US embassy cable - 02HARARE1745

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001745 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2012 
TAGS: ECON, EFIN, PGOV, PHUM, ASEC, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: MUGABE'S RECENT REMARKS TROUBLING - RULE 
OF LAW AND FINANCIAL SECTOR UNDER ATTACK 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer A. Besmer for reasons 1.5(b), (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  On July 25, President Mugabe went on record 
saying that the State would defy court judgments with which 
it did not agree.  He also said gays were worse than pigs and 
dogs, warning Parliament against recognizing homosexual 
marriages.  In a previous July 23 speech at the opening of 
Parliament Mugabe had two major themes--devaluation is dead, 
and land reform is the key to growth.  He proposed various 
spending programs in the agriculture, legal and health 
sectors, but perhaps most troubling, the creation of a 
centralized Financial Services Authority which would tighten 
his grip on the banking sector.  In an address to the 
Zimbabwe Nurses Association on July 27, he lambasted Britain 
for stealing Zimbabwe's health workers.  Mugabe's remarks 
promise an intensification of economic central planning and 
its destructive consequences, as Britain continues to bear 
the rhetorical blame for all of Zimbabwe's woes.  End Summary 
 
2. (U) Alluding to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa's 
recent conviction on contempt of court charges, President 
Mugabe said in a July 25 speech at a reception he hosted for 
the opening of Parliament, "if they (judges) are not 
objective, don't blame us when we defy them."  In the same 
address, Mugabe said that, "we will respect judges where the 
judgments are true judgments," and "when a judge sits alone 
in his house or with his wife and says 'this one is guilty of 
contempt' that judgment should never be obeyed."  The 
President went on to say that, "They (judges) are ordinary 
people, mortals with ordinary flesh who get drunk if they 
drink at all.  So we expect them to be objective." 
 
3. (U) Then he launched into a typical diatribe against 
homosexuality, apparently using the opportunity to refute 
indirectly recent rumors about the sexual orientation of one 
of his cabinet members.  "When I say gays are worse than dogs 
and pigs, I really meant it because pigs don't do unnatural 
things.  Let not our Parliament ever entertain that the 
unnatural must be made natural. ...I cannot appreciate that a 
whole Parliament can decide that Robert Mugabe and Joseph 
Msika can get married.  I certainly appreciate that which is 
natural.  I don't think the mission of human beings is to do 
unnatural things." 
 
4. (U) In his earlier July 23 speech at the opening ceremony 
of Parliament, Mugabe blamed British "machinations" and the 
drought for Zimbabwe's economic woes.  He also criticized the 
banking sector for instability and hindering growth: "The 
much-anticipated agrarian-led economic revival cannot take 
place for as long as our financial sector continues to be 
completely unstable.  Our banking institutions have to be 
shaken into realizing the harm they are doing to the economy 
through rampant indiscipline.  The parallel market of our 
financial, or is it money market has to be brought under 
immediate control. ...a run-away exchange rate cannot be the 
way to the recovery of our economy. ...We accordingly need to 
cause greater production of exportables, especially our major 
earners of foreign currency... ...through various export 
promotion schemes, including incentives.  ...Devaluation is 
thus dead!" 
 
5. (U) At the Parliamentary ceremony, Mugabe said Zimbabwe 
would accept humanitarian aid, but he criticized 
international "sinister interests" for exacerbating 
Zimbabwe's vulnerability, and threatening its sovereignty 
under cover of humanitarian involvement.  Linking food 
security to land reform, he said, "as part of our effort to 
find a lasting solution to food security, the implementation 
of the Agrarian Reform Programme has been our highest 
priority..." 
 
6. (U) In his July 23 remarks, Mugabe expressed delight that 
a Value Added Tax (VAT) bill had been introduced in 
Parliament, noting that the VAT would enable tax collection 
at each stage of production.  Correspondingly, he advanced 
various proposals to spend VAT revenue including an earmarked 
ZWD$8.5 billion (USD$12 million) for "tillage, crop and 
livestock input support to our newly resettled farmers for 
the next agricultural season."  He suggested unspecified 
spending for "Soldiers Engaged in Economic Development" 
(SEED) to clear landmines from land to be used for 
settlement, unspecified spending to build border posts at 
three locations in the northwest and east frontiers of the 
country, unspecified spending for a legal aid scheme, 
unspecified spending for satellite schools utilizing existing 
farm homesteads, sheds and barns for children of "new 
farmers", and unspecified spending for HIV/Aids prevention, 
counseling and testing. 
 
7. (U) Mugabe proposed to centralize under a Financial 
Services Authority the existing Commissioner of Insurance, 
Registrar of Banking Institutions, Registrar of Building 
Societies, Registrar of Stock Exchange, Registrar of 
Collective Investment Schemes, and Registrar of Pension and 
Provident Funds.  In addition he proposed to amend the 
education act to appoint civil servants to head every school 
whether public, religious, or private, a proposal which 
subsequently elicited significant criticism. 
 
8. (U) At the Zimbabwe Nurses' Association's 19th Annual 
General Meeting in Chinoyi on July 27 Mugabe castigated 
Britain for "coming at the dead of night to steal our people 
(pharmacists, doctors and nurses)," even though "We have 
created an environment that allows that upliftment of nurses." 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
9. (C) Mugabe's comments confirm that he has no intention of 
veering from his current destructive path.  It is clear that 
sound economic policy-making will continue to be sacrificed 
on the altar of politics, so long as Mugabe remains at the 
helm.  We will watch closely whether establishment of the 
proposed Financial Services Authority nudges Zimbabwe ever 
closer to a command economy.  Mugabe's public comments were 
noteworthy as well for his refusal to take any responsibility 
for this country's political and economic crises, preferring 
instead to blame his favorite whipping boy, Britain. 
 
10. (C) Mugabe's remarks on the Judiciary on July 23 were the 
first time he has explicitly vowed to ignore court rulings he 
does not deem impartial or objective, although he has done so 
de facto for the past three years.  His speech was 
nonetheless the most compelling example to date of the GOZ's 
contempt for basic rule of law.  We would suggest quoting 
Mugabe's precise words as presidential affirmation that the 
Mugabe Government will no longer accept the rule of law.  End 
Comment. 
SULLIVAN