US embassy cable - 05HARARE703

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000703 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USAID FOR MARJORIE COPSON 
AF/S FOR D. MOZENA, B. NEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
USDOC FOR ROBERT TELCHIN 
TREASURY FOR OREN WYCHE-SHAW 
USTR FOR FLORIZELLE LISER 
US MISSION GENEVA FOR JOHN CHAMBERLIN 
USDOL FOR ROBERT YOUNG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, ECON, PHUM, ZI, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) 
SUBJECT: GOZ RAIDS ZCTU OFFICES 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell for reason 1.4 (b) and (d 
) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: Zimbabwean police raided Zimbabwe Congress 
of Trade Unions (ZCTU) offices on May 13, removing files and 
small amounts of foreign currency.  A renegade element of the 
Commercial Workers, Union of Zimbabwe (CWUZ) voted out ZCTU 
Vice President Lucia Matibenga as the union's President, a 
move that would strip her of eligibility as ZCTU Vice 
President.  She dismissed the move as illegal, however, and 
told the Embassy that a court order already enjoined the 
rogue element from further action.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe on May 16 
confirmed to Econoff media reports that 18 Zimbabwe Republic 
Police (ZRP) officers raided ZCTU headquarters on May 13. 
Solidarity Center Representative Fisseha Tekie told the 
Embassy the same day that the ZRP took files from several 
ZCTU departments along with US$30 cash and some Euros. 
Chibebe alleged that the GOZ wanted to arrest the current 
ZCTU leadership and send a more sympathetic labor delegation 
to the June International Labor Organization (ILO) conference 
in Geneva.  However, so far no arrests of ZCTU leadership 
have been reported. 
 
3. (C) In a related development, the GOZ-controlled Herald 
reported on May 16 that the Commercial Workers, Union of 
Zimbabwe (CWUZ) over the weekend removed ZCTU 1st 
Vice-President Lucia Matibenga as its President and installed 
new leadership.  (N.B. if true, according to ZCTU rules, 
Matibenga could no longer be ZCTU 1st Vice-President.) 
However, Matibenga told Econoff May 16 that three CWUZ staff 
members under suspension for financial malfeasance along with 
ZANU-PF activists had broken into CWUZ offices and elected a 
new leadership without a quorum and with non-union members 
voting. 
 
4. (C) Matibenga and CWUZ General Secretary Edwell Taringa 
both stated that they had a court injunction to prevent the 
&new8 CWUZ leadership from conducting union business. 
Taringa speculated that the &new8 leadership would attempt 
to leave the ZCTU and join the GOZ-sponsored Zimbabwe 
Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU).  As the ZCTU,s largest 
union (its 41,100 membership is as large as the next five 
largest unions combined), this would prove a major blow to 
the ZCTU.  However, Taringa was confident that the workers 
would rather disassociate themselves from CWUZ than join ZFTU. 
 
5. (C) Comment:  The GOZ is subjecting ZCTU to a tried and 
true tactic that has been quite successful against other 
regime critics ) disabling it through a comprehensive 
campaign of harassment.  Even if Chibebe, Matibenga and 
others successfully resist efforts to dislodge them, their 
absorption with defending themselves leaves the union little 
energy for other objectives.   The ILO meetings in Geneva 
next month will offer an important opportunity to muster 
international support for ZCTU, especially from COSATU. 
DELL