US embassy cable - 03HARARE137

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000137 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2013 
TAGS: PREL, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZVOBGO-AMBASSADOR MEETING 
 
REF: HARARE 64 
 
Classified By: political section chief Matt Harrington.  Reasons: 1.5 ( 
B) and (D). 
 
 1.  (C) ZANU-PF elder statesman Eddison Zvobgo told the 
Ambassador January 15 that he preferred to keep his upcoming 
trip to the U.S. focused primarily on personal business but, 
at the Ambassador's suggestion, he agreed to consider 
stopping in Washington.  Zvobgo discussed a faction within 
the ruling party that wants Mugabe to resign, and named 
General Solomon Mujuru and former Finance Minister Simba 
Makoni as two of its most prominent members.  He said his 
group planned to press for an extraordinary party congress to 
deal with the national crisis and succession issues, and 
solicited support for the group's efforts.  Zimbabwe, Zvobgo 
believed, cannot survive another two years with Mugabe at the 
helm without suffering irreparable damage.  End Summary. 
 
FOOD 
---- 
 
2.  (C) On January 15, Amb and Poloff met with Eddison 
Zvobgo, an elder statesman in the ruling party who has been 
estranged from President Mugabe since 2000, to discuss the 
political and economic future of Zimbabwe and ZANU-PF. 
 
3.  Zvobgo lamented the deteriorating food situation and 
commented that he had had to intervene on behalf of some of 
his constituents/staff to procure corn from the Grain 
Marketing Board (GMB).  Zvobgo told us that he had only 
received 100 packets of corn meal yesterday, several weeks 
after he contacted the GMB. 
 
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TRIP TO THE US 
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4.  (C) Ambassador noted Zvobgo's planned trip to the U.S. 
and suggested that Zvobgo stop in Washington.  Zvobgo at 
first did not seem amenable to a Washington stop, stating 
that he planned to go to Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago to 
visit old friends but had not planned on pursuing a political 
agenda.  He told us that he prefers to denounce and criticize 
the government and ZANU-PF from within Zimbabwe thereby 
exercising his rights of free speech.  Furthermore, he said 
he did not see the point in such meetings in Washington as 
the situation in Zimbabwe is debilitating.  The Ambassador 
assured him that the meetings would not be public but 
discreet.  In the end, Zvobgo agreed to discuss the utility 
of such meetings with his wife and would let us know his 
decision.  (NOTE: As reported reftel, Zvobgo previously told 
poloff January 9 that he was traveling to the United States 
in part to raise support for a rival faction within ZANU-PF. 
END NOTE.) 
 
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PARTY DISSENSION 
---------------- 
 
5.  (C) Zvobgo reiterated his earlier assertion to Poloff 
that there exists a faction within the party that wants 
Mugabe to resign.  The Ambassador asked who else was 
involved.  Zvobgo named Solomon Mujuru, Simba Makoni, 
Shadreck Beta from Manicaland, and a "Murerwa from Harare." 
(Note:  The only Murerwa with which we are familiar is 
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa, who represents Goromonzi, a 
consitutency which abuts Harare province, in Parliament.  End 
Note). He did assure us that this faction was well 
represented amongst veteran and younger party members. 
Zvobgo said that the fight could best be carried from within 
the party and that his group would press for an extraordinary 
party congress to deal with the national crisis and 
succession issues. 
 
6.  (C) Zvobgo asked if the US might be willing to support 
this 
&party within a party.8  The Ambassador was noncommittal 
but told Zvobgo that the US has nothing against ZANU-PF per 
se but takes issue with the human rights and civil liberties 
abuses perpetrated by the party leadership and the 
government.  The Ambassador said the U.S. would be willing to 
support groups of people who were working for a return to the 
rule of law and a resumption of respect for human rights and 
civil liberties.  Zvobgo seemed to accept this but wanted 
assurances that any support would be discreet.  The 
Ambassador reassured him on this count.  No specific types of 
support were requested or discussed. 
 
7.  (C) The Ambassador asked Zvobgo his opinion on the recent 
press story about a possible Mugabe resignation.  Zvobgo 
seemed to believe that the leak must have come from within 
ZANU-PF, either someone who disliked the person rumored as 
the heir apparent -- Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa 
-- or who just wanted to shake things up.  He did not place 
much credence in the story but agreed that Mugabe needs to 
leave office before his term is up if Zimbabwe is to recover 
economically.  Zvobgo was dismayed at the decline of 
ZANU-PF's fortunes and blamed Mugabe.  The Ambassador 
mentioned his meeting with General Mujuru on January 9 and 
Mujuru,s proposal that Mugabe step down in two years, after 
the parliamentary elections.  Zvobgo thought two years was 
too long to wait--the country would be in ruins by that time 
and the party would be irreparably damaged. 
 
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PARLIAMENT 
---------- 
 
8.  (C) Zvobgo told us he plans to propose a long-overdue 
anti-corruption commission to Parliament after it resumes on 
February 14.  This commission was called for in the 1990's 
constitutional revision, but never implemented.  Zvobgo said 
he has around seven ZANU-PF MPs who will support him.  He 
said he had not introduced it sooner out of respect for the 
younger MPs. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
9.  (C) Zvobgo has long been dissatisfied with what has 
happened to his party and he is a good source of information 
on developments within ZANU-PF (He was a Politburo member for 
20 years until being expelled by Mugabe in 2000 -- for honest 
and public criticism of the Zimbabwean President -- and he 
remains an MP and member of the somewhat less influential 
Central Committee).  However, he told us several months 
before the election that he was trying to coordinate public 
statements from a number of ruling party heavyweights calling 
on Mugabe not to contest.  As we know, no such statements 
were ever issued, and Zvobgo sought temporary safehaven in 
South Africa for a couple of months around that time after 
expressing criticism of Mugabe.   Although he has had 
difficulty in the past convincing others to follow in moves 
against Mugabe and party leadership, further deterioration 
here could push some of Zvobgo's more frightened party 
colleagues finally to take a stand, purely out of 
self-interest.  As we have reported recently, frustration is 
growing within the Politburo, many members of which believe 
Mugabe's departure is necessary, but none of whom have a 
realistic plan or the guts to accomplish this, and none of 
whom are interested in genuine reconciliation and cooperation 
with the MDC. 
SULLIVAN