NO NEW SADC SUMMIT; MWANAWASA FRUSTRATED BY SADC

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUSAKA 000617

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018
TAGS: PREL SADC ZI ZA
SUBJECT: NO NEW SADC SUMMIT; MWANAWASA FRUSTRATED BY SADC
INERTIA

REF: A. LUSAKA 613

B. PRETORIA 1204

Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary. According to Zambia MFA Permanent Secretary
Ambassador Tens Kapoma, President Mwanawasa is frustrated by
the failure of the consultative meeting on Zimbabwe that he
called on the margins of TICAD IV (reftels) and has no plans
to convoke another extraordinary SADC summit prior to the
run-off elections in Zimbabwe on June 27. Kapoma said the
recent detention of diplomats in Zimbabwe was something that
you might expect in a failed state, and compared Zimbabwean
President Mugabe to a "wounded buffalo" who was striking out
at everyone, even those who wanted to help. According to
Kapoma, neither the SADC Secretariat nor the SADC Political
Organ has communicated with the GRZ regarding plans for an
election observer mission, which he estimated would be around
130-140 persons. He confirmed 12 Zambian observers have
already been deployed to Zimbabwe. Mwanawasa has the right
message on Zimbabwe but his frustration with SADC leaders and
their internal wrangling may be taking a toll. End summary.



2. (C) DCM and PolOff met with MFA Permanent Secretary
Ambassador Tens Kapoma in his office on June 9 to discuss
various issues, including Zimbabwe. Kapoma expressed his
dismay over the recent detention of U.S. and UK diplomatic
personnel in Zimbabwe, and said that such behavior took the
escalating violence to a new dimension. Kapoma noted that
the GRZ had advised its 12-member observer team (already
deployed) to take safety precautions, and said that Zambia
had no plans to send additional observers as the Zimbabwean
government was "putting on the brakes" (no further details)
regarding observer missions. Kapoma estimated that the SADC
observer mission would probably entail 130-140
representatives (teams of 10-15 persons from each of the SADC
countries),but also said that the GRZ had no details from
the SADC Secretariat or from the Angolan-chaired Political
Organ regarding the mission and that he planned to call
Gaborone during the morning to see how planning was
proceeding.


3. (C) Given what happened in Japan (reftels),Kapoma said,
there would be no new SADC extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe.
President Mwanawasa had convened the consultative meeting on
the margins of TICAD IV to accomplish three objectives,
Kapoma said: to remind SADC delegations of the commitment
undertaken at the extraordinary summit in Lusaka on April 13
to send an observer delegation for the second round of
elections; to hear from the Chair of the Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security regarding the situation in Zimbabwe; and
finally to get a situation report from the Zimbabwean
delegation itself. According to Kapoma, Tanzania, Malawi and
Botswana supported Mwanawasa's proposed agenda, but
"procedural challenges" stymied any discussion and Mwanawasa
adjourned the meeting. According to Kapoma, Mwanawasa is
worried about SADC's credibility as an organization and has
been pushing without success for SADC to come out and state
that what is happening in Zimbabwe is unacceptable.


4. (C) Comment. As the MFA Permanent Secretary in the
country holding the SADC chairmanship, Kapoma should be in a
position to know what is happening regarding planning for
such a high-profile observer mission as the one mooted for
Zimbabwe. That he does not is disappointing, and President
Mwanawasa's frustration with SADC leaders and their internal
wrangling appears to be taking a toll. Mwanawasa has the
right message, but is tired of knocking (his head) on closed
doors to try and deliver it. End comment.
MARTINEZ