties Reconfigure Control of Constitutional Process 
- Mujuru Faction Wins Fierce Battle for Women's League 
- Partners Being Forced onto Wildlife Conservancies 
- High Court Upholds Private Diamond Claim in Chiadzwa 
- MDC Security Advisor Resigns 
- WOZA Demonstrates for Peace... 
- ... and Then Receives Human Rights Award 
- Noise but No News at Mining Conference 
- Court Blocks Kingdom Meikles General Meeting 
- Prime Minister Sends Delegation to London 
- RBZ Act on the Docket when Parliament Resumes 
- Quotes of the Week 
 
 
----------------------------- 
On the Political/Social Front 
----------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Political Parties Reconfigure Control of Constitutional 
Process... The three principals to the power-sharing agreement, 
President Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai, and DPM Mutambara, met last week 
and agreed to form three new entities to oversee the constitutional 
process - a Management Committee that appears to take the place of 
the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) as the overall controlling 
entity, a Steering Committee charged with implementation, and a 
Secretariat responsible for administration.  The Management 
Committee consists of Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga 
(MDC-T), a negotiator from each party -- Patrick Chinamasa 
(ZANU-PF), Tendai Biti (MDC-T), and Welshman Ncube (MDC-M) -- and 
the three existing co-chairs of the PSC.  Matinenga has justified 
the changes on the basis that it will keep the process on track and 
improve efficiency, while opponents charge that the executive has 
effectively sidelined Parliament. 
 
¶2.  Mujuru Faction Wins Fierce Battle for Women's League... Olivia 
Muchena, the Joice Mujuru-backed candidate was declared the winner 
of a hotly-contested election to head the ZANU-PF Women's League. 
The election developed into a struggle between Vice President Mujuru 
and rival Oppah Muchinguri for control of the Women's League leading 
into December's ZANU-PF Congress.  A secret ballot had to be held 
after violence erupted at the conference between Mujuru and 
Muchinguri supporters on September 15.  Shuvai Mahofa, the losing 
candidate, now contends that vote rigging robbed her victory. 
 
¶3.  Partners Being Forced onto Wildlife Conservancies... Wildlife 
ranchers in southern Zimbabwe's Save Valley Conservancy report that 
ZANU-PF insiders are attempting to create forced partnerships with 
them.  At a meeting last week attended by many of the ranchers and 
scores of ZANU-PF officials including Minister of Higher and 
Tertiary Education Stan Mudenge and Masvingo Governor Titus 
Maluleke, the ranchers were told that 25-year leases had been 
executed by Minister of Environment Frances Nhema which partnered 
ZANU-PF officials with individual ranchers.  The ranchers include a 
handful of foreign investors who view this as an extension of land 
Qhandful of foreign investors who view this as an extension of land 
reform and a violation of bilateral investment protection treaties 
between Zimbabwe and their host nations.  The forced partnerships 
are an obvious affront to the rule of law and will negatively affect 
what is already a poor investment climate.  The ranchers are also 
concerned that their management of conservation areas will be 
impeded and could affect wildlife, including rare rhinos. 
 
¶4.  High Court Upholds Private Diamond Claim in Chiadzwa... A High 
Court judge has ruled that African Consolidated Resources (ACR) has 
legal title to the area constituting the Chiadzwa diamond fields. 
According to an ACR adviser, Judge Charles Hungwe refused to stay 
 
HARARE 00000771  002 OF 003 
 
 
his judgment pending any appeal, theoretically paving the way for 
ACR to immediately occupy the fields and begin operations.   Judge 
Hungwe also awarded compensation for diamonds heretofore mined by 
the government, stating that since the government had claimed it was 
complying with the Kimberley Process, there should be a record of 
diamonds extracted and sold.  As a practical matter, ACR hopes that 
the court's ruling will force the government into negotiations to 
establish a partnership with ACR and lead the way to a controlled 
and transparent exploitation of Chiadzwa. 
 
 
¶5.  MDC Security Advisor Resigns... MDC security advisor Martin 
Rupiya resigned this week under pressure from ZANU-PF which objected 
to the fact that Rupiya had been a member of the Rhodesian Army 
Selous Scouts (Special Forces).  Rupiya, who subsequently became a 
member of the Zimbabwean National Army, retired as a Lieutenant 
Colonel in 1989.  He wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Rhodesian 
Army and before working for Tsvangirai was an academic affiliated 
with various think tanks.  Sidney Sekeremayi, Minister of State for 
National Security in the President's office, reportedly told 
Tsvangirai that the National Security Council would refuse to meet 
if Rupiya was in attendance. 
 
¶6.  WOZA Demonstrates for Peace... Thousands of members of the 
activist group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), commemorated the 
United Nations International Day of Peace by demonstrating and 
protesting against the collapse of education, healthcare and the 
rule of law.  The police did not interfere with the protests in 
Harare and allowed protestors to march to the UN offices where they 
presented a petition.  In Bulawayo, riot police broke up the 
demonstration and beat up at least 25 members causing serious 
injuries to the protestors. 
 
 
¶7.  ... and Then Receives Human Rights Award... On September 15 WOZA 
co-founder Magodonga Mahlangu was awarded the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy 
Human Rights Award.  Commenting on the award Mahlangu said, "Now I 
know I am not alone, the world is watching and one day Zimbabwe 
shall be a normal society again." 
 
-------------------------- 
Economic and Business News 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Noise but No News at Mining Conference... At the GOZ-sponsored 
Mining Conference on September 17 and 18, President Mugabe, PM 
Tsvangirai, and a number of cabinet ministers tried to make the case 
that Zimbabwe was an attractive destination for new mining 
investment (see Quotes of the Week).  But happy talk from the podium 
was not enough to distract miners from the acute uncertainties 
created by the "indigenization" law, ongoing farm invasions, and 
recent developments like the Kingdom Meikles saga (see below).  Nor 
did the GOZ have any new policiesto promote.  As for Zimbabwe's 
investment climate generally, the uncertainty that discourages major 
new commitments by mining companies will not be resolved until 
Qnew commitments by mining companies will not be resolved until 
sustained reforms establish a degree of policy credibility. 
 
¶9.  Court Blocks Kingdom Meikles General Meeting... The latest twist 
in the long-running saga of the troubled Kingdom Meikles 
conglomerate is a High Court injunction that blocked a September 24 
extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.  The purpose of the 
meeting was to approve reversal of the merger that had brought 
together Kingdom Financial Holdings and the Meikles business empire 
to form what was once Zimbabwe's largest locally-owned company.  The 
court blocked the meeting at the request of Kingdom Meikles CEO 
Nigel Chanakira, who had collapsed and been hospitalized in South 
Africa.  As part of the de-merger, Chanakira and his closest 
associates were to resign.  Meanwhile, MDC-T co-Minister of Home 
Affairs Giles Mutsekwa has said he regrets signing the order that 
 
HARARE 00000771  003 OF 003 
 
 
allowed the GOZ to seize Kingdom Meikles under the wide-ranging 
authority of an anti-corruption statute. 
 
¶10.  Prime Minister Sends Delegation to London... Following hard on 
the heels of two investment conferences, PM Tsvangirai dispatched a 
delegation to London on September 23 to appeal to Zimbabweans based 
in the UK to invest in Zimbabwe.  The Minister of State in the Prime 
Minister's office, Gorden Moyo, is leading the delegation.  The 
director of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority and the chief 
executive of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange are expected to speak at 
the Diaspora Investment Conference on September 26. 
 
¶11.  RBZ Act on the Docket when Parliament Resumes... The Reserve 
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Act, a piece of legislation proposed by 
Minister of Finance Tendai Biti and designed to reform and curtail 
the authorities of the RBZ, has been publicly posted and is 
scheduled to be debated in Parliament when the House of Assembly 
comes back into session.  Currently Parliament is scheduled to 
resume sitting on September 29 when Mugabe opens the new session, 
but precedent has been for the House to immediately adjourn for up 
to 10 days. 
 
¶12.  Quotes of the Week: 
 
"There has never been a better time than now for investors to gain 
access to good mineral resources in the country." 
-- Mining Minister Obert Mpofu, quoted in "The Herald" on September 
¶16. 
 
"Until we see some certainty, there won't be any significant 
investment in mining." 
-- Rio Tinto executive Niels Kristensen, quoted by Reuters at the 
Mining Conference on September 17. 
 
PETTERSON