US embassy cable - 03HARARE2253

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR S. DELISI, M. RAYNOR 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, D. TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, ZI 
SUBJECT: PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR SHUFFLE SHOWS SOME HEAT, 
LITTLE MOVEMENT 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton under Section 1.5(b)(d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: The recent appointment of four new provincial 
governors reflects factional infighting that so far appears 
unlikely to yield any meaningful shift in government policy. 
The appointments are part of an anticipated broader personnel 
shake-up that will underscore President Mugabe's full control 
of the party but could hold potential implications for 
factional balances of power and succession.  The new 
governors, one of whom is a general, are a mixed bag who all 
can be expected to adhere strictly to the party line.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) In early November, the GOZ announced the appointment 
of new governors in Manicaland (Major General Michael 
Nyambuya replacing Oppah Muchinguri), Mashonaland West 
(Nelson Samkange replacing Peter Chanetsa), Matabeleland 
South (Angeline Masuku filling the vacancy left by Stephen 
Nkomo's death in April), and Mashonaland Central (Ephraim 
Masawi taking over for Elliott Manyika).  David Karimanzira 
of Mashonaland East, Josaya Hungwe of Masvingo, Cephas Msipa 
of Midlands, and Obert Mpofu of Matabeleland North were 
reappointed to their respective governor posts.  All 
appointments are scheduled to be for two years and take 
effect December 1. 
 
3.  (C) The most interesting of the appointments appears to 
have been in Manicaland, historically an anti-establishment 
hotbed and home to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and 
ruling party "dissident" ex-Finance Minister Simba Makoni. 
In recent weeks, independent press reported bitter feuding 
between Muchinguri and Party External Relations Secretary and 
senior politburo member Didymus Mutasa in the run-up to 
December's national conference.  Muchinguri and Mutasa 
reportedly were backing rival candidates in provincial party 
elections.  Muchinguri's dismissal suggests the ascendancy of 
the abrasive hard-liner Mutasa, who is widely reputed to be 
posturing for a vice-presidential slot, and  Manicaland 
native and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary 
Affairs Patrick Chinamasa, who during campaign stumping for 
the August municipal elections admonished provincial party 
faithful for not being sufficiently loyal.  Muchinguri, a 
relative moderate, will retain her own politburo seat and may 
yet exert influence on the provincial membership's posture at 
the the December national conference. 
 
4.  (C) The naming of General Nyambuya conforms to a trend of 
growing military presence in political circles.  While the 
specific rationale behind Nyambuya's appointment are 
uncertain (aside from his close association with Chinamasa), 
the appointment of military figures generally can further two 
objectives for the ruling party.  First, it mutes (though 
does not eliminate) objections from factions disappointed not 
to place one of their own in a particular job.  In addition, 
it may serve to foster better relations between the party and 
the military -- an increasingly disaffected institution that 
potentially poses the greatest threat to ruling party 
control. 
 
5.  (C) Chanetsa and Manyika had been fingered publicly for 
taking more than one farm in violation of the terms of the 
government's land reform program, but whether this was the 
reason for their dismissal is unclear.  The fact that Hungwe 
and Mpofu, who retained their provincial governorships, also 
were publicly revealed to have more than one farm suggests 
there were other reasons.  Chanetsa may have been axed in 
part as a sop to South Africa, whose High Commissioner had 
been detained and threatened by settlers while visiting a 
Mash West farm owned by a South African.  Manyika's ouster 
will allow him to devote more time to his portfolio as 
Minister of Youth Development, Gender, and Employment. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT: This tranche of personnel changes is 
symptomatic of some ferment in the ruling party, with 
factions and individuals jockeying for position against a 
backdrop of possible leadership succession.  A new experience 
for the party, prospective succession (however far off) may 
sharpen internecine frictions and heighten the 
unpredictability of the situation.  Nonetheless, all 
intra-party maneuvering is undertaken in the context of 
Mugabe's continued make-or-break power throughout the party. 
Indeed, the common denominator among this diverse group of 
new governors is a presumed unswerving allegiance to the 
ruling party and its leader.  That new Mat South Governor 
Masuku (who actually hails from Mat North) heard about her 
appointment on the radio without being informed personally 
highlights the unquestioned subordination of the individual 
to the party interest. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT (CONT'D): The government may try to project 
personnel changes to the international community 
(particularly Commonwealth interlocutors on the advent of the 
December in Abuja) as precursors to meaningful political 
reform.  However, "political reform" in any form is not 
likely to be discussed realistically within the ruling party 
until it works out its own succession end game -- an 
uncertain exercise with no conclusion in sight.  END COMMENT. 
 
8. Bio notes on the new governors follow: 
 
-- (U) Major General Michael Nyambuya has been with the 
Zimbabwe National Army for 23 years.  Nyambuya began his 
military career in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation 
Army (the military wing of ZANU during the liberation 
struggle).  He served in the United Nations Angola 
Verification Mission II (May 1991-February 1995) in Angola 
for two years where he was Senior Liaison Officer to the 
People,s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), 
Deputy Chief Military Observer, and Acting Chief Military 
Observer.  Nyambuya also served in Somalia as the Deputy 
Force Commander with the United Nations Operation in Somalia. 
 Nyambuya led UN peacekeeping forces in Angola and the 
Zimbabwe troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
Nyambuya holds a diploma in public administration from the 
University of Zimbabwe. 
 
(C) Nyambuya is a strong ZANU-PF supporter and is closely 
linked to Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs 
Patrick Chinamasa.  According to a Chinamasa family friend, 
Nyambuya offered Chinamasa the services of junior army 
officers to help farm his wife,s newly acquired farm in 
Manicaland.  In return, Chinamasa ensured that Nyambuya 
received a farm adjacent to the one that Mrs. Chinamasa 
acquired. 
 
-- (U) Nelson Samkange is the former chairman for Zimbabwe 
Newspapers. A journalist by profession, Samkange attended the 
University of Zimbabwe where he obtained a degree in 
economics.  He left the country in 1964 and was appointed a 
tourism attach based in London after independence.  He 
returned home in 1985 and assumed the position of director of 
marketing for the Zimbabwe Tourist Development Corporation. 
He is related to President Mugabe. 
 
-- (SBU) Angeline Masuku is a former MP for Luveve 
constituency, a high density suburb of Bulawayo, and is the 
Secretary for the Disabled and Disadvantaged on the ZANU-PF 
 
SIPDIS 
Politburo.  A teacher by profession, she has a reputation for 
being a strong advocate for women and children,s rights and 
has cultivated a group of women active in informal banking 
and other entrepreneurial activities.  Masuku is reported to 
be someone who works well with others. 
 
(SBU) She was an active member of ZAPU in the 1960s. 
Politically, she appears to have been overshadowed by the 
memory of her late husband Lieutenant General Lookout Masuku, 
who was one of the senior ZAPU officials.  He was arrested in 
the mid-1980s under trumped up treason charges and detained 
together with former minister Dumiso Dabengwa for a few 
years.  He died under mysterious circumstances after being 
released from prison and was declared a national hero. 
 
-- (U) Ephraim Masawi is a former MP for Mbare West.  During 
his term as MP, Masawi was actively involved in all issues 
concerning his constituency.  He is a strong youth activist, 
a passion he shares with his predecessor Border Gezi. 
 
SULLIVAN