ZIM NOTES 06-12-09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000491 SIPDIS AF/S FOR B. WALCH ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN TREASURY FOR D. PETERS STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LDOBBINS AND JHARMON COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM EAGR ECON EFIN ZI SUBJECT: ZIM NOTES 06-12-09 -------------- SUMMARY - Topics of the week -------------- - The Herald Spins TsvangiraiQs Trip - ZANU-PF MPs Stalling Constitutional Reform - Human Rights Violations on the Rise - TsvangiraiQs Amcit Niece Involved in Land Seizure - Journalists Want Contempt of Court Charges against Minister - AbducteesQ Case Delayed - Human Rights Lawyer Summoned for Trial - Furor Over Delayed, Questionable Exam Results - Harare Ranked WorldQs Worst City - COMESA Wraps Up - African Development Bank President Briefs Donors - Cost of Living Up 2 percent in May - IMF Returning on Staff Visit - Econet Expands - Retailer Constrained by Lack of Working Capital - Sales of Government Rag Up - Quotes of the Week -------------- On the Political/Social Front -------------- ¶1. The Herald Spins TsvangiraiQs Trip... With Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on an official visit to the U.S., Canada, and Europe the ZANU-PF mouthpiece The Herald has been spinning his trip as a solicitation for a lifting of sanctions and re-engagement in the form of aid. This week, the front page has featured distorted headlines that appear to set Tsvangirai up for failure, such as QDutch govt turns down TsvangiraiQ and QPM, Obama clash looms. Tsvangirai met with Secretary Clinton on June 11 and will meet with President Obama on June 12. ¶2. ZANU-PF MPs Stalling Constitutional Reform... ZANU-PFQs parliamentary caucus is forcing the postponement of public hearings for the constitution-making process. They are demanding staggering stipends of US$6,000 per month, twin-cab trucks, and travel stipends to lead meetings to inform the public on the process. Hearings have been delayed until at least June 24 while parliament continues efforts to consolidate proposals to donors to help fund the process. ¶3. Human Rights Violations on the Rise... Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum releaseda report documenting human rights abuses between January and April 2009. The report revealed increases in violence and repression Q evidence of the continued polarization in Zimbabwe. In April, the forum recorded a total of 204 violations versus 155 in March. For more details, see: www.kubatana.net/html/ archive/hr/090606hrf.asp?sector=HR ¶4. TsvangiraiQs Amcit Niece Involved in Land Seizure... The press revealed this week that American citizen and distant relative of Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Dr. Arikana Chiyedzo Chihombori, is attempting to take over a white-owned 70 hectare farm in central Zimbabwe with a flawed offer letter. This is the same woman that appeared with Tsvangirai in photographs at Jacob ZumaQs recent presidential inauguration. Tsvangirai has affirmed they are related, but denies having a personal relationship with her. ¶5. Journalists Want Contempt of Court Charges against Minister... Q5. Journalists Want Contempt of Court Charges against Minister... Four journalists have decided to sue Information Minister Webster Shamu and his permanent secretary George Charamba for contempt of court. Despite a High Court ruling on June 5 that declared the Media and Information Commission defunct and no journalist should be HARARE 00000491 002 OF 003 required to register with it, the journalists were barred from covering the COMESA summit last weekend on the basis that they were not part of a list supplied by the Ministry of Information. ¶6. AbducteesQ Case Delayed... The trial of four abductees kicked off on June 9. In an impassioned recounting of events, defense attorney Alec Muchadehama asked High Court Judge Tendai Uchena to refer the case to the Supreme Court in light of the numerous violations of rights the accused experienced when they were abducted, tortured, and turned over to police and held in prison for several weeks without ever properly appearing before the court. According to Article 24 of the Zimbabwean constitution, the referral must be granted unless the judge considers the questions raised Qmerely frivolous or vexatious.Q Justice Uchena promised to give his decision on June 22. ¶7. Human Rights Lawyer Summoned for Trial... On June 9, Muchadehama was served with a summons to appear for trial on June 17 on charges of obstructing justice. Muchadehama was arrested last month for obstructing justice; a lower court later removed the case from remand for lack of evidence. Many believe the trial on these trumped-up charges is pure harassment of one of ZimbabweQs most renowned lawyers by Attorney General Johannes Tomana and lead prosecutor Florence Ziyambi. ¶8. Furor Over Delayed, Questionable Exam Results... The Zimbabwe Secondary Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) finally released national Ordinary (O) Level exam results on June 5 -- four months late. Many results have either been recorded as missing or are wildly inconsistent with school-predicted results for students. Minister of Education David Coltart decreed that students currently pursuing A Level studies who failed their O level exams must leave school and repeat their O level courses. This will negatively affect thousands of students whose parents already paid for uniforms and school fees after the Minister first insisted that schools take them and open A level courses without O level results. ¶9. Harare Ranked WorldQs Worst City... The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Harare 140 of 140 world cities based on stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Six of the bottom ten are in Africa; Vancouver topped the list. -------------- Economic and Business News -------------- ¶10. COMESA Wraps Up... The 13th Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit wrapped up in Victoria Falls this week. During the meeting, COMESA Chairman President Mugabe commended the launch of the COMESA customs union. Under the union, all 19 members will impose a similar tariff on goods from outside the region of zero to 25 percent. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir also attended the summit, where he was warmly welcomed by Mugabe. Qattended the summit, where he was warmly welcomed by Mugabe. ¶11. African Development Bank President Briefs Donors... AFDB President Donald Kaberuka visited Zimbabwe for the COMESA summit and spent a day in Harare where he briefed donors this week on his views of the inclusive government and investment climate. He advised that the time had not yet come to fully re-engage. See Harare 488 ¶12. Cost of Living Up 2 percent in May... The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe reported that the monthly cost of living for a family of six rose 2 percent in May to US$437 from US$427 in April, mainly due to increases in rent and the cost of public utilities, health, education and clothing. The cost of food fell by 0.5 percent in May. ¶13. IMF Returning on Staff Visit... Following on its March 2009 HARARE 00000491 003 OF 003 Article IV mission and the visits of technical assistance teams in May and June, an IMF team is scheduled to arrive on June 21 for a nine-day staff visit. ¶14. Econet Expands... Econet has secured US$93.9 million in funding from its parent company, under the chairmanship of Strive Masiyiwa, to increase capacity from 1.2 million mobile phone subscribers to 5 million by year end. By expanding its subscriber base, Econet is seeking to keep foreign competition, e.g. MTN, from gaining a foothold in Zimbabwe where mobile penetration is currently only 10 percent-12 percent. Since the introduction of U.S. dollar tariffs, usage measured in minutes has dropped to 10 percent of pre-dollarization levels; previously price distortions in Zimbabwe-dollar tariffs had made mobile calls and texting dirt cheap. EconetQs share price has risen 135 percent since the local stock exchange re-opened earlier this year. ¶15. Retailer Constrained y Lack of Working Capital... Wholesaler/retailer Red Star Holdings reported an improvement in operating capacity from below 15 percent to 33 percent at its branches since dollarization. It said that a further increase was contingent upon accessing credit facilities for working capital to increase stocking levels. Our contacts in the retail sector, on the other hand, tell us that the extremely low level of disposable income is dampening recovery in the sector. ¶16. Sales of Government Rag Up... Sales volumes of The Herald have climbed to 30,000 copies a day from a low of 8,000 in December 2008. Circulation for The Herald peaked in the mid-1990s with 100,000 copies. -------------- Quotes of the Week -------------- ¶17. QHe must tell the U.S. leader that the blockade has directly led to the death of countless children who could not get essential medicines from public hospitals... With standards of living plunging horribly, malnutrition killed many in this country and most of our people were reduced to sorry hunters and gatherers... When this happens on a large scale, it deserves the label of genocide. In many ways, the Western sanctions had the impact of genocide. -- From the editorial QWhat Tsvangirai Must Tell Brother ObamaQ in the Bulawayo-based ZANU-PF mouthpiece The Chronicle on June 11, ¶2009. ¶18. "You can't compare the President and Prime Minister. It is only the President who gets coverage when he is out of the country. This is because of protocol and resource constraints." -- ZBC Chief Executive Officer Happison Muchetere on the Zimbabwean government mediaQs refusal to provide PM Tsvangirai with a media crew to cover his travel to North America and Europe. MCGEE