WMO CONGRESS; TANZANIA'S VP CANDIDATE

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000608 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS IO/T FOR GUINNEVERE ROBERTS; AF/E FOR BARBARA YODER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TPHY WMO TZ SUBJECT: WMO CONGRESS; TANZANIA'S VP CANDIDATE REF: A. STATE 47359 ¶B. OUAGADOUGOU 00300 ¶C. GABORONE 00553 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: This is an action request. See paragraph ¶2. The Director General of the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA),Dr. M.S. Mhita, confirmed his candidacy for vice president of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),requested USG support for his candidacy, and discussed WMO issues with Econoff on April 24. Mhita anticipates the WMO budget will be a problem, recognizes the need for program priorities and favors limiting the number of advisors at Executive Council meetings. Mhita has no concerns regarding Zimbabwe's new leadership role in WMO Regional Association I. END SUMMARY. VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE ¶2. (U) Dr. M.S. Mhita, Director General of the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) will run for vice president of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the WMO Congress in Geneva on May 7-25, 2007. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs mission in Geneva will join the TMA at the WMO Congress and Suleiman Saleh, Foreign Service Officer in the MFA's Multilateral Division, told Econoff the MFA is preparing a formal request for USG support of Mhita's candidacy. ACTION REQUEST: Post requests guidance on the GOT's request for USG support of Dr. Mhita for vice president of the WMO. BUDGET ¶3. (U) Mhita said the WMO budget will be one of the biggest problems at the Congress as it will be "very difficult" to have a zero nominal growth budget while proceeding with the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation program (DPM) and basic, accurate information flow. "We will ask for a better package, but know that some members will need convincing," Mhita said. Econoff stressed the need for program priorities and Mhita listed World Weather Watch, DPM, education and training as priorities, noting DPM is especially important for developing countries. GOVERNANCE ¶4. (U) Mhita said he could "go along with" the Swiss proposal to allow all WMO members access to Executive Council documents, but he was "not happy" that Executive Council members are bringing several advisors to Council meetings. Mhita cautioned that if many advisors accompany the Council members, it becomes too large to be effective, and suggested limiting the number of accompanying advisors. Mhita had no opinion regarding whether to allow observers at Council meetings, but noted inequity among members as those located near Geneva or with greater resources are more likely to bring a team. ¶5. (U) To improve governance of the WMO, Mhita is preparing strategic plans to be discussed at the Congress in May. Mhita noted that the WMO audit process of internal audit, external audit and an audit committee has improved over the last two-to-three years, with a corresponding increase in efficiency. GERMAN PROPOSAL ¶6. (U) Mhita does not oppose the German proposal to change the WMO Convention, but believes it is not necessary and, so, will not actively support it either. Mhita added that the Germans have pushed this issue for many years without success. THORPEX ¶7. (U) Tanzania does not yet participate in The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) but hopes to establish a similar program for the East Africa/Southern Africa region, along the lines of the West Africa model. LEADERSHIP ¶8. (SBU) Because the WMO Regional Association I (RA I) elected its former vice president, M.L. Bah of Guinea, to be president (Ref B),Econoff asked whether the new vice president, A. Makarau from Zimbabwe, is primed to assume the RA I presidency in four years. Mhita said no, there is no tradition of the vice president assuming the presidency, and that he has no concerns about the Zimbabwe representative being a RA I leader. Mhita said the Zimbabwe meteorological agency is performing well, the infrastructure is in place and RA I leadership is not political. DELLY