US embassy cable - 03HARARE1251

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
DS/OP/AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, ZI 
SUBJECT: CHURCH LEADERS TRY TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Peggy Blackford for reasons 1.5b/d 
 
Summary 
-------- 
1. (C)  A group of church leaders representing the 
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Zimbabwe 
Council of Churches (ZCC) and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops 
Conference have held two meetings with leaders of ZANU-PF and 
the MDC in an attempt to get the parties to the negotiating 
table.  Talks have been slow and produced little to date 
though ZANU has, in theory, agreed to an MDC demand for a 
public commitment to the process.  This commitment has not 
yet been forthcoming however.  Although many groups appear to 
be interested in breaking through the current impasse, so far 
success is elusive. 
 
Church group meets with leaders on both sides 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Following up on an article in the Zimbabwe Independent 
of June 13 which reported that church leaders were 
facilitating dialogue between ZANU-PF and the MDC, AID 
officers spoke with Trevor Manhanga, President of the EFZ who 
confirmed that a group of nine pastors from the EFZ, the ZCC 
and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference had come 
together to lead this initiative.  Although they had agreed 
to keep their meetings quiet until Mugabe committed himself 
to the process, clearly someone in the group had leaked the 
story to the Independent.  Given this  leak, Manhanga agreed 
to keep the mission informed but asked that we keep the 
matter confidential. 
 
3. (C) Thus far, the group has held two meetings with each 
side.  The first occasion was during the second or third week 
in May  when the pastors met with ZANU-PF and the MDC in back 
to back meetings.  The ZANU delegation was composed of Nathan 
Shamuyarira, the party's secretary for information and 
publicity, Willard Chiwewe, Foreign Affairs senior secretary 
and a member of the President's office whose name Manhanga 
could not remember.  As the pastors had anticipated, 
Shamuyarira started off with a 40 minute lecture on 
patriotism, land, the war of liberation, etc.  When he 
finished the pastors said that they did not plan to respond 
to those issues but instead were there to talk about 
negotiations.  They said that as church leaders they could 
not sit by and just watch.  They wanted to interact with both 
sides and get the dialogue going.  The ZANU representatives 
promised to report back to Mugabe and the Politburo and get 
back to them. 
 
4. (C) The group next met with the MDC's top leadership, 
President Morgan Tsvangirai, Vice-President Gibson Sibanda, 
Secretary-General Welshman Ncube and Presidential Advisor, 
 
SIPDIS 
Gandi Mudzingwa.  They said that they welcomed the church 
initiative but wanted a public commitment from ZANU and asked 
if the initiative was strictly the church's idea or ZANU's. 
The pastors assured them that they had initiated the process 
themselves.  Their end game is a free and fair election where 
the people decide on a government of their choice. 
 
5. (C) Both sides were quiet until the week of the stayaway 
(June 2-6) when ZANU got in touch and offered to answer the 
pastors.  The meeting, originally scheduled for June 4, 
finally took place on June 9.  At that meeting Chiwewe, John 
Nkomo, a party bigwig, and Flora Buka, former Minister of 
State for Land Reform, represented ZANU and agreed to put 
their commitment in writing.  Chiwewe is apparently drafting 
the response which has not yet been received. 
 
6. (C) Later the same day the pastors met with Mudzingwa and 
several other lower ranking MDC members; however, with 
Tsvangirai imprisoned and Ncube in hiding, they were unsure 
 
SIPDIS 
how to proceed.  The pastors encouraged them to make 
Tsvangirai's arrest part of their response.  Mudzingwa 
 
SIPDIS 
advised the pastors June 17 that a letter had been drafted 
and was on its way.  Once both letters are received then the 
pastors hope to begin the negotiation process in earnest. 
They are drawing on USAID funds under the advocacy grant made 
to EFZ to finance this activity. 
 
Comment 
------- 
7. (C) It is clear that there is a lot of talking going on 
behind the scenes in Zimbabwe and a number of actors who want 
to facilitate genuine dialogue, but it not clear what is 
required to get the key players to the table.  When it takes 
weeks to even get a commitment to write a letter, one has to 
wonder about the sincerity of ZANU, and without some movement 
from ZANU, the MDC can not get to the negotiating table. 
SULLIVAN