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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: AN MDC SENATORS'S VIEW OF TSVANGIRAI AND THE MDC 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. RAY FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) MDC Senator Obert Gutu shared his views January 30 on 
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T, and the current 
political situation.  Gutu knows Tsvangirai, Minister of 
Finance Tendai Biti, and other top MDC-T officials  well, but 
he is not an MDC-T insider.  He is from Masvingo.  His 
constituency in the Senate covers approximately the same 
Harare areas as does Biti's in the House of Assembly. 
¶2.  (C) Asked about Tsvangirai's qualities as a leader, Gutu 
said the prime minister was humble and tolerant, not 
vindictive like Robert Mugabe.  These qualities in large part 
accounted for his widespread popularity.  On the negative 
side, he was indecisive and inconsistent.  Gutu pointed out 
that a couple of weeks ago, Tsvangirai had said Zimbabwe 
would not be ready for elections in the near-term because of 
the residue of 2008 election violence and the inadequacy of 
institutions.  But at Davos last week, Tsvangirai said he 
would press for elections in 2011.  Gutu also stated that 
Tsvangirai had a tendency to listen to the wrong people.  He 
pointed to Ian Makone, Tsvangirai's chief of staff, and 
Makone's wife, Theresa, who is the Minister of Public Works. 
He opined that neither was a good strategist, and that the 
Office of the Prime Minister was weak due to Ian Makone's 
lack of leadership. 
¶3.  (C) We asked Gutu why the MDC-T had not taken a strong 
public stance on the Marange diamond fields where it appears 
ZANU-PF insiders are illegally profiting.  Gutu said the 
situation was troubling, but he was not part of MDC-T 
strategy on the issue.  He said MDC-T parliamentarians were 
furious when MDC-T Deputy Minister of Mines Murisi Zwizwai, 
at Kimberley Process meetings in Namibia, denied violence at 
Marange and had demanded his dismissal.  Tsvangirai, 
according to Gutu, promised to speak with Zwizwai and the 
matter was dropped.  Gutu noted that Zwizwai and Tsvangirai 
are cousins and said this was another example of friendship 
getting in the way of governing. 
¶4.  (C) MDC-T as a party, according to Gutu, is weak.  Its 
most capable leaders are in government, and the party has 
been neglected.  Many experienced MDC-T members declined to 
run for Parliament in the March 2008 elections fearing that 
their candidacies would be futile and perhaps dangerous. 
Those who ended up running and winning in many cases were 
inexperienced and unqualified. 
¶5.  (C) Gutu said he was aware of allegations of corruption 
within the MDC-T.  He had no knowledge of corrupt ministers, 
but said local councils were a concern.  Many councilors had 
been elected for the first time in March 2008 and were trying 
to help themselves to the spoils of office. 
¶6.  (C) With regard to the constitutional process, Gutu said 
that local traditional chiefs had been co-opted by ZANU-PF 
and were using food distribution and agricultural inputs to 
secure support for ZANU-PF positions when parliamentary 
outreach teams visit their areas.  He said the World Food 
Qoutreach teams visit their areas.  He said the World Food 
Program and other donor organizations had made food 
distributions in December.  But people were still hungry and 
ZANU-PF had food and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer 
to entice them to meetings to secure their support in the 
constitutional process.  Gutu speculated ZANU-PF had obtained 
money for food and inputs from the sale of Marange diamonds. 
¶7.  (C) Gutu said there were divisions within the MDC-T on 
whether to push for early elections.  Some of the leadership 
was frustrated with progress on the Global Political 
Agreement and wanted an early election strategy.  But many 
MPs, elected for the first time, were reluctant to stand for 
reelection before necessary.  Gutu said he was concerned 
about early elections since the ZANU-PF machinery of violence 
was in place and could be turned on at any time. 
-------------------- 
COMMENT and BIO NOTE 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Gutu's comments about the MDC-T ring true; he perhaps 
feels free to make them as he is not an MDC-T insider.  Gutu 
is a successful lawyer (University of Zimbabwe law school) 
 
HARARE 00000067  002 OF 002 
 
 
who first entered politics when he ran for Senate in March 
¶2008.  He 47 years old and is married with four daughters. 
The eldest graduated from Florida International University 
last year.  One is a university student in Brisbane, one is 
studying in Cape Town, and the youngest is in high school in 
Harare.  END COMMENT AND BIO NOTE. 
 
RAY