US embassy cable - 05HARARE1238

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001238 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, ZI, Parliamentary Affairs 
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS SAIL THROUGH PARLIAMENT 
 
REF: HARARE 001156 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Parliament passed the Constitution of Zimbabwe 
Amendment (17) Bill on August 30 by a vote of 103 to 29.  The 
immediate impact of the 17th revision to the 1979 Lancaster 
House constitution will be: to cement the GOZ,s acquisition 
of commercial farmland; to grant the government authority to 
revoke the passports of opponents; and to recreate a 
66-member Senate.  According to critics, the amendments 
strengthen ZANU-PF,s hand against the opposition and provide 
an opportunity for the GOZ to expand its patronage network. 
End Summary 
 
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Amendments Breeze Through 
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2. (U) Parliament on August 30 approved the much-anticipated 
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (17) Bill, after three 
readings (reftel).  The GOZ assembled 103 votes in favor of 
the amendments, surpassing the constitutional requirement 
that two-thirds of the 150-member body vote affirmatively. 
Meanwhile, the 28 MDC legislators who were present in 
parliament for the vote, plus Independent MP Jonathan Moyo 
voted against.  After the bill,s passage, ZANU-PF MPs broke 
into song and dance, chanting &ZANU-PF has won.8  The bill 
now awaits Mugabe,s signature. 
 
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Immediate Impact: Undercutting Economy, Opponents( 
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3.  (C) The most controversial amendment grants title to the 
government of all farmland acquired in the past under the 
land reform program and any land that may be acquired in the 
future as of the date that the land is gazetted.  It also 
removes the right of landowners whose land has been acquired 
to challenge the acquisition in court.  Landowners, only 
remaining judicial recourse is to the administrative court to 
challenge compensation to be paid for their improvements to 
the land, not for the land itself.  To implement the new 
arrangement, the GOZ has announced its intention to issue 
99-year leases that can be inherited but not otherwise 
transferred without government permission, but these 
long-term leases are not provided for in the constitution. 
 
4. (C) The constitutional amendment also grants the GOZ the 
ability to confiscate the passport of any Zimbabwean if the 
government suspects they have the intent to engage in 
activities detrimental to &the national interest.8  In a 
thinly veiled reference to MDC leaders, Legal and 
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa told 
reporters after the bill,s passage it was unpatriotic for 
Zimbabweans to travel the world on a Zimbabwean passport 
asking for a military invasion or the imposition of 
sanctions.  MDC legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, 
who represents the Glen Norah district in Harare, told poloff 
on August 31 that she expected she and other MDC legislators 
would have their passports revoked should they attempt to 
travel abroad.  Misihairabwi-Mushonga said that the amendment 
was deliberately vague, granting the GOZ wide powers to 
intimidate opponents.  (N.B. We understand the potential 
restraint on travel of its citizens may bring the GOZ into 
conflict with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.) 
 
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(Widening Patronage System With &Useless8 Senate 
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5. (C) The constitutional amendment also reintroduces a 
66-member Senate, a body which staffers of SUNY,s 
parliamentary program in Zimbabwe told the Ambassador on 
August 31 has no apparent function but to enlarge the GOZ,s 
opportunities for favoritism.  The staffers reported that the 
Senate had no power of veto.  Although Senators have the 
authority to propose legislation, the staffers speculated 
that, as with the existing Parliament, virtually all bills 
would originate from the executive branch.  ZANU-PF 
legislator and member of parliament,s budget committee 
Charles Majange, who represents Chivi South in Masvingo, told 
poloff on August 31 that planning for Senate elections had 
already begun but that the government had yet to allocate 
adequate funding to set up the new body.  A visit to the 
parliament building revealed that even basic considerations, 
such as office space in the already cramped building, had yet 
to be contemplated. 
 
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Comment 
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6. (C) Designed to remove the final obstacle to GOZ land 
reform, the nationalization of farmland and squelching of 
judicial appeal in land cases will clear a huge backlog of 
pending litigation over past land acquisitions.  The GOZ, 
however, may find a tougher row to hoe ahead.  First, it will 
be under considerable pressure now to finalize allocations 
under land reform, which will likely intensify intraparty 
fights already growing over land claims.  With national land 
ownership, ZANU-PF cadres may soon see land being taken and 
allocated only to be reallocated again and again as 
individuals fall out of favor with the party hierarchy. 
Moreover, the party has sold these measures as empowering the 
new farmer.  Without transferable title, though, the new 
farmers will find capital still inaccessible, leaving them 
dependent as ever on the bankrupt GOZ and its mismanaged 
command and control measures for inputs.  Indeed, GOZ 
propaganda characterizing these measures as the last chapter 
on land reform will not stem wide disenchantment with the 
ruling party's management of land reform.  Ironically, having 
consciously pursued the land-related amendments to bolster 
party patronage, these provisions may soon magnify the 
patronage system's growing weakness and drive new wedges into 
the party. 
DELL