US embassy cable - 03HARARE1782

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001782 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, A/S KANSTEINER AND PDAS SNYDER; AF/S FOR 
DELISI AND RAYNOR 
NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FRAZER 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EAID, ZI 
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF STATE NKOMO ON INTERPARTY TALKS: HASTE 
MAKES WASTE 
 
REF: A) HARARE 1711 B) PRETORIA 4820 
 
Classified By: DCM REWHITEHEAD DUE TO 1.5 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (c) Summary.  The Ambassador met with Minister of State 
for Special Affairs John Nkomo on September 10 as a follow up 
to last month's meeting (ref a).  The talks centered on 
HIV/AIDS programs, the role of NGOs in distributing 
humanitarian food assistance, the status of interparty 
dialogue, and a snippet on ZANU-PF internal mechanisms. 
Nkomo was long on bonhomie but short on substance.  His take 
on interparty dialogue -- there is no hurry here -- was not 
reassuring.  We should consider how we can best use the South 
Africans to prod the GOZ to speed up its go-slow approach to 
political reconciliation.  End summary. 
 
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Mopane Junction 
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2.  (sbu) Nkomo kicked off the meeting by expressing GOZ 
appreciation for the USG's "mildly positive" statement on the 
recent mayoral and urban council elections.  The Ambassador 
responded that our goal for any statement is objectivity.  He 
turned the conversation to Mopane Junction, a popular 
USAID-funded radio serial dealinig with HIV/AIDS issues that 
was peremptorily taken off the air by the Ministry of 
Information (MOI) two months ago.  The Ambassador reported 
that there were positive indications that the MOI would 
relent and resume Mopane Junction broadcasts in October. 
Nkomo said that strong support from the Minister of Health 
had turned the tide and commented that "the troubled waters" 
had complicated this issue, referring to an embassy press 
release critical of the MOI decision.  The Ambassador replied 
that we had taken a patient approach to the MOI decision and 
had gone public only as a last resort.  The important thing 
was that the program would be back on the air.  Nkomo 
assented. 
 
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Humanitarian Food Aid 
--------------------- 
 
3.  (sbu) The Ambassador recounted the meeting (ref a) in 
which Minister of Labor and Social Welfare July Moyo had 
assured House staffer Malik Chaka that there would be no 
changes in food distribution procedures this year.  Moyo had 
passed similar assurances to WFP/UNDP in separate meetings. 
It was a fact, however, that the written policy from his 
ministry did not say this.  We had also received reports of 
NGOs being "strongly warned" about their field activities. 
WFP was presently negotiating an MOU with the ministry, and 
we hoped that it would reflect a continued central role for 
NGOs that respected the need for distributing food on an 
impartial basis. 
 
4.  (sbu) Nkomo replied that President Mugabe had repeatedly 
assured WFP Director James Morris that food distribution 
would be impartial.  He added the caveat that some NGOs had 
in the past not respected "understandings" with the 
government.  They hired representatives with their own 
agendas who were not always properly behaved.  The Ambassador 
said that in practice food distribution on the ground so far 
looked like last year's.  We hoped that it would remain so. 
Nkomo asked that the donors report when and where problems 
crop up -- the GOZ could be of help.  The Ambassador agreed 
that we should work together to assure that no local 
government official or individual NGO employee deviates from 
the criteria of providing food to those who most need it. 
 
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Interparty Dialogue 
------------------- 
 
5.  (c) The Ambassador recalled reassuring statements Nkomo 
had made (ref a) on the dialogue, a comment that sent Nkomo 
into a convoluted circumlocution, the bottom line being that 
"fast-tracking can be hazardous."  The Ambassador observed 
that this could well be said of the land redistribution 
exercise.  Nkomo pressed on that he had explained to the 
Ambassador that there was not yet in place any formalized 
structures.  There were teams on both sides seeking to define 
structures that would eventually permit issues to be 
collated.  He stressed that this should be the central focus 
of the dialogue; an MDC/ZANU-PF merger should not be the 
focus. 
 
6.  (c) Nkomo continued that it would be necessary to address 
root causes and not dwell on the symptoms, as in the past. 
Pre-eminent issues should be brought to the forefront.  He 
noted that the constitution was under debate by both sides 
and stated that this was a proper starting point.  The 
Ambassador asked if the mechanism for transition to a 
government operating under a new constitution would be one 
constitutional issue under examination.  Nkomo dithered, 
noting that general elections were only a year away, 
obviating the need to focus on transition arrangements.  The 
Ambassador replied that the elections were in fact scheduled 
for 2005.  Nkomo said that in addition to discussing the 
constitution, the dialogue would ideally result in 
identifying and correcting past abuses.  He was encouraged by 
new laws that explicitly recognized the existence of the 
opposition.  The atmosphere was much improved,  In fact, he 
expansively noted, when the environment came right, he 
suspected that neither side would find that there was much to 
talk about. The Ambassador asked Nkomo what the timing for 
all this might be.  Nkomo dithered further and concluded that 
the constitution was a good starting point. 
 
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Developments in ZANU-PF 
----------------------- 
 
7.  (sbu) The Ambassador queried Nkomo on the significance of 
announced internal ZANU-PF elections in advance of the 
December party congress: party districts in September, 
district coordinating committees in October, and provincial 
level elections in November.  (Note.  One independent 
newspaper optimistically attempted to portray these as a 
prelude to Mugabe's retirement in the near future.  End 
note.)  Nkomo explained these as an upward cascade that would 
eventually lead to the election of the most senior officials, 
including the party presidency.  Nkomo noted that major 
migrations within Zimbabwe have wreaked havoc with local 
party structures.  The upcoming elections would rectify this. 
 Presidential Secretary Willard Chiwewe and an MFA official 
backstopped Nkomo; the DCM accompanied the Ambassador. 
 
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Comment 
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8.  (c) We score Nkomo 9.8 on form and 2 on substance.  His 
comments, unfocused as they were, seemed to confirm MDC 
President Morgan Tsvangirai's concerns, reported septel, that 
ZANU-PF is in no hurry to press ahead with the interparty 
dialogue.  We are getting hints from numerous ZANU-PF sources 
that 2005 is the soonest that any significant change might 
take place.  This is obviously not acceptable from either an 
economic or a social point of view.  We believe that it would 
be worthwhile to suggest to the South Africans in our 
pre-UNGA consultations (ref b) the need for them to prod the 
GOZ to move much more expeditiously toward meaningful 
dialogue with MDC as the best way to break the political 
impasse. 
SULLIVAN