ZIMBABWE: MUGABE'S RECENT REMARKS TROUBLING - RULE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001745

SIPDIS

FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY
PARIS FOR C. NEARY
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2012
TAGS: ECON EFIN PGOV PHUM ASEC ZI
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: MUGABE'S RECENT REMARKS TROUBLING - RULE
OF LAW AND FINANCIAL SECTOR UNDER ATTACK


Classified By: Political Officer A. Besmer for reasons 1.5(b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: On July 25, President Mugabe went on record
saying that the State would defy court judgments with which
it did not agree. He also said gays were worse than pigs and
dogs, warning Parliament against recognizing homosexual
marriages. In a previous July 23 speech at the opening of
Parliament Mugabe had two major themes--devaluation is dead,
and land reform is the key to growth. He proposed various
spending programs in the agriculture, legal and health
sectors, but perhaps most troubling, the creation of a
centralized Financial Services Authority which would tighten
his grip on the banking sector. In an address to the
Zimbabwe Nurses Association on July 27, he lambasted Britain
for stealing Zimbabwe's health workers. Mugabe's remarks
promise an intensification of economic central planning and
its destructive consequences, as Britain continues to bear
the rhetorical blame for all of Zimbabwe's woes. End Summary


2. (U) Alluding to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa's
recent conviction on contempt of court charges, President
Mugabe said in a July 25 speech at a reception he hosted for
the opening of Parliament, "if they (judges) are not
objective, don't blame us when we defy them." In the same
address, Mugabe said that, "we will respect judges where the
judgments are true judgments," and "when a judge sits alone
in his house or with his wife and says 'this one is guilty of
contempt' that judgment should never be obeyed." The
President went on to say that, "They (judges) are ordinary
people, mortals with ordinary flesh who get drunk if they
drink at all. So we expect them to be objective."


3. (U) Then he launched into a typical diatribe against
homosexuality, apparently using the opportunity to refute
indirectly recent rumors about the sexual orientation of one
of his cabinet members. "When I say gays are worse than dogs
and pigs, I really meant it because pigs don't do unnatural
things. Let not our Parliament ever entertain that the
unnatural must be made natural. ...I cannot appreciate that a
whole Parliament can decide that Robert Mugabe and Joseph
Msika can get married. I certainly appreciate that which is
natural. I don't think the mission of human beings is to do
unnatural things."


4. (U) In his earlier July 23 speech at the opening ceremony
of Parliament, Mugabe blamed British "machinations" and the
drought for Zimbabwe's economic woes. He also criticized the
banking sector for instability and hindering growth: "The
much-anticipated agrarian-led economic revival cannot take
place for as long as our financial sector continues to be
completely unstable. Our banking institutions have to be
shaken into realizing the harm they are doing to the economy
through rampant indiscipline. The parallel market of our
financial, or is it money market has to be brought under
immediate control. ...a run-away exchange rate cannot be the
way to the recovery of our economy. ...We accordingly need to
cause greater production of exportables, especially our major
earners of foreign currency... ...through various export
promotion schemes, including incentives. ...Devaluation is
thus dead!"


5. (U) At the Parliamentary ceremony, Mugabe said Zimbabwe
would accept humanitarian aid, but he criticized
international "sinister interests" for exacerbating
Zimbabwe's vulnerability, and threatening its sovereignty
under cover of humanitarian involvement. Linking food
security to land reform, he said, "as part of our effort to
find a lasting solution to food security, the implementation
of the Agrarian Reform Programme has been our highest
priority..."


6. (U) In his July 23 remarks, Mugabe expressed delight that
a Value Added Tax (VAT) bill had been introduced in
Parliament, noting that the VAT would enable tax collection
at each stage of production. Correspondingly, he advanced
various proposals to spend VAT revenue including an earmarked
ZWD$8.5 billion (USD$12 million) for "tillage, crop and
livestock input support to our newly resettled farmers for
the next agricultural season." He suggested unspecified
spending for "Soldiers Engaged in Economic Development"
(SEED) to clear landmines from land to be used for
settlement, unspecified spending to build border posts at
three locations in the northwest and east frontiers of the
country, unspecified spending for a legal aid scheme,
unspecified spending for satellite schools utilizing existing
farm homesteads, sheds and barns for children of "new
farmers", and unspecified spending for HIV/Aids prevention,
counseling and testing.


7. (U) Mugabe proposed to centralize under a Financial
Services Authority the existing Commissioner of Insurance,
Registrar of Banking Institutions, Registrar of Building
Societies, Registrar of Stock Exchange, Registrar of
Collective Investment Schemes, and Registrar of Pension and
Provident Funds. In addition he proposed to amend the
education act to appoint civil servants to head every school
whether public, religious, or private, a proposal which
subsequently elicited significant criticism.


8. (U) At the Zimbabwe Nurses' Association's 19th Annual
General Meeting in Chinoyi on July 27 Mugabe castigated
Britain for "coming at the dead of night to steal our people
(pharmacists, doctors and nurses)," even though "We have
created an environment that allows that upliftment of nurses."

Comment:
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9. (C) Mugabe's comments confirm that he has no intention of
veering from his current destructive path. It is clear that
sound economic policy-making will continue to be sacrificed
on the altar of politics, so long as Mugabe remains at the
helm. We will watch closely whether establishment of the
proposed Financial Services Authority nudges Zimbabwe ever
closer to a command economy. Mugabe's public comments were
noteworthy as well for his refusal to take any responsibility
for this country's political and economic crises, preferring
instead to blame his favorite whipping boy, Britain.


10. (C) Mugabe's remarks on the Judiciary on July 23 were the
first time he has explicitly vowed to ignore court rulings he
does not deem impartial or objective, although he has done so
de facto for the past three years. His speech was
nonetheless the most compelling example to date of the GOZ's
contempt for basic rule of law. We would suggest quoting
Mugabe's precise words as presidential affirmation that the
Mugabe Government will no longer accept the rule of law. End
Comment.
SULLIVAN