Sunday, September 04, 2011

(NEWZIMBABWE, WIKILEAKS) Masiyiwa manipulates Tsvangirai: Bennett

COMMENT - This is what happens when you present a puppet and stooge as the new leader of Zimbabwe. Why would it be a surprise that Morgan Tsvangirai would take on the opinion of the latest person he met, or that he is beholden to a few advisers? They slag off President Mugabe at every opportunity, but they are really projecting their own failings most of the time.

Masiyiwa manipulates Tsvangirai: Bennett
04/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is a weak political operator who "does what the last person says," according to MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett. The MDC-T is also given to taking advice from informal advisers, usually foreign, while ignoring the counsel of elected MDC-T officials, the party's organising secretary Nelson Chamisa added.

This devastating appraisal of Tsvangirai is revealed in United States embassy diplomatic cables leaked by the whistleblower, WikiLeaks, last Friday. The cables suggest Bennett expressed frustration with Tsvangirai’s leadership during meetings with a political officer at the US embassy on May 19, 2008.

In particular, Bennett was said to have been “visibly upset” by the MDC-T leader’s refusal to return home in the aftermath of violent elections held that year.

The MDC-T treasurer dismissed as “nonsense” the security concerns cited by Tsvangirai as reason for his reluctance to return home.

“Bennett also emphasized that Tsvangirai has a solid security team in Harare and that Tsvangirai could be assassinated in South Africa or elsewhere on the continent if the Mugabe regime really wanted him dead,” a US embassy cable detailing the meeting read.

Bennett also bemoaned the influence of South Africa-based telecoms magnate and Econet Wireless founder, Strive Masiyiwa on Tsvangirai and the party.

“He (Bennett) complained that MDC advisor Strive Masiyiwa is taking over the party, even though he is not an elected official and has no constituents to which to answer,” he cable added.

“Masiyiwa, (Bennett) said, is now controlling access to Tsvangirai "for his own purposes" and calling all the shots, including whether or not Tsvangirai returns. In fact, Bennett said that every time Tsvangirai packs his bags and is ready to return to Harare, Masiyiwa tells him not to go.”

Bennett suggested the MDC-T leader was not his own man, noting: “Tsvangirai does what the last person tells him to Do."

The view was also backed by Chamisa in another meeting with embassy officials on December where he complained that Tsvangirai's reliance on U.S. advisor Melinda Farris had created a "big problem" for the MDC-T.

Chamisa was said to have been very critical of Tsvangirai’s self-imposed exile and over-reliance on Farris.

US embassy officials wrote: “After the meeting, Chamisa told (the US embassy political and economics) chief that MDC adviser Melinda Farris was a "big problem."

“He thought Tsvangirai had been listening to her to the exclusion of many in the MDC leadership, including himself and Tendai Biti, with whom Farris had a strained relationship.

“Chamisa believed Farris had encouraged Tsvangirai to remain outside of Zimbabwe.”

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posted by MrK @ 2:38 PM

1 Comments:

At 3:10 PM , Blogger MrK said...

So who is Melinda Ferris (Farris)?

A lot of claims are made on the blog listed below, for which I don't have the time to debunk or contextualize, but anyone looking into the business dealings of Andrew Cranswick, including why he is wanted by the law in both Zimbabwe (fraud using multiple shell companies to appropriate more than his share of diamond deposits) and Australia (tax evasion), can find all on this my blog.

The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangarai, given the post of Prime Minsiter, under the baleful influence of his 'American, political mother guru' Melinda Ferris, opted for performance ministries such as the economy, finances, and social services.

Ferris is a close associate, fund raiser and campaigner of Libby Dole, wife of Republican Bob Dole, who lost her US Senate seat in North Carolina during the Obama electoral surge in 2008. MDC supporters find Ferris to have been a 'huge disaster' and have balked at referring to her, as instructed, as 'Mother Zimbabwe'.

Ferris continues to try and have the Obama administration unconditionally lift the limited measures taken by the USA, Britain and Australia against Mugabe and his party seniors (ban on travel and banking) - without success, hardly surprising given the conservative US Republican agenda for Zimbabwe through her and Morgan Tsvangarai.

Does Roy Bennett object to Melinda Ferris, because she wanted to end sanctions. (Of course, the sanctions referred to in the article are the 'travel restrictions', but the real sanctions are the credit freeze of the Zimbabwean government through ZDERA. Which republican senator James Inhofe tried to lift last year. Connections to Liddy Dole and Melinda Ferris? Time will tell.

 

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