US embassy cable - 05HARARE347

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000347 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR BNEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVELLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ZI, March 05 Elections, ZANU-PF 
SUBJECT: MIDLANDS GOVERNOR ON ELECTIONS 
 
Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires, a.i. for reason 1.4 b/d 
 
1. (C) Summary: On February 22, ZANU-PF Midlands Governor 
Cephas Msipa told the Ambassador that this year,s elections 
would be less violent than past elections.  He predicted the 
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would retain 
only one or two of its five seats in the province. 
Responding to the Governor,s question about Zimbabwe,s 
classification as an &outpost of tyranny8, the Ambassador 
said that given its past of an independent judiciary and 
racial tolerance, Zimbabwe should aim for the highest 
standards.  Msipa said Zimbabwe had always been a one-party 
state and defended the GOZ noting the situation today was in 
fact better than it had ever been before.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
ELECTIONS 
---------- 
 
2. (C) Governor Msipa said the ruling ZANU-PF party was 
serious about conducting a non-violent election.  He cited 
the recent arrests of violent ZANU-PF youths as proof.  He 
also predicted that ZANU-PF would win all but one or two of 
Midlands, 16 parliamentary seats.  (N.B. The opposition 
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) currently holds five 
Parliament seats in Midlands).  He argues that with a 
one-party state again after the elections, the government 
would again feel secure and could concentrate on other 
issues.  The Ambassador countered that the problem was the 
GOZ,s unwillingness to accept a competitive political 
environment. 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador asked Msipa why he was so confident 
that ZANU-PF would win big in the province.  Msipa responded 
that Midlands was a largely rural area and that it was 
ZANU-PF that was feeding the people in rural areas. 
Moreover, ZANU-PF had close ties to local chiefs, whose 
position it had done much to improve, and the chiefs carried 
great influence with rural voters.  The MDC, by contrast, had 
no message for rural people and he would be surprised if they 
even tried to campaign in those areas.  The Ambassador noted 
that ZANU-PF also had many advantages as the ruling party. 
Msipa conceded the point, admitting that the electoral 
playing field was not level. 
 
4. (C) Msipa raised the Secretary,s criticism of Zimbabwe as 
an outpost of tyranny.  He said he thought Zimbabwe,s 
political climate was better than that of most African 
countries.  The Ambassador responded that Zimbabwe should 
hold itself to a higher standard than other African states. 
POSA, AIPPA, and the NGO Bill stood in stark contrast to 
Zimbabwe,s history of an outstanding judiciary and racial 
tolerance.  Msipa disagreed, claiming that Zimbabwe was freer 
today than in the 1980s, when ethnic tension between the 
Shona and Ndebele dominated the nations politics.  He added 
that the West was actually undermining the MDC with its 
support since most Zimbabweans were suspicious of the West,s 
motives. 
 
------------------- 
GENERAL CONDITIONS 
------------------- 
 
5. (C) Governor Msipa said Midlands had gone 8 weeks without 
rain.  He estimated that nearly 500,000 people in his 
province would require food assistance.  Farmers with no 
crops of their own were buying 100 20kg bags of maize meal 
each day from his farm.  However, the Grain Marketing Board 
(GMB) had stocks of grain and would be providing assistance 
to the province.  The Ambassador noted that the U.S. stood 
ready to assist with food aid pending permission from the 
GOZ.  Msipa replied that he would approve it immediately if 
he had the power to do so. 
 
6. (C) Msipa blamed Zimbabwe,s current economic ills on 
Western sanctions.  The Ambassador responded that this was a 
convenient excuse, but in fact bad economic policy had led to 
Zimbabwe,s dramatic decline. 
-------- 
COMMENT 
-------- 
7. (C) A relatively independent ZANU-PF politician, Governor 
Msipa was uncharacteristically frank about the need for food 
assistance.  No other ZANU-PF interlocutor has been as 
forthcoming about the need for food assistance.  Most have 
denied there is any problem at all.  A handful have gone so 
far as to admit a problem but have argued that the GOZ has 
the resources to address it.  Frankly, we doubt it.  Recent 
trips by the Ambassador and other Embassy officials to most 
areas of the country have revealed stunted crops with the 
April harvest only weeks away. 
 
8. (C) BIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Msipa is part Shona and part Ndebele. 
In 1981, he became Deputy Minister of Manpower Planning and 
then Minister of Water Resources and Development.  From 
1985-1995, he headed several parastatals including the GMB 
and the Cotton Marketing Board.  In 1995, he returned to 
government as the Minister for Indigenization.  In 2000, he 
was appointed Governor of Midlands.  He has two sons in the 
U.S., one studying at Tufts University and the other managing 
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,s (RBZ) Homelink program, 
through which the Zimbabwean diaspora can send remittances 
home to relatives, but in hard currency, through official 
channels, and converted to zimdollars at the GOZ,s bogus 
official rate. 
SCHULTZ