US embassy cable - 03HARARE1931

UNCLAS HARARE 001931 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR DELISI, RAYNOR 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ZI 
SUBJECT: DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT MUZENDA 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
1.  (U) The GOZ officially announced the passing on September 
20 of Vice-President Simon Muzenda.  The death of the 
81-year-old ZANU-PF Politburo member from Masvingo province, 
who had been critically ill for weeks, was not unexpected. 
Government sources announced publicly that the Politburo will 
meet September 21 to finalize a burial date but have said 
nothing about a replacement. 
 
2.  (SBU) COMMENT: The Constitution commits the appointment 
of the country's two vice-presidents (Joseph Msika is the 
other) to the President.  In making such an appointment, 
Mugabe would have to weigh carefully the various and 
potentially fragile geographic, ethnic, and tribal balances 
within the party.  No candidate appears to address relevant 
balances satisfactorily and making an appointment in the near 
term could complicate evolving succession plans within the 
party.  Accordingly, with the Party Congress less than three 
months away, Mugabe is unlikely to be in a hurry to fill the 
slot.  Reported efforts by the party to begin disciplinary 
hearings against Eddison Zvobgo, a ZANU-PF luminary from 
Masvingo who broke ranks with the leadership in recent years, 
may signal party anxieties about rank-and-file loyalties in 
the late Vice-President's backyard. 
SULLIVAN