MUGABE VIGNETTES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002252

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR S. DELISI, M. RAYNOR
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, D. TEITELBAUM
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY
PARIS FOR C. NEARY
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2013
TAGS: PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: MUGABE VIGNETTES


Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton under Section 1.5(b)(d)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Embassy offers the following brief
collection of personal tidbits on President Mugabe gleaned
from the UN Resident Representative here and friends of the
Mugabe family. The vignettes depict an ailing, egotistical
family man interested in leaving office but give no
indication of when he would be prepared to leave. END
SUMMARY.

Ailing But In Command
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2. (C) UN Resident Representative Victor Angelo on November
12 advised Ambassador Sullivan that Mugabe has consulted with
a UN medical specialist about some of his medical problems.
According to Angelo, Mugabe's ailments include periodic
convulsions and stroke-like episodes (perhaps eschemia)
brought on by diabetes and a lipid disorder which affects the
covering of the brain. He apparently suffered one of these
episodes several weeks ago, although he never left the
country. Mugabe reportedly can be revived rather quickly on
such occasions but does need to be under constant observation
since he can fall or suffocate during the episode. (COMMENT:
Evidence on the nature of Mugabe's health-related "episode"
during the weekend of October 25-26 and whether he left the
country for medical treatment remains conflicting and
inconclusive. END COMMENT.) The presidential motorcade,
witnessed periodically hurtling through city streets at 100
kph, always includes a marked ambulance. In any event,
Mugabe's public appearances and reports of his behavior in
private suggest that he generally remains lucid and
assertive, albeit apparently frail at times, in discharging
the duties of his office.

Contractor's Tale Exposes Ego, Insecurity
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3. (C) According to the principal contractor (an Embassy
employee's father-in-law related to the Mugabe family by
marriage) in the ongoing construction of Mugabe's suburban
"retirement" home, Mugabe takes an active role at the
construction site. He noted that Mugabe has placed a high
priority on having the house ready to be occupied by the end
of the year and makes repeated comments in private
underscoring his eagerness to retire. Mugabe generally
visits the site at least a couple of times a week and has a
formal meeting with construction principals once a week to
review progress and to discuss issues. At the most recent
weekly meeting, the contractor noted that payment was not
being made in timely manner, a problem Mugabe personally
promised would be remedied quickly. (COMMENT: Although we
are unaware of other Mugabe family financial problems, the
ruling party is feeling the crunch of the country's economic
collapse. The party recently suffered a default judgment in
excess of one billion ZimDollars (USD200,000) over
non-payment of a contract for campaign t-shirts; the party is
working the judgment out with the ZANU-PF MP who owned a
controlling interest in the plaintiff. Still imposing at a
distance, the party's 12-storey headquarters' significant
deterioration exemplifies financial distress; visitors enter
a vacant lobby featuring unrepaired metal detectors and
broken windows. END COMMENT.)


4. (C) The contractor characterized Mugabe generally as
personable and reasonable in personal engagement. The same
could not be said for his wife, Grace, to whom the President
always deferred on home issues. She constantly changed her
mind, requiring major jobs to be redone over trivial changes
in personal whim and with no regard to cost. The level of
some ceilings had been redone four times, some floors twice.
Mugabe on occasion questioned the need for certain measures
until the contractor indicated they had been done at Grace's
behest, whereupon he always accepted them. The contractor
said the couple had serious personality conflicts and were
essentially estranged. They each had separate sections of
the house and she insisted on having a separately metered
energy source, an indication of paranoia the contractor said
surfaced frequently.


5. (C) At a recent semi-social gathering sponsored by Mugabe
for the construction workers, an Italian sub-contractor took
the occasion to criticize Mugabe for "what he was doing to
the country." According to the contractor, Mugabe responded
by terminating the contractor's employment on the spot and
giving him a couple of weeks to pack his bags and get out of
the country. The pack-up period was a courtesy explicitly
given ostensibly because the contractor had family here.

Headmaster's Tale Bespeaks Caring Father, Hectored Husband
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6. (C) According to the headmaster at St George's School (an
Embassy employee's family friend),where Mugabe's son
attends, Mugabe takes an active interest in his son's
education. Mugabe recently visited the headmaster to express
concern about his son's performance. Mugabe told the
headmaster that he recognized that his son was not a good
student and suggested that he might benefit from repeating
his current class in the next academic term. The headmaster
agreed but urged that a decision be deferred pending results
of final exams yet to come. Mugabe agreed. Days later,
Grace stormed into the headmaster's office screaming that she
was the only one who could make decisions about her family.
She accused the headmaster of thinking her son was thick
because he thought she was thick. She insisted that her
son's repeating class would not be considered, which the
headmaster took as the final word on the matter.

Comment
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7. (C) The Italian sub-contractor's dismissal conforms to
the pattern of intolerance Mugabe exhibits toward anybody who
criticizes him in public or private. Unquestioning loyalty
remains more than ever the principal criterion for inclusion
in Mugabe's world. The uncritical slavish devotion demanded
by his isolated world underlies the ruling party's
dysfunctional policy-making and likely assures Zimbabwe's
continued political stalemate as long as Mugabe is in charge.
Zimbabwe's autocrat may desire to depart office; however, we
do not take his interest in changing residence imminently as
an indication that the circumstances are right in his mind to
justify retirement from office yet.
SULLIVAN