US embassy cable - 04HARARE716

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000716 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, D. TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
DS/OP/AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, ASEC, ZI, MDC 
SUBJECT: CONTROVERSIAL MDC MP JOB SIKHALA ARRESTED AFTER 
INTRA-MDC CLASHES 
 
REF: HARARE 693 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
1. (U) On April 25, police arrested Job Sikhala, MDC MP for 
St. Mary's (a high-density suburb of Harare) and five of his 
supporters.  Three were released without charge on April 27, 
but Sikhala and two others were still in custody on April 28. 
 Sikhala was arrested at his house in St. Mary's after his 
supporters attacked MDC supporters loyal to Tendekayi Mswata, 
MDC Provincial Youth Chair for Chitungwiza (a large 
high-density area encompassing St. Mary's), at a funeral in 
Zengeza (near St. Mary's).  In the skirmish MDC youths loyal 
to Mswata, Enoch Tawonezvi and Chirimudondo Mabviegudo, were 
both stabbed, not fatally, and shots were fired.  Mswata 
loyalists had attacked Sikhala loyalists with knives and 
batons at Sikhala's home on April 23.  During that incident 
Sikhala supporter Marata was stabbed and was still in the 
hospital on April 28.  Mswata said he intends to seek the 
MDC's nomination to contest the St. Mary's parliamentary seat 
in the March 2005 elections and is reportedly supported by 
the MDC National Chairman and other high-level MDC officials. 
 
2. (C) A controversial figure by any standards, Sikhala has 
been in the news recently for publicly attacking MDC 
President Morgan Tsvangirai over MDC elections strategy.  He 
is widely despised within the leadership structures of the 
MDC for his confrontational, maverick, agitator style and for 
publicly refusing to support party initiatives with which he 
does not agree.  An MDC official said recently, however, that 
he is popular among the people for his confrontational public 
statements.  There are rumors circulating that he plans to 
form his own political party and run for the St. Mary's seat 
on a separate ticket, should he lose the MDC's nomination to 
Mswata.  (Comment:  The MDC selects candidates via a 
nominating process within its party structures.  Mswata has a 
good chance of obtaining the party's nomination.  End 
Comment.) 
 
3. (C) COMMENT:  That prospective MDC MP candidates have 
pitted MDC supporters against one another speaks to a host of 
problems facing an opposition under stress: growing 
internecine rifts, unraveling discipline, and the dearth of 
qualified people in the mid-level leadership.  Sikhala has 
been arrested at least fifteen times in the past two years 
and was tortured by GOZ authorities in January 2003.  That he 
was arrested and detained again now is another signal from 
the GOZ that being an MDC MP is hazardous business (Ref), 
whether struggling against the ruling party or within the 
opposition. 
SULLIVAN