Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08LUSAKA429
2008-04-15 12:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Lusaka
Cable title:  

SADC EMERGENCY SUMMIT: MWANAWASA TELLS ALL

Tags:  PREL SADC ZA ZI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7827
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0429/01 1061207
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 151207Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5699
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000429 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/S/, AND AF/PD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2017
TAGS: PREL SADC ZA ZI
SUBJECT: SADC EMERGENCY SUMMIT: MWANAWASA TELLS ALL

REF: A. LUSAKA 427

B. LUSAKA 424

C. LUSAKA 423

D. LUSAKA 422

E. LUSAKA 421

F. LUSAKA 412

Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000429

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/S/, AND AF/PD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2017
TAGS: PREL SADC ZA ZI
SUBJECT: SADC EMERGENCY SUMMIT: MWANAWASA TELLS ALL

REF: A. LUSAKA 427

B. LUSAKA 424

C. LUSAKA 423

D. LUSAKA 422

E. LUSAKA 421

F. LUSAKA 412

Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. In an April 15 conversation, President
Mwanawasa shared his thoughts on the recently concluded
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State
Summit. He described the Summit as a signal to Mugabe that
SADC will not support him unconditionally. He characterized
Mbeki as counterproductive and insincere. He observed that
many SADC leaders had changed their minds about the situation
in Zimbabwe after hearing firsthand about the electoral
irregularities. He urged the Zimbabwean delegation to extend
greater freedom to the press and warned of wide-spread
violence. He thanked the USG for its discretion, to avoid
the perception that SADC is responding to outside pressure.
Mwanawasa described the Summit as "a good beginning," but
said that SADC would need to continue its involvement, both
privately and publicly. End Summary.


2. (C) I spoke with President Mwanawasa at length this
morning regarding what transpired behind closed doors at the
April 12 SADC Summit in Lusaka. Mwanawasa said the Summit
had "achieved its purpose" and signaled to Mugabe "that SADC
will not always support him." Mwanawasa said that SADC has a
responsibility to uphold the rule of law, which Mugabe had
violated during the Zimbabwean election by excluding
candidates from the process. In Mwanawasa's view, SADC
needed to insist that election authorities conduct the
recount "under the rule of law."


3. (C) The President drew my attention to "something that was
not in the communique." He said that the SADC Heads of State
had agreed that the press must have free access to the
ongoing electoral process. When I asked if this included
Western and other international press, he said "press means
press." Responding to my question of whether the Zimbabwean
delegation understood that definition, Mwanawasa answered
"the Zimbabwean delegation took it on board but they did not
want to show it." Mwanawasa said he hoped that the

Zimbabwean delegation would be truthful in recounting the
meeting to Mugabe. "After all," he said, "we spent more than
12 hours talking, so they cannot say we discussed nothing."


4. (C) I asked the President if he had heard from Mugabe in
the aftermath of the Summit. Mwanawasa said he had not, and
dismissed Mugabe's excuse for not coming "because he was not
consulted." Mwanawasa said he tried to talk to him, but
Mugabe would not take his call when he telephoned to invite
him personally. He said he had consulted with Mbeki over the
invite, and Mbeki had given him Mugabe's phone number but,
when he called, Mugabe "remained unavailable." Mwanawasa
said he believes Mugabe will eventually speak with him but,
for now, he must "allow tempers to cool."


5. (C) Mwanawasa told me that Mbeki had not been supportive
and that he and Mbeki had "quarreled" over the role of
opposition candidates Tsvangirai and Makoni. Mwanawasa said
that at the beginning of the closed door session, Mbeki
argued that they should not allow Tsvangirai and Makoni to
participate because they were not government representatives.
Mwanawasa explained that this represented a reversal in
Mbeki's position, and Mwanawasa, who from the beginning had
not thought it proper to invite the opposition candidates,
said "I lost my cool." Mwanawasa told Mbeki that he was
"making it look like the decision to invite the opposition
candidates was solely my idea." Mwanawasa accused Mbeki of
being "insincere" and asked him why he changed his mind.
Mbeki, very angry, refused to answer.


6. (C) After many hours of heated argument, the group agreed
to move to another room to allow willing Heads of State to
speak with the opposition candidates. Mwanawasa said that
all eight Heads of State came to the gathering, which he
described as a productive ninety-minute meeting. Makoni and
Tsvangirai recounted the many ways in which they and their

SIPDIS
supporters had been excluded from various phases of the
electoral process. According to Mwanawasa, many of the Heads
of State who had been "reluctant to condemn Mugabe," changed
their minds after hearing firsthand about the irregularities
that had taken place.


7. (C) Tsvangirai and Makoni told the SADC leaders that they
had "pinned up" the results for the public in order to

LUSAKA 00000429 002 OF 002


provide a record of the actual vote count. Mwanawasa thought
that this would help ensure an accurate recount, which would
lead to a run-off. The President expressed his concern that
in the event of a run-off, there will be increased levels of
violence and conjectured that opposition party members'
frustration could "lead to violence on both sides."


8. (C) Mwanawasa said that the Summit was "a good beginning"
but that SADC had to continue to be active, both publicly and
behind the scenes. He said SADC must solve and "be seen to
be solving" the problem because "by doing nothing we invite
outside intervention." He said that the SADC Heads of State
considered this a "point well taken." Mwanawasa also thanked
me for the USG expressions of support for his initiative in
convening the Summit. He said he personally appreciated that
we had made our approaches to SADC in "a discreet manner,"
because it was important that SADC be seen as acting in
independently. It would be bad he said, if the issue turned
into "the West versus SADC".


9. (C) Comment: President Mwanawasa seems determined to
continue to press for active SADC involvement in resolving
the Zimbabwe impasse. He recognizes that although the Summit
was a good beginning, SADC's credibility is at risk if it
does not produce concrete results, especially given the high
probability of wide-spread violence in the case of a run-off.
If he is correct that Mugabe now understands that SADC will
no longer blindly support his actions, perhaps this can be
another point of pressure on Mugabe and the ZANU-PF. If,
that is, Mbeki can be neutralized. Meanwhile, Mwanawasa has
somewhat restored his credibility and respect within SADC
that was lost at the August 2007 Summit, while gaining some
esteem in the West.

MARTINEZ