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