US embassy cable - 05HARARE1038

C O N F I D E N T I A L  HARARE 001038 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ZI 
SUBJECT: GOZ CONTINUES ATTACK ON MUNICIPALITIES 
 
REF: A. HARARE 944 
 
     B. 2004 HARARE 2035 
     C. 2004 HARARE 682 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Eric T. Schultz under Section 1 
.4 b/d 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) The GOZ suspended the MDC mayor of Mutare on July 22, 
ostensibly for misusing public funds.  However, the mayor 
told us July 28 that showing the UN Special Envoy the areas 
of Mutare affected by Operation Restore Order was the real 
reason for his suspension.  Meanwhile, the GOZ ordered 
restored to his position a town clerk dismissed for 
embezzlement by the MDC-led council of Chitungwiza. 
Chitungwiza,s mayor told us he expected to hear news of his 
own suspension in the near future.  End Summary. 
 
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Mutare Mayor Suspended 
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2. (C) The GOZ announced the suspension of MDC Mayor of 
Mutare M.T. Kagurabadza at a national conference for chiefs 
on July 22.  According to the July 27 edition of 
government-sponsored Herald newspaper, Local Government 
Minister Ignatius Chombo suspended Kagurabadza and other top 
officials on the MDC-dominated Mutare council for misusing 
public funds.  The Herald article quoted Local Government 
Deputy Secretary Jacob Chikuruwo that Kagurabadza had 
borrowed funds to purchase two garbage vehicles and a 
Mercedes Benz for himself without authority from the Ministry 
to seek the loans. 
 
3. (C) On July 28, Kagurabadza told poloff the real reason 
for his suspension was for showing UN Special Envoy Anna 
Tibaijuka the living conditions in the high-density suburb of 
Sakubva, where tens of thousands were displaced after the 
GOZ,s Operation Restore Order (ref A), before the GOZ could 
clear the area out.  Kagurabadza said the council did 
purchase four garbage vehicles, three ambulances, and five 
trucks for use by council members in carrying out their 
duties but that they did so under a lease to buy agreement 
and did not require the authority of the Ministry to do so. 
He said that Mutare had had no garbage trucks or ambulances 
at all before the MDC-dominated council took office. 
 
4. (C) On July 26, the Herald reported a demonstration of 
about 100 residents of Mutare calling on the Government to 
fire the entire council.  Kagurabadza said the demonstrators 
were not residents of Mutare but rather people brought in by 
the Government specifically for the purpose of demonstrating 
against the council.  The residents of Mutare did not oppose 
him or the council because they knew what their elected 
officials had done for the city. 
 
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Chitungwiza Mayor at Risk 
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5. (C) On July 25, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported that 
Chombo had reinstated Chitungwiza town clerk Simbarashe 
Mudunge, whom the MDC-led Chitungwiza council had suspended 
for misuse of funds intended for a sewer project.  Chombo 
declared the allegations baseless and said the council had no 
authority to suspend Mudunge.  MDC mayor of Chitungwiza 
Misheck Shoko told the Embassy,s cultural officer on July 25 
that he expected to hear news of his own suspension or firing 
any day for daring to suspend a town clerk favored by Chombo. 
 Shoko seemed resigned to the probability of his impending 
removal from office and expressed no confidence in the legal 
system as a means of fighting it. 
 
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Comment 
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6. (C) These actions by the Ministry of Local Government 
continue a pattern of GOZ interference with MDC-led municipal 
governments, the most notable of which was the firing of the 
MDC mayor of Harare, Elias Mudzuri, and several of the MDC 
council members and appointment of a commission to run Harare 
in 2004 (ref B).  The ruling party has had it in for 
Kagurabadza for some time; it engineered a lengthy siege of 
his office last year in an attempt to drive him from office 
(ref C).  It has also staged disruptive demonstrations 
against and tried to bribe other MDC mayors.  The GOZ has 
also denied fair pay to many MDC mayors (capping the Kariba 
mayor's pay at less than US$100 month, for example) and 
systematically denied sustainable municipal rate structures 
in most MDC-controlled cities.  The municipal level has been 
the one level where the MDC has been effective in getting 
leaders elected and the Government has missed no opportunity 
to thwart the effectiveness of the opposition,s elected 
officials. 
SCHULTZ 
 
 
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