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| Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10HARARE23 | 2010-01-19 07:04:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Harare |
Cable title:
ZIM NOTES 01-15-2010
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1. SUMMARY -------------------------- SADC Meets in Maputo... Constitutional Process to Resume after Long Delay... MDC-T Ministers Named in Corruption Probe... Rash of Farm Invasions in Rusape... AG Tomana Impeaches Own Witness... Hitschmann's Lawyer Mahlangu Acquitted... Students Arrested While Protesting Fees... Schools Re-open Amid Higher Fees and Threat of Strikes... Banks Start Lending a Little Longer... Skills Shortage Jeopardizes Recovery... Farm Invasions Threaten Tobacco Recovery... Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on the Edge... -------------------------- On the Political and Social Front -------------------------- 2. SADC Meets in Maputo...SADC leaders in Maputo for the inauguration of President Guebuza are meeting to discuss Zimbabwe and Madagascar. President Mugabe is in attendance. The MDC was unaware that Zimbabwe would be discussed and no representatives are present. According to South African President Zuma's office (in a press statement) the SADC Troika president will brief other SADC leaders on Zimbabwe. We have no indication that substantive issues will be raised, but it is concerning that the MDC was unaware that Zimbabwe would be discussed. 3. Constitutional Process to Resume after Long Delay... After a six-month hiatus in the constitutional process, on January 11 Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga hosted the launch of the consultative phase of Zimbabwe's effort to draft a new constitution. Aside from minor disturbances, the event -- attended by 1,000 delegates -- was a success and followed by a three-day delegate training course. In the next couple of weeks the thematic committee members will begin 65 days of outreach throughout Zimbabwe eliciting the public's opinion on 17 constitutional themes. Political analysts warn that the outreach effort has the potential to ignite violence and intimidation in ZANU-PF rural strongholds. See Harare 22. 4. MDC-T Ministers Named in Corruption Probe... According to the Zimbabwe Independent, citing a senior party source, co- Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa, Energy and Power Development Minister Elias Mudzuri, and Mines Deputy Minister Murisi Zwizwai are facing internal corruption investigations by the party. Mutsekwa and Zwizwai have been widely criticized since assuming their posts: Mutsekwa for working too closely with the ZANU-PF co-minister of Home Affairs and not curbing police abuses and Zwizwai for supporting the ZANU-PF line that there has not been widespread violence in Chiadzwa. The Office of the Prime Minister denied to us that there was an investigation. Reacting to the Zimbabwe Independent article, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa called a press conference today and denied any corruption investigation involving the named ministers. It is unclear at this time whether there is substance to the allegations or whether they represent intraparty Qsubstance to the allegations or whether they represent intraparty jockeying for position by disaffected MDC members. 5. Rash of Farm Invasions in Rusape... On January 12, a gang of thugs invaded a farm in Rusape (Manicaland) owned by the South African Smit family. The invaders tied the two twenty-something-year-old sons to a tree and beat them before moving on to another farm. Just last week another South African farming family was forced to leave their farm in Rusape after a week of harassment. Christmas morning the Finaughty family was chased off their Rusape farm. At least four other farming families in Rusape have been notified that their farms will be seized in the coming HARARE 00000023 002 OF 003 days. Most of the families are of South African origin, but have received no protection from the recently signed bilateral investment pact between South Africa and Zimbabwe. AG 6. Tomana Impeaches Own Witness... The trial of Roy Bennett resumed on January 12 with AG Johannes Tomana telling the court that the testimony of his star witness Michael Peter Hitschmann was damaging the state case because it was inconsistent with statements made to authorities after his arrest. Hitschmann asked the court to accept his verbal testimony as the truth; he said his post-arrest statements were made under torture-which he described. Tomana admitted that without Hitschmann's torture-induced confessions linking him with Bennett, the state's quest to convict Bennett was a lost cause. The trial was adjourned to January 18 when Judge Bhunu is expected to rule on the admissibility of Hitschmann's post-arrest statements. 7. Hitschmann's Lawyer Mahlangu Acquitted... AG Johannes Tomana suffered an embarrassment on January 14 when Magistrate Archie Wochionga acquitted Histchmann's lawyer Mordecai Mahlangu of obstruction of justice charges. Wochionga ruled that the facts before him did not constitute a crime. Tomana ordered Mahlangu's arrest last year after the latter addressed a letter to the AG advising that Hitschmann had no evidence against Bennett. 8. Students Arrested While Protesting Fees... Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) President Joshua Chinyere, Secretary General Grant Tabvurei and five other Bindura University students were arrested on January 14 after staging a demonstration over high examination fees. Bindura University authorities have since postponed the examinations due to disruptions caused by the demonstrators. The arrested students are currently being detained at Bindura Central Police station waiting to appear before court within 48 hours after their arrest. Student groups described Zimbabwe's public universities fees of $400-$500 per semester as "extortion" considering civil servant salaries are around $150 per month. 9. Schools Re-open Amid Higher Fees and Threat of Strikes... Primary and secondary schools opened for a new school year on Tuesday, with fees and levies up an average of 50 percent in USD terms from the first term of 2009. On Wednesday, civil servants, including teachers, told the government they would go on strike in 14 days unless salaries are increased to US$600 per month, or four times their current wages. The government rejected the proposal and offered US$122 for the lowest paid worker and US$236 for the highest paid. Although teachers, at the urging of their unions, went back to school, many are refusing to teach until the salary dispute is resolved. -------------------------- On the Economic and Business Front -------------------------- 10. Banks Start Lending a Little Longer... As business confidence improves and bank deposits increase, two Zimbabwe Stock Qimproves and bank deposits increase, two Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed banks have started extending 180-day loans instead of the 90-day loans that are generally the norm. According to First Bank Limited, the increase in the tenure of the loans is in response to the needs of industry as well as the observed increase in total deposits from around US$200 million in February 2009 to about US$1.2 billion as of December 2009. Such loans attract interest rates of between 25 and 30 percent per year depending on the project being funded. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries believes that even six-month loans are inadequate for the needs of businesses. 11. Skills Shortage Jeopardizes Recovery... According to a report by the South African-based Center for Development and Enterprise, Zimbabwe's nascent economic recovery is threatened by a shortage of skills in a number of disciplines. Zimbabwe's economic meltdown of recent years resulted in a massive outmigration of skilled labor to HARARE 00000023 003.3 OF 003 neighboring countries. Most companies are reportedly recruiting skilled labor from abroad at higher costs in order to attract the requisite skills. 12. Farm Invasions Threaten Tobacco Recovery... The Zimbabwe Tobacco Association is casting doubts on Zimbabwe's ability to achieve the targeted tobacco output of 65 million kilograms this year primarily because of the on-going invasions of the remaining white-owned farms, especially in the Rusape district of Manicaland province. According to a report in the Zimbabwe Tobacco Today publication, about a third of the 50 farms currently under threat are major tobacco producers. 13. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on the Edge... A report in The Independent says that the central bank is on the brink of collapse, weighed down by huge debts and high operational costs arising from over-employment associated with the period of quasi-fiscal activities. Because the RBZ can no longer act as lender of last resort, it is now looking to the Ministry of Finance for funds. We expect Finance Minister Biti will insist on major reforms at the RBZ before he cuts any checks. -------------------------- Quotes of the Week -------------------------- 14. "Shut up and stick to business!" -- ZANU-PF co-chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution, Paul Mangwana, to war veterans' leader Joseph Chinotimba after veterans attempted to disrupt a meeting launching the outreach phase of the constitutional drafting process. RAY |