AMBASSADOR GREEN AND PRESIDENT KIKWETE DISCUSS THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DAR ES SALAAM 000049 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT AF/E FOR JLIDDLE; ALSO AF/RSA FOR MBITTRICK DRL/AE FOR BCONNUCK, LLESSER ADDIS FOR AU MISSION LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM PREL ECON KE TZ SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR GREEN AND PRESIDENT KIKWETE DISCUSS THE BANK OF TANZANIA, ZANZIBAR RECONCILIATION, KENYA AND ZIMBABWE REF: A. 07 STATE 169801 ¶B. 07 DAR ES SALAAM 01009 DAR ES SAL 00000049 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: Ambassador Mark A. Green for reasons 1.4 (b,d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) President Jakaya Kikwete told Ambassador Green January 16 that he is closely involved in the final stages of the discussions between the ruling CCM and the Civic United Front (CUF) parties to fine-tune the details of a power-sharing arrangement for the Government of Zanzibar that would go into effect after the 2010 elections. The Ambassador noted if an agreement can be announced soon, that in light of the political gridlock in Kenya, all of Africa would notice, particularly with the African Union Summit only weeks away. Kikwete confided that persuading President Karume "is not always easy," but he would continue to stay involved. Kikwete said the Government of Tanzania (GOT) would appreciate if the official U.S. visa of the former Governor of the Bank of Tanzania were revoked, since he no longer has any official reason to be in the United States. Kikwete is deeply concerned about Kenya, including the inability of Kibaki to rule should a standoff in the Parliament continue, and about the slowdown in the Kenyan economy that is affecting the entire region. He updated the Ambassador on his efforts to informally mediate in Kenya, as well as possibilities for regional security groups to take action. However, at this juncture, Kikwete is supporting the recently formed mission of Kofi Annan, Benjamin Mkapa and Grace Machel to guide Kenya toward a solution equitable to all parties. He stressed that in light of the Kenyan crisis, credible elections in Zimbabwe are crucial, and promised to work within SADC to push for international monitors to be involved in the Zimbabwe elections as early as possible. End summary. Upcoming POTUS Visit -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador briefed President Kikwete on the status of the upcoming POTUS visit, highlighting that President Bush's three days in Tanzania will be the centerpiece of his Africa trip where he will participate in PEPFAR, Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) events. Kikwete said he has instructed his team to pull out all the stops and cooperate in every way with the U.S. team to make assure the visit is "the best we have ever had." President Kikwete added that in reviewing reports, he realized that the United States is the largest donor to Tanzania including PEPFAR, PMI, education funding and all other programs, including the MCC. Ambassador Green confirmed that not even counting the soon to be signed USD 698 million MCC Compact, in FY 2008 the USG bilateral and multilateral contributions to Tanzania will total over USD 662 million. Bank of Tanzania -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Green and President Kikwete discussed the possibility that the Department of State could revoke the G-2 visa of Mr. Daudi Ballali, the former Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, who was fired by President Kikwete on January 9. The President said the Government of Tanzania (GOT) would welcome such a move since Mr. Ballali was no longer representing the GOT in any official capacity, and will want him returned to Tanzania to face justice. President Kikwete confided that the independent auditor's report shows transactions Governor Ballali was involved in during late 2005 of up to USD 100 million dollars that were processed by the Central Bank illegally through its External Payment of Arrears (EPA) account (Ref B). Kikwete hinted that as the investigation proceeds, many others may be exposed as being involved in these transactions. The Ambassador said the fact President Kikwete has set a timeline for all investigations to be completed within six months, which the Ambassador had privately suggested to President Kikwete weeks DAR ES SAL 00000049 002.2 OF 004 earlier, is crucial, adding that the investigation needs to be thorough, transparent, and those found responsible quickly brought to justice. President Kikwete said he was pleased with the role the U.S. has played in supporting his call for a criminal investigation of the scandal, and understands how important this is to the U.S. Government. Zanzibar Reconciliation -------------- ¶4. (C) Ambassador Green said on January 9 leaders of the Civic United Front (CUF) had told him that the CUF team and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) team were beginning the final stage of negotiations on an agreement to end the political impasse in Zanzibar. The Ambassador commended Kikwete for his consistent engagement in this issue and stressed that, in light of the political standoff in Kenya, the announcement of a fair, equitable power-sharing agreement in Zanzibar would be noticed by all of Africa. The Ambassador emphasized: "The CUF leadership has told us that an agreement is close; you are the one who can move the CCM team over the finish line, especially in getting President Karume,s assurances to implement the agreement." ¶5. (C) Kikwete said he shares the view that an agreement is close and is well aware that time is of the essence. He noted that the final details are nearly worked out on what shape the post-2010 election government in Zanzibar would take, no matter which party might win, and he is personally guiding the CCM team as final details are hammered out. He explained that CUF initially proposed a government with a president from the party who won the election, a vice president from the opposition party with the second highest number of votes, and a chief minister, also from the ruling party. In discussing this model, President Karume had expressed concern that if the ruling party president were to pass away or become incapacitated, such a model would allow the opposition vice president to become head of Zanzibar. ¶6. (C) Kikwete himself then proposed a compromise, based on his experiences in both the Democratic Peoples Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi. The power-sharing government in Zanzibar could have a president and two vice presidents, eliminating the current position of Chief Minister. The First Vice President would be from the opposition party, and make joint decisions with the President. The Second Vice President would be from the ruling party and would succeed the President, should he be unable to govern. However, the day-to-day responsibility of the Second V-P would be to run the government, similar to the position as a Chief Minister. ¶7. (C) With a deal very close, President Kikwete appears to be advising the CCM negotiating team almost daily, as well as serving as chief envoy to discuss with Karume. Kikwete told the Ambassador his greater concern was that the final agreement include an implementation plan beginning from now, to include some members of the CUF in the cabinet of the current government as a confidence building measure. Such a move would demonstrate to both the CUF leadership and rank-and-file members that the CCM is committed to sharing power. More importantly, it would show Zanzibaris from all political parties that a government of national unity after the 2010 elections could work. Kikwete said he would meet with Pres. Karume on either January 16 or 25 to discuss the confidence building measures that need to be put in place before 2010. "When I met with President Karume on January 12, the Zanzibar Revolution anniversary, he was responsive. Other times he can be evasive; but in any case, I will keep trying. We cannot lose this moment." Kenya -------------- ¶8. (C) President Kikwete called the situation in Kenya "sad" and outlined how he had tried during the past three weeks to informally mediate, speaking with Pres. Kibaki twice, Raila Odinga once and also once with Kalonzo Musyoka. Odinga DAR ES SAL 00000049 003.2 OF 004 told him the ODM is not asking Kibaki to vacate his seat, but insisting that the elections be run again and fully monitored at every stage to assure they are fair. Musyoka did not show for a second meeting with Kikwete, calling to say since he accepted the Vice Presidency "it would not be appropriate." Kikwete admitted that the AU Chairman John Kufuor,s attempt to resolve the crisis had failed; he understood that Tanzania's former President Mkapa would join Kofi Annan and Grace Machel to form a mediation team of three to try once more to bring Kibaki and Odinga to sit down face-to-face and discuss a way forward. ¶9. (C) However, President Kikwete confided that he was not sanguine about a positive outcome from this next step of mediation. President Kibaki has already named a Vice President and Cabinet members; the ODM has the upper hand in the Parliament. He stated: "Kibaki cannot rule; when it comes to budget time, there can be no decisions." Kikwete was very concerned that the renewed call for protests would further paralyze the Kenyan economy, with serious effects for the entire region. "Kenya is the economic hub of the region. If Kenya catches a cold, Tanzania sneezes," he bemoaned. He noted the East African foreign ministers had met January 11 to discuss how to deal with a humanitarian crisis in Kenya. Initially the Kenyan FM insisted there was no problem in Kenya, no possibility of a humanitarian crisis to erupt. By the end of the meeting, however, the Kenyans admitted there was potential for crisis, and were discussing how to address possible scenarios. ¶10. (C) President Kikwete said there are several regional organizations with clauses in their security charters requiring the organizations to convene extraordinary sessions in case of a crisis. The Great Lakes Region Executive Secretariat, based in Bujumbura and headed up by the former SIPDIS Tanzanian Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, had contacted him more than once urging that as the Vice Chair of the Great Lakes group, he should convene an emergency session to discuss the Kenyan situation. However, Kikwete explained that currently President Kibaki is the chair of the Great Lakes group, so he would have to make a bold decision to convene the Great Lakes states possibly without Kibaki,s concurrence. Kikwete said he will keep that option open for now, while closely watching whether the Annan, Mkapa, Machel team is making progress toward a mediated agreement or not. Zimbabwe -------------- ¶11. (C) Ambassador Green stressed the importance to President Kikwete that in order to avoid a repeat of Kenyan elections or worse, international monitors should be allowed into Zimbabwe well in advance of the elections (Ref A). He requested that Presidents Kikwete and Mbeki both exercise their influence within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to press President Mugabe to allow not only observers for the election period itself, but monitors during the pre-election period to ensure that there is a level playing field for all parties. Kikwete agreed that there needs to be credible elections in Zimbabwe and promised to do his best within the SADC fora to press for international monitors. Comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in Persons Bill -------------- - ¶12. (SBU) Ambassador Green thanked President Kikwete for his support for the comprehensive anti-trafficking in persons bill which has now been approved by the Cabinet and will be introduced into the Parliament at the end of January. Kikwete said that he had asked the bill to be fast-tracked, but it was held up for several months in Zanzibar, under review. He himself had intervened to accelerate the process. Zanzibar authorities agreed to the bill in principle, offering positive suggestions to make the bill more effective in both Zanzibar and the Mainland. Thus the legislation was approved by a special session of Cabinet on January 8. The Ambassador DAR ES SAL 00000049 004.2 OF 004 noted the importance of the GOT continuing to make progress to combat the trafficking of persons. President Kikwete fully agreed that human trafficking is a "silent crime" that is often not easy to discover. "We need a law in place to halt whatever trafficking may be going on; we do not want to hear any horror stories," he said. Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) President Kikwete has began to take methodical steps to root out corruption. In November 2007, he fired the Director of Wildlife at the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources, Edward Severre, who had allowed corrupt practices to continue in the hunting block sector of the wildlife division under three different ministers. While opposition party leaders and other critics say that Kikwete took too long to fire former Bank of Tanzania Governor Ballali after the release of the independent audit in late November 2007, the fact that he set a clear timeline, put the investigation under the joint authority of the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB),indicates that he is expecting a thorough report, with no stones left unturned. ¶14. (C) Kikwete also appeared determined to convince, cajole or push President Karume and other CCM hard-liners, as needed, to successfully conclude the Zanzibar reconciliation talks. This, coupled with his back-channel search for a way to resolve the post-election crisis in Kenya, indicates to us that he is ready to step up to the position of African Union (AU) chairman, should he be tapped by his East African colleagues during the upcoming AU summit in Addis Ababa scheduled for the last week of January. GREEN