COMMISSION APPOINTED TO RUN HARARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002035

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR BNEULING
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE, D. TEITELBAUM
PARIS FOR C. NEARY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ZI MDC
SUBJECT: COMMISSION APPOINTED TO RUN HARARE

REF: HARARE 680 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.5 b/d


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a clear--and possibly illegal--power
grab, the GOZ appointed a commission December 9 to run the
City of Harare, replacing the Harare City Council. The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had dominated
the Council until earlier this year when the GOZ engineered
the dismissal of 19 MDC councilors and the remaining 16 MDC
councilors subsequently resigned. The MDC does not plan to
fight the commission,s establishment, but the Chairman of
the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) told us his
organization would mount a court challenge, though with
little hope of success. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On December 9, the Minister of Local Government,
Ignatius Chombo, appointed an eight-member commission to run
the city of Harare. Acting Mayor Sekesayi Makwavarara, who
was elected to the Council as a member of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) but later switched to
ZANU-PF, is to lead the commission. Chombo appointed the
remaining members of the commission from the private sector;
all have government ties. The eight ZANU-PF members of the
city council will continue to work with the commission, but
their exact role is unclear. The commission is to run the
city for the next 24 months. Chombo gave no rationale for
the specific time period, which exceeds the six month maximum
a commission may run any city according to the Urban Councils
Act, but he had previously stated that council elections
would be held again in June 2006.


3. (SBU) Harare City Council has not had a quorum for
months. Chombo fired MDC Mayor Elias Mudzuri in April on
specious grounds, ostensibly for abuse of power and failure
to cooperate with the GOZ (reftel). Following that, Chombo
dismissed 19 MDC councilors for ineffectiveness and failure
to work in the interests of their constituents. In August,
the remaining 16 MDC councilors resigned to protest the
Ministry,s interference with council operations and the lack
of a legally required mayoral election within 90 days after
Mudzuri,s dismissal. Throughout the year, the state-run
Herald newspaper has run numerous articles berating the
Council for its dwindling services and corruption and setting
the stage for establishment of the commission. MDC Director
of Presidential Affairs, Gandhi Mudzingwa, told Poloff
December 13 that the MDC did not plan any action and would
not issue a statement regarding the formation of the
commission.


4. (C) On December 13, CHRA chairperson Mike Davies told
Poloff that the organization planned to challenge the
legality of the commission. CHRA believes certain aspects of
the commission are illegal under the Urban Councils Act:
ZANU-PF city council members should not be allowed to retain
their positions once the commission is constituted, and the
commission can govern the city no more than six months, a
provision of the Urban Councils Act upheld by the courts in a
CHRA challenge to an earlier commission. Davies said he did
not have much hope for a positive outcome on these two
challenges. Even if the courts ruled in CHRA,s favor,
Chombo would likely ignore the rulings. Davies said CHRA
also had a pending suit challenging the failure of the
Ministry to hold an election to replace former mayor Mudzuri.
However, CHRA,s lawyers had advised him that the
appointment of the commission obviated the need for a mayoral
election and the suit was likely to die. Davies said CHRA
was pressing the suits to &maintain the moral high ground8
and that the situation in Harare was not likely to improve
until the national crisis was resolved and new legislation
passed. Under the Urban Councils Act the Minister of Local
Government could &do as he pleases8 regardless of specific
provisions in the remainder of the Act.


5. (C) COMMENT: The MDC counts on its urban base, and its
control of the majority of Zimbabwe,s city councils and
mayorships had been viewed as an opportunity to exert
executive authority and show people it can deliver goods and
services. All of these local governments, however, have
faced harassment and obstruction by the local ZANU-PF
structures and the Ministry of Local Government, whose
highest priority appears to be assuring that MDC local
municipal authorities are seen to fail. The Harare City
Council is the most prominent of the local governments won by
the MDC but the party has been unable or unwilling to commit
significant resources or decisive pressure in defense of the
Council or Mayor Mudzuri, a strong personality who has had
differences with many in the MDC leadership. The MDC has
also failed to creatively counter the GOZ,s pressure and
effectively protect the other local governments it has
controlled. Instead, the MDC has allowed itself to be fully
absorbed by election contests, parliamentary politics and
other nationally-oriented efforts--strategies that have left
once promising municipal authorities to slowly wither.
DELL