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(TALKZIMBABWE) WikiLeaks: Tsvangirai took bribes from RBZ officials

COMMENT - Roy Bennett: " He said he understood the limitations on working with elements of the government because of sanctions and ZDERA ". Didn't he say to Stephen Sackur on Hardtalk that 'there were no economic sanctions against Zimbabwe'? But to the US Ambassador, he 'understood the limitations', 'because of sanctions and ZDERA'. The MDC are who they appear to be. Remnants of the Rhodesian Front, tribalists, opportunists and chancers.

WikiLeaks: Tsvangirai took bribes from RBZ officials
Posted by By Our reporter at 5 September, at 21 : 06 PM

WHISTLE-BLOWING website WikiLeaks says MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) was bribed by two Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe officials and was involved in a corruption deal where he would have a US$1 million house built for him.

Mr Tsvangirai’s party claims to be “a party of excellence”, so this revelation will deal a huge blow to the former opposition party, now in an inclusive Government with President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

The cable filed by US Ambassador Charles Ray in February last year, makes some startling revelations, including the fact that the US is directly funding the MDC-T party and that the whole MDC-T political plan is a subject of discussion with US government officials.

The MDC-T has always denied this fact, saying they are funded by donations from its membership and by the sale of its party regalia.


“According to Bennett, Western aid (primarily EU and U.S.) has had a strong focus on the MDC as a party … this has been appreciated,” read the cable.

Tsvangirai’s right hand man and MDC-T treasurer-general, Roy Bennett, is quoted in the cable as saying Mr Tsvangirai took a bribe of two cars from undisclosed Reserve Bank officials.

Bennett also says that several MDC-T ministers are corrupt.

“Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Minister of Mines, (who is) close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai … is possibly corrupt,” read the cable.

“Turning to the issue of corruption, Bennett said there were rumors about several MDC-T ministers.

“He was aware of reports that Tsvangirai was buying a US$1 million house in Harare. Bennett said he investigated and discovered that two individuals associated with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had proposed buying the house for Tsvangirai.

“Bennett said he urged Tsvangirai to turn off the arrangement and Tsvangirai agreed. Tsvangirai had, however, accepted two vehicles from these individuals,” read the cable.


Another startling revelation by Bennett was that the MDC-T party was suffering from inexperience, as most ministers in the inclusive Government had no proper training.

“Hardly any of the MDC ministers had any previous experience in administration, and the few with any capability were overstretched,” read the confidential cable.



We reproduce the cable in full below.

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000083

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR BRIAN WALSH

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN



E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/04

TAGS: PREL PGOV ZI

SUBJECT: Conversations with MDC-T Minister-in-Waiting Roy Bennett

CLASSIFIED BY: Charles A. Ray, Ambassador, STATE, EXEC; REASON:

1.4(B), (D)

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SUMMARY

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1. (C) MDC-T Finance Chairman Roy Bennett told the Ambassador that while the MDC is good at campaigning, it lacks a cadre of people who know how to run a government. While much of U.S. and other Western support has focused on the party, there is a compelling need for institution building. Apart from the MDC, Bennett acknowledged that ZANU-PF will be involved in a future Zimbabwe; the challenge is to identify those in ZANU-PF who can play constructive roles, and to find ways to bolster them against extremists.

2. (C) In a separate conversation with polecon chief, Bennett focused on MDC-T strategy. MDC-T has concluded that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is deadlocked. The MDC-T Standing Committee has resolved to make a last effort to negotiate with ZANU-PF, and then appeal to SADC. But it expects little assistance in that forum and will focus on elections which it would like to see occur next year. Bennett also discussed perceptions of MDC-T corruption. END SUMMARY.

3. (SBU) The Ambassador discussed MDC-T with Bennett at a dinner hosted by the British ambassador for visiting UK parliamentarians on February 1. Attending the dinner, in addition to the usual cast of Western diplomats, were representatives of the coalition government, including the deputy foreign minister, and Bennett, the MDC-T Finance Chairman. Polecon chief met separately with Bennett on February 2.

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MDC WEAKNESS IS IN GOVERNING, NOT IN CAMPAIGNING

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4. (C) Bennett talked with the Ambassador about MDC-T’s inability to ‘deliver the goods’ to the people, despite its strong ability to campaign; he saw a need to refocus external assistance more toward institution building and strengthening civil society. He said the MDC-T under Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership had a tremendous amount of popularity throughout the country, in part due to Tsvangirai’s sincerity and humility, and in part due to ZANU-PF arrogance and lack of concern for the common citizen. The party was very good at campaigning, but lacked a strong bench in terms of governing. Campaigning was limited to a degree by a paucity of resources.

Bennett said, for instance, in one province, with several hundred thousand voters, the party had only one vehicle to transport campaign workers around. Hardly any of the MDC ministers had any previous experience in administration, and the few with any capability were overstretched.

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NEED FOR MORE THAN GOOD INTENTIONS

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5. (C) According to Bennett, Western aid (primarily EU and U.S.) has had a strong focus on the MDC as a party. While this has been appreciated, it has not done enough to build the party’s capacity to provide government services or manage the bureaucracy. He said he understood the limitations on working with elements of the government because of sanctions and ZDERA, but without more capacity building, democratic reform would be delayed even longer.

He also said there was a compelling need to do more to build civil society. While there are a number of civil society organizations in Zimbabwe, there is no mass civil consciousness that can act as a counterweight to ZANU-PF depredations.

(COMMENT: What also seems to be lacking is a sense of interconnectedness among all the various civil society groups. The culture of fear and violence that has been created over the past several decades has so cowed the general population that tens of thousands of people can be intimidated by the murder or beating of a few hundred. END COMMENT.)

Bennett contrasted Zimbabwe with South Africa where, although apartheid was as odious as the colonial exploitation was here, there was at least the pretense of a black society that was along side but separate from the whites. In Zimbabwe there was not even the pretense – blacks had been seen as merely labor to be exploited, and coloreds as caudal appendages that were tolerated as long as they didn’t make trouble. The result is that in South Africa there is a strong and vibrant civil society that the West concentrated on building during apartheid, and while there is likely to be ethnic strife, the country will most likely survive it.

6. (SBU) Bennett said that Mugabe and ZANU-PF did not actually create this culture of a privileged few lording it over the masses (this was done by British colonial masters and the Ian Smith regime), but they have adopted it lock, stock, and barrel. If there is ever to be sustainable progress in this country, he said, in addition to building a strong, responsive governance capacity, the people must be taught their civic rights and be empowered to demand them.

7. (C) Western support for Mugabe and ZANU in the 1960s and 1980s, Bennett said, can be understood in the context of the Cold War. The slaughter of Ndebeles in Matabeleland was viewed as an internal incident less important than the chess game between the USSR and the West, and the killing and dispossessing of ZAPU went unremarked because ZAPU was supported by the USSR, the West’s main enemy at the time. In the same vein, revulsion at ZANU-PF for events since the late 1990s, particularly the violence associated with farm invasions and the election-related killings, is understandable.

This should not, however, blind the West to the fact that ZANU-PF will not go away. There are in ZANU-PF, people who want to see progress, but they have no power to influence events. We need to do a better job of identifying them, and finding ways, without compromising or endangering them, to empower them with a view to a future multi-party country and a need to recognize that wishing for a future Zimbabwe without ZANU-PF is naC/ve and counterproductive.

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MDC-T Strategy

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8. (C) Bennett told polecon chief that MDC-T had been unfocused. The Office of the Prime Minister was weak and the party had been left largely unattended as party stalwarts such as Tendai Biti were occupied with government. Two weeks ago, according to Bennett, the MDC-T Standing Committee, consisting of the top 12 ranking officials, held a series of strategy sessions to address these issues.

9. (C) The party concluded that ZANU-PF would not allow it to effectively participate in government; it therefore resolved to focus its efforts on the party in order to build it and prepare for elections. MDC-T, according to Bennett, believes there will be no significant progress on the GPA and that there is a stalemate. It has not yet been declared a deadlock because it wants the Media, Electoral, and Human Rights Commissions established before it does so – it is concerned that declaring a deadlock first would cause Mugabe to backtrack on the commissions. MDC-T’s plan after it does declare a deadlock is to appeal to SADC. It believes SADC will be unsuccessful in moving Mugabe. The next step will be to press for elections.

10. (C) Bennett told us that the Standing Committee also discussed the Marange diamond situation and resolved to take a firm stand. He acknowledged that Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Minister of Mines, is close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and is possibly corrupt. Turning to the issue of corruption, Bennett said there were rumors about several MDC-T ministers, but the party could not act on rumors. He admitted, however, that the perception of corruption was harmful. He was aware of reports that Tsvangirai was buying a US$1 million house in Harare. Bennett said he investigated and discovered that two individuals associated with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had proposed buying the house for Tsvangirai. Bennett said he urged Tsvangirai to turn off the arrangement and Tsvangirai agreed. Tsvangirai had, however, accepted two vehicles from these individuals.

11. (C) Bennett said the Standing Committee had resolved that elections take place in 2011. He admitted that most MDC-T parliamentarians were opposed to this, but said the Party leadership would prevail over the desires of parliamentarians or the rank and file. We noted that a couple of weeks ago, Tsvangirai had said the country was not ready for early elections, but had apparently reversed course in Davos and supported 2011 elections.

Bennett said the party leadership had always supported 2011 elections; but despite party decisions, Tsvangirai had a tendency to publicly take inconsistent positions.

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COMMENT

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12. (C) Bennett is an MDC “hardliner” who has been frustrated with the MDC’s progress in the coalition government and in party building. While he was encouraged by the determination of the Standing Committee to take a more assertive approach vis-C -vis

ZANU-PF, we have seen this scenario before. Hardliners in the party convince Tsvangirai to be more assertive. He agrees, there is a flurry of activity, and then MDC-T falls back into the same dance with ZANU-PF. We’ll see if this time is any different.

END COMMENT. RAY

Labels: CORRUPTION, MDC CORRUPTION, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, ROY BENNETT, WIKILEAKS

posted by MrK @ 4:01 AM