Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05GABORONE1203
2005-08-23 13:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Gaborone
Cable title:  

SADC SUMMIT KEEPS STUDIED SILENCE ON ZIMBABWE

Tags:  PHUM PREL PGOV ETRD RW WZ ZI ZU BC SADC 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.


ACTION AF-00 

INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 CIAE-00 COME-00 INL-00 
 DODE-00 DS-00 EB-00 E-00 H-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 
 LAB-01 CAC-00 AC-00 DCP-00 NRC-00 NSAE-00 OES-00 
 OMB-00 NIMA-00 PA-00 GIWI-00 ACE-00 SGAC-00 FMPC-00 
 IRM-00 SSO-00 SS-00 STR-00 TRSE-00 EVR-00 BBG-00 
 R-00 EPAE-00 SCRS-00 DSCC-00 PRM-00 DRL-00 NFAT-00 
 SAS-00 SWCI-00 /001W
 ------------------2C1D5F 231427Z /38 
FM AMEMBASSY GABORONE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2388
INFO SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY KIGALI 
WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L GABORONE 001203 

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR AF/S MUNCY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ETRD RW WZ ZI ZU BC SADC
SUBJECT: SADC SUMMIT KEEPS STUDIED SILENCE ON ZIMBABWE

REF: GABORONE 1099

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Lois Aroian for Reasons 1.4 (B) a
nd (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L GABORONE 001203

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR AF/S MUNCY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ETRD RW WZ ZI ZU BC SADC
SUBJECT: SADC SUMMIT KEEPS STUDIED SILENCE ON ZIMBABWE

REF: GABORONE 1099

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Lois Aroian for Reasons 1.4 (B) a
nd (D)


1. (U) SUMMARY: The "Silver Jubilee" Southern African
Development Community (SADC) Summit held in Gaborone August
17-18 tackled no thorny issues. Incoming SADC Chair,
Botswana President Festus Mogae, urged concrete steps to make
SADC effective. The regional leaders did not speak out on
Zimbabwe. They appointed a new Mozambican-Angolan duo to lead
the SADC Secretariat, welcomed Madagascar as a member, and
deferred a decision on Rwanda's membership. The Summit voted
on but did not pass a Protocol on the Free Movement of People
within the region, partly because of Botswana's reservations
about the likely increased immigration from poorer to richer
states. For the first time, an NGO summit preceded the
official event and, despite the predictable lack of focus,
issued a communiqu demanding greater respect for human
rights, better governance, and freer trade. END SUMMARY

FOCUS ON ENHANCING EFFECTIVENESS


2. (U) The theme of President Mogae's acceptance speech as
incoming chair was the need to improve the operational
effectiveness of SADC. He pointed to slow implementation of
the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, the
belated conclusion of the feasibility study for the new SADC
headquarters, and the tendency for members to sign,
ratify and ignore regional protocols. Mogae called for a
mechanism to ensure implementation of protocols,
particularly the Trade Protocol, greater focus on prioritized
regional objectives, and cost saving measures
by the Secretariat.


3. (SBU) Mogae asked that newly appointed Executive
Secretary Tomas Augusto Salomao of Mozambique, focus on

SIPDIS
achieving these objectives. Mr. Salomao is a former Minister
of Planning and Finance as well as of Transport and
Communications. Joao Samuel Caholo, of Angola, will be his
deputy. Mr. Caholo previously directed the SADC Energy

Commission and is a former Deputy Minister of Fisheries in
the Angolan Government. (Comment: A SADC-country diplomat
had expressed certainty that the female Botswana candidate
would win the deputy slot, owing to SADC's commitment to
female empowerment and the impossibility of having two
Portuguese speakers in the top positions. End comment.)

SADC SUMMIT AVOIDS PUBLIC COMMENT ON ZIMBABWE


4. (U) At an August 18 press conference, President Mogae
explained that the Summit had not deliberated on the
situation in Zimbabwe because no country had included that
subject in the agenda. He added that while Botswana and
other neighbors advise Zimbabwe's leaders "privately and in
confidence," they cannot do more. This was reaffirmed that
same day when former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano,
named by the AUto mediate in Zimbabwe, told the press that
the overnment of Zimbabwe did not need his assistance n
settling its internal disputes. Mogae's
accptance speech as Chair includd a paean to Mugabe as a
founding father of SADC ("you did it all for us") that was
a reminder of the residual goodwill toward Mugabe, rooted in
the liberation history of the region. Mugabe received a warm
public welcome at the Summit sessions and dinner.

RWANDA MEMBERSHIP DEFERRED


5. (C) While Rwanda's membership was on the agenda, the
Summit deferred the issue. Botswana contacts told Charge
that Rwanda had not yet qualified for membership, but
tensions with the DRC were certainly a main reason for
postponing a decision. SADC also seems undecided on the
appropriate geographical parameters for membership.
(Comment: Rwanda reportedly was one of the difficult issues
that caused the official Summit closing to start three and a
half hours late. End comment).

REGIONAL REDISTRIBUTION KEY TO FOOD SECURITY


6. (U) The Summit's communiqu emphasized that, taken as a
whole, the SADC region is self-sufficient in maize and that
member countries need to mobilize resources to import food
from neighbors with grain surpluses to prevent hunger
(reftel). In his welcome address, President Mogae appealed
to the international community for emergency assistance
but noted that, in the long term, SADC countries would have
to adopt policies to enhance agriculture output.

NGO SUMMIT SEEKS ACTION ON ZIMBABWE AND OTHER ISSUES


7. (U) For the first time, the annual SADC summit was
preceded by a parallel civil society event. The SADC
Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO) and the
Media Institute of Southern Africa hosted a conference
of civil society organizations from around the region August
14-16 in Gaborone. The purpose of the event was to
articulate a common agenda and to begin to exert some
pressure on the SADC heads of state to respond to
accordingly.


8. (U) The participants' concerns, as reflected in their
discussions and the resulting communiqu, addressed a range
of civil and human rights issues as well as economic growth
and employment creation. These included absence of
legislation facilitating access to information, the
harassment of journalists, the antagonistic attitude that
governments in the region tend to adopt toward civil society
organizations who hope to influence public policy,
and insufficient action to promote gender equality.


9. (U) A focus group on regional integration castigated
governments for their slow pace in lowering barriers to trade
within the region, describing that as a source of
unemployment and poverty. Delegates repeatedly expressed
dissatisfaction with the regional response to HIV/AIDS. In a
panel dedicated to the situations in Zimbabwe and Swaziland,
participants deplored the failure of regional heads of state
to take any action to encourage the two regimes to respect
their citizens' human and civil rights. The communiqu
called upon the Summit to urge the Mugabe regime to accept
the findings and act on the recommendations of the UN Special
Envoy to Zimbabwe on Operation
Murambatsvina.


10. (U) Participants were clearly feeling their way into
what they described as, for most, the new territory of
policy advocacy. Consequently, their deliberations
frequently lacked direction and concrete strategy
suggestions. Nonetheless, the convening of this assembly and
the production of a communiqu represented an important
step toward enhancing democratic accountability in the region.

COMMENT


11. (SBU) The official SADC summit underscored that Mugabe's
historical role as a liberation leader and solidarity
within the region's ruling elite remain more powerful
influences on foreign policy than the adverse impacts of
the situation in Zimbabwe on each member country. It remains
to be seen whether civil society organizations will follow
through on their commitment to engage their leaders, despite
the obstacles to doing so, in order to demand solutions to
their problems - particularly pertaining to human and civil
rights, poverty, and health. This underscores the wisdom and
value of working with these groups and building their
capacity to deepen democracy in Southern Africa.
AROIAN


NNNN