Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HARARE7
2006-01-04 13:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Harare
Cable title:
DESPITE GOZ RHETORIC, COOPERATION WITH UN ONGOING
how-toVZCZCXRO2379 RR RUEHMR DE RUEHSB #0007/01 0041338 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 041338Z JAN 06 FM AMEMBASSY HARARE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9400 INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1018 RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0853 RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1037 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0297 RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0660 RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1092 RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3413 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0851 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1484 RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1233
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000007
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
USUN FOR S. MOFFAT
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
STATE PASS USAID FOR M. COPSON, E. LOKEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2015
TAGS: EAID PHUM PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: DESPITE GOZ RHETORIC, COOPERATION WITH UN ONGOING
REF: (A) 2005 USUN 2887 (B) 2005 HARARE 1728 (C) 2005
HARARE 1699 (D) 2005 HARARE 1681 (E) 2005
HARARE 1663
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Eric T. Schultz under Section
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000007
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
USUN FOR S. MOFFAT
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
STATE PASS USAID FOR M. COPSON, E. LOKEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2015
TAGS: EAID PHUM PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: DESPITE GOZ RHETORIC, COOPERATION WITH UN ONGOING
REF: (A) 2005 USUN 2887 (B) 2005 HARARE 1728 (C) 2005
HARARE 1699 (D) 2005 HARARE 1681 (E) 2005
HARARE 1663
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Eric T. Schultz under Section 1.
4 b/d
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (C) In the month since UN Under Secretary General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan
Egeland visited Zimbabwe, the GOZ has continued its vitriolic
attacks against the envoy and the UN, especially over the
issue of shelter for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina.
UN contacts, however, report that the GOZ,s public attacks
have not impeded their operations or the government,s
low-level cooperation. End Summary.
--------------
Public Attacks on UN
--------------
2. (SBU) Since Egeland concluded his visit to Zimbabwe on
December 7 (Ref E),the GOZ has wasted no opportunity to
publicly criticize the UN Envoy for his unvarnished
assessment of the local humanitarian situation and especially
for his public endorsement of Special Envoy Tibaijuka,s
scathing report on Operation Murambatsvina. Following
President Mugabe's lambasting of Egeland at the ZANU-PF
annual national conference on December 9 (Ref D),the UN
envoy,s briefing to the UNSC on December 19 (Ref A) prompted
a second wave a recrimination, with one government-controlled
newspaper saying that Egeland was &spoiling for a fight.8
3. (C) The GOZ,s attacks on the UN continue to center on
the issue of shelter for Murambatsvina,s victims. The UN
and donors have rejected the government,s efforts to get
them to build permanent housing, which they fear would go to
government supporters rather than the real victims. For its
part, the GOZ has rejected the UN and donor offers of tents
as temporary shelters. A compromise appeared to have been
worked out during Egeland,s visit to build &core8
structure that recipients could add on to at a later date.
However, on December 20, Local Government Minister Chombo
condemned and ordered the demolition of a model one-room
house built at Hopely Farm by the UN and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM). Chombo claimed that the
model ) which UN and IOM sources confirmed had been designed
jointly by the UN and the GOZ ) was &below human dignity8
and had been guided by a &this-is-good-for-the-African
attitude.8
--------------
But Continued Cooperation
--------------
4. (C) According to UN and IOM sources, GOZ attacks have
been designed for public consumption and have not ended
cooperation. IOM program development officer Diane Epstein,
who worked on the model shelter at Hopely Farm, told poloff
on January 3 that the government,s engagement with
humanitarian groups and donors on the issue of shelter has
always been rocky. She characterized Chombo,s outburst as
nothing new and said that despite the criticism of the
shelter at Hopely Farm, IOM and the GOZ were proceeding with
preparations for similar temporary shelters at a site near
Mutare. Along the same lines, WFP contacts have told us that
despite the signing of an MOU governing food assistance and
HARARE 00000007 002 OF 002
recommencement of large-scale food distribution in the
country (refs B, C),their relationship with the GOZ also
remains difficult.
--------------
Comment
--------------
5. (C) There are clearly elements within the GOZ that
acknowledge the growing humanitarian crisis and want
international assistance, but they are constrained by their
political leadership. As with the Ambassador, November
speech, the attacks on Egeland highlight the leadership,s
knee jerk response to any international criticism, however
muted: to lash out against the messenger as an imperialist
&stooge.8 It is in this context that the UN is attempting,
with some limited success, to establish a dialogue with the
GOZ and to encourage cooperation on humanitarian issues. The
UN is to be commended for its perseverance in this difficult
but necessary task ) as many as 4 million Zimbabweans are
already food insecure and tens of thousands remain without
shelter. The next major step in this process, the proposed
visit by UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs
Ibrahim Gambari, promises to be equally fraught. Local UN
officials tell us the GOZ deeply distrusts Gambari and views
him as sympathetic to its Western critics.
DELL
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
USUN FOR S. MOFFAT
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
STATE PASS USAID FOR M. COPSON, E. LOKEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2015
TAGS: EAID PHUM PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: DESPITE GOZ RHETORIC, COOPERATION WITH UN ONGOING
REF: (A) 2005 USUN 2887 (B) 2005 HARARE 1728 (C) 2005
HARARE 1699 (D) 2005 HARARE 1681 (E) 2005
HARARE 1663
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Eric T. Schultz under Section 1.
4 b/d
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (C) In the month since UN Under Secretary General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan
Egeland visited Zimbabwe, the GOZ has continued its vitriolic
attacks against the envoy and the UN, especially over the
issue of shelter for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina.
UN contacts, however, report that the GOZ,s public attacks
have not impeded their operations or the government,s
low-level cooperation. End Summary.
--------------
Public Attacks on UN
--------------
2. (SBU) Since Egeland concluded his visit to Zimbabwe on
December 7 (Ref E),the GOZ has wasted no opportunity to
publicly criticize the UN Envoy for his unvarnished
assessment of the local humanitarian situation and especially
for his public endorsement of Special Envoy Tibaijuka,s
scathing report on Operation Murambatsvina. Following
President Mugabe's lambasting of Egeland at the ZANU-PF
annual national conference on December 9 (Ref D),the UN
envoy,s briefing to the UNSC on December 19 (Ref A) prompted
a second wave a recrimination, with one government-controlled
newspaper saying that Egeland was &spoiling for a fight.8
3. (C) The GOZ,s attacks on the UN continue to center on
the issue of shelter for Murambatsvina,s victims. The UN
and donors have rejected the government,s efforts to get
them to build permanent housing, which they fear would go to
government supporters rather than the real victims. For its
part, the GOZ has rejected the UN and donor offers of tents
as temporary shelters. A compromise appeared to have been
worked out during Egeland,s visit to build &core8
structure that recipients could add on to at a later date.
However, on December 20, Local Government Minister Chombo
condemned and ordered the demolition of a model one-room
house built at Hopely Farm by the UN and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM). Chombo claimed that the
model ) which UN and IOM sources confirmed had been designed
jointly by the UN and the GOZ ) was &below human dignity8
and had been guided by a &this-is-good-for-the-African
attitude.8
--------------
But Continued Cooperation
--------------
4. (C) According to UN and IOM sources, GOZ attacks have
been designed for public consumption and have not ended
cooperation. IOM program development officer Diane Epstein,
who worked on the model shelter at Hopely Farm, told poloff
on January 3 that the government,s engagement with
humanitarian groups and donors on the issue of shelter has
always been rocky. She characterized Chombo,s outburst as
nothing new and said that despite the criticism of the
shelter at Hopely Farm, IOM and the GOZ were proceeding with
preparations for similar temporary shelters at a site near
Mutare. Along the same lines, WFP contacts have told us that
despite the signing of an MOU governing food assistance and
HARARE 00000007 002 OF 002
recommencement of large-scale food distribution in the
country (refs B, C),their relationship with the GOZ also
remains difficult.
--------------
Comment
--------------
5. (C) There are clearly elements within the GOZ that
acknowledge the growing humanitarian crisis and want
international assistance, but they are constrained by their
political leadership. As with the Ambassador, November
speech, the attacks on Egeland highlight the leadership,s
knee jerk response to any international criticism, however
muted: to lash out against the messenger as an imperialist
&stooge.8 It is in this context that the UN is attempting,
with some limited success, to establish a dialogue with the
GOZ and to encourage cooperation on humanitarian issues. The
UN is to be commended for its perseverance in this difficult
but necessary task ) as many as 4 million Zimbabweans are
already food insecure and tens of thousands remain without
shelter. The next major step in this process, the proposed
visit by UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs
Ibrahim Gambari, promises to be equally fraught. Local UN
officials tell us the GOZ deeply distrusts Gambari and views
him as sympathetic to its Western critics.
DELL