COMMENT - Asking a foreign government to invade your country is treason in any language. The MDC is a party of traitors.
WikiLeaks: Chamisa asked US to invade Zimbabwe
Posted by By Our reporter at 11 September, at 15 : 42 PM
A MONTH before he was sworn in as minister, MDC-T national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa asked the United States to invade Zimbabwe and force President Mugabe and Zanu-PF out of power.
According to a confidential US diplomatic cable released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks on August 30, Chamisa, who was then party spokesman, also wanted President Mugabe and several senior Zanu-PF officials indicted in international courts and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe placed under sanctions.
The minister of information communication technology is said to have made the plea during a meeting with former American ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr James McGee on January 14 2009.
This was barely a month before he was sworn in as minister in the inclusive Government.
Contacted for comment yesterday, he said: “I do not take those WikiLeaks cables seriously. There is nothing I am going to discuss with you.”
According to the leaked cable, Chamisa told former ambassador McGee that the “rhetoric that Mugabe must go” was ineffective and needed to be complemented by action.
Part of the cable reads: “Turning to US policy, Chamisa said rhetoric that ‘Mugabe must go’ was empty and counterproductive.
“Regime opponents initially hoped that the rhetoric would be complemented by action. Inaction on the part of the US was causing people to lose heart.
“Further, Zanu-PF was using US statements as a pretext to crack down on MDC and civil society, both of which it was accusing of collaborating with the US to bring about regime change.”
Asked by the ambassador what concrete action the US and the international community could take, Chamisa responded:
“Military intervention to remove the regime, indictments of Mugabe and other Zanu-PF officials in international courts, sanctioning of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.”
He also revealed then that his party would organise demonstrations in the event that the inclusive Government failed.
“Chamisa said that the MDC, at its strategy meeting in South Africa, had affirmed the position of its national council to enter a transitional government of national unity only if outstanding issues were resolved,” reads the cable.
“Assuming the collapse of the September 15 inter-party agreement, Chamisa told us the MDC would pursue a multi-faceted strategy of public and diplomatic outreach and, in collaboration with civil society, mass mobilisation.
“We asked why such a strategy could now be successful when it had failed in the past.
“Chamisa responded that the MDC had learned from its many mistakes, which would aid it in going forward with new strategies.”
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, MDC, NELSON CHAMISA, NEOCOLONIALISM, TREASON, WIKILEAKS
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WikiLeaks: Mnangagwa 'grabbed Mugabe by the lapels'
07/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
DEFENCE Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa “grabbed President Robert Mugabe by the lapels” during a heated argument in 2008, according to leaked United States embassy communications.
In an October 2, 2008, memo to Washington released by WikiLeaks, former US ambassador to Zimbabwe James MacGee admitted he had been unable to confirm the “physical altercation”, but was persuaded that there appeared to be a “serious rift” between the two men.
According to McGee, Mnangagwa and Mugabe squared off over the latter’s plans to give away the Home Affairs portfolio to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party during negotiations for a power sharing government.
In the end, Zanu PF and MDC-T agreed to appoint a minister each to share the portfolio.
In a cable marked 'Confidential', McGee said: “Mugabe leads a fractured party and he is trying to satisfy key individuals and groups. Rumours circulated last week that he and Emmerson Mnangagwa were involved in a heated argument over the possibility of ceding Home Affairs to the MDC.
“According to these rumours, Mnangagwa grabbed Mugabe by the lapels at which point Mugabe's bodyguards forcibly subdued Mnangagwa, injuring him to the point that he was hospitalised.
“We have been unable to confirm the physical altercation; nevertheless, there appears to have been a serious rift between Mugabe and Mnangagwa over the allocation of ministries. Mnangagwa is loathe to allow any of the security apparatus to pass to the MDC.”
Citing sources, McGee added that “defence forces chief Constantine Chiwenga and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono are opposed to the MDC assuming responsibility for Home Affairs. They fear the ministry and police would investigate them for corrupt activities.”
The account of Mnangagwa’s confrontation with Mugabe has been met with incredulity by both supporters and political opponents of the two men.
“McGee was stretching the boundaries of what is possible, let alone what is rational," said one Zanu PF MP.
"This is one case which might discredit the entire catalogue of these cables. It makes you wonder how much of these dispatches are untested wishes of diplomats trying to shape US government policy on the ground."
Seemingly intent on confirming the face-off, the US embassy’s former Deputy Chief of Mission Katherine Dhanani met Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi two weeks later on October 13 and quizzed him about the incident.
“Mzembi said he had been at recent meetings that included Mugabe and Mnangagwa and he doubted there was a rift between the two,” Dhanani wrote in a cable dated October 15, 2010, released by WikiLeaks last Friday.
“He categorised as false reports that Mnangagwa had been beaten at Mugabe's behest and said these reports had been spread by a faction of the CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation].”
Labels: EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, JAMES MCGEE, WALTER MZEMBI, WIKILEAKS
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COMMENT - So the MDC's response: denial. Attack the messenger, though not the message. They are basically attacking Blessing Miles-Tendi and President Mbeki, but they do not deny that Prime Minister Tsvangirai consulted with the US ambassadore, James McGee. How sad.
Tsvangirai and McGee: MDC statement
by MDC Information Dept.
26/02/2011 00:00:00
SPEAKING at the Frontline Club in London on Wednesday, author Blessing-Miles Tendi recalled a recent interview with former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who told him MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai broke off power sharing talks in 2008 to consult the former United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee [Read Story and Video]. In a statement to New Zimbabwe.com on Friday, the MDC responds as follows:
THE MDC dismisses the alleged assertion attributed to former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki that President Tsvangirai consulted former US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee during the negotiations ahead of the formation of the inclusive government. President Tsvangirai was widely consulting his team of negotiators and the party leadership that was always stationed with him at the venue of the talks.
It is clear from what Mbeki selectively told Blessing Miles Tendi, a Zanu PF apologist, that Mbeki exposed his true colours, his soft spot for Zanu PF, and his unexplained and historical lack of respect for President Tsvangirai. It is a matter of public record that former President Mbeki, who scored a first when he was recalled as President of South Africa by his party, the ANC, has always had a low opinion of the MDC and its President.
Assuming that Mr Mbeki relied on sources in Zimbabwe, those sources are discredited and unauthentic. Naturally, it may well be that his conclusions were based on faulty, fabricated and doctored material. He has always regarded the people’s Party of Excellence, the MDC and its President as unoriginal, unpatriotic and unreliable. We cannot change Mr Mbeki’s borrowed negative views on our party which are well documented.
However, we derive comfort from the fact that the people of Zimbabwe do not hold the same unproductive, corrosive and dangerous views as those held by Mr Mbeki. That is why Zimbabweans overwhelmingly voted for President Tsvangirai in March 2008. Mr Mbeki has always deployed effort to discredit, rubbish and weaken the MDC. We are also well aware of his disposition and role in the destabilisation of the MDC in 2005.
Mr Mbeki cannot be allowed to cover up for his shortcomings on the Zimbabwean issue by engaging in mendacity and untruths. His record as an honest broker is perforated.
For the record, in Zimbabwe’s democratic struggle, President Tsvangirai continues to keep the people’s determination for freedom and democracy intact by involving Zimbabweans, at all levels, in decision-making processes through constant consultation. Consultative and deliberate democracy is the hallmark and character of our politics as the MDC.
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, TREASON
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Tsvangirai sought McGee's advice during GPA talks: Mbeki
by Staff Reporter
24/02/2011 00:00:00
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai consulted the US Ambassador in the heat of negotiations about Zimbabwe’s future in 2008, according to author Blessing-Miles Tendi, who interviewed former South African President Thabo Mbeki recently.
Mbeki, who oversaw the formation of Zimbabwe’s coalition government to end a political stalemate over disputed elections, also reveals that he wanted President Robert Mugabe to stay on as a ceremonial president with vastly reduced powers, but this was shot down by a splinter faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara which did not want Tsvangirai as an executive Prime Minister.
Tendi, author of Making History in Mugabe's Zimbabwe: Politics, Intellectuals and the Media, sat down with Mbeki last month for an interview on a forth-coming book.
And speaking at the Frontline Club in London on Wednesday, Tendi revealed Mbeki had a less than good impression of Tsvangirai, whose conversations with former US ambassador James McGee were reportedly recorded by Zimbabwean intelligence and passed onto their South African counterparts.
Tendi said: “These are the power sharing negotiations in 2008, this is from my interview with Thabo Mbeki, they sit around all the various parties and they agree on a clause. Tsvangirai stands up and says I need to go outside for a bit to consult others in the MDC.
“He goes out there at the Rainbow Hotel in Harare and what does he do? He picks up the phone and calls the US embassy to ask for advice from the US ambassador. What does he not know? That the CIO has taped the phones!
“So they get a transcript of everything, they pass on the transcript to South African intelligence, and they in turn pass the transcript to Mbeki’s lap and he passes it onto other SADC leaders.
“Mugabe’s narrative all along has been that the MDC is a stooge of the West. What is that then? And people are surprised when SADC leaders don’t take the side of MDC, it’s things like that, that mediocrity. It’s really pathetic that a leader would call the US embassy and ask for advice.”
Mbeki, according to Tendi, wanted Mugabe to stay on as President with diminished powers, having lost a first round vote to Tsvangirai in the March 2008 general elections.
Tendi revealed: “Mbeki wanted Mugabe to be a ceremonial President; Mugabe would have had no power. Who shot down Mbeki’s proposal? The other faction of the MDC, because they did not want Tsvangirai to be an executive Prime Minister.”
Tendi said the two MDC factions were responsible for a string of “strategic errors” which had allowed Zanu PF to regain momentum. One critical error, he said, had left them unable to stop President Robert Mugabe calling elections this year.
He added: “When Zanu PF came to the table, they wanted five years straight, there was to be no two years that the Global Political Agreement would end, and then possibly be extended. Had that passed, we would be talking about stabilisation and economic growth. Who shot that down? The MDC again.
“People talk of the MDC playing catch-up, a lot of it has to do with the MDC’s own strategic errors. The problem has been the way the opposition has tackled Zanu PF from a strategic point of view.”
Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, JAMES MCGEE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, THABO MBEKI, TREASON
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WikiLeaks might choke The Standard
by Shakeman Mugari & Darlington Majonga
22/12/2010 00:00:00
AFTER enduring the embarrassment that came with revelations in the Sunday Times that she was having an extramarital affair with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, Grace Mugabe must have been itching to make the media pay.
For reasons we will postulate later in this article, neither Grace nor Gono decided to sue for that infidelity story despite that it had glaring weaknesses on which they could have capitalised.
The story had made allegations that both Gono and Grace could have successfully claimed to have injured their reputation and integrity. Then The Standard newspaper, a fortnight ago, unwittingly granted Grace her wish to punish the media.
The paper regurgitated classified diplomatic cables – which are in essence US government e-mails – leaked to the whistleblower website Wikileaks alleging that Grace and other senior people in the Zimbabwe government had made super profits from smuggling diamonds.
Litigious Grace
She is a thief of diamonds, the paper said in a story that relied solely on the diplomatic cable filed by the former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee.
McGee himself had relied on information allegedly gathered from Andrew Cranswick, the chief executive of African Consolidated Resources, a company that has been fighting for diamond mining rights in Zimbabwe for years.
Predictably, Grace pounced on the opportunity and filed a US$15 million lawsuit against the paper.
Since then, public opinion has portrayed The Standard as a victim of a litigious first lady desperate to keep her alleged illegal dealings under wraps.
Some have labelled the lawsuit an effort to muzzle the press. The debate continues.
Yet in all this brouhaha what has been missed is that The Standard might have “blindly” walked into a trap that Wikileaks unintentionally set for journalists when it released those US government cables.
The paper walked into a minefield and many newspapers might soon find themselves in the same precarious situation if they blindly lift those Wikileaks for publication.
It has always been dangerous for journalists to walk around with their pens “cocked” and eyes closed.
Whether one likes her or not, the sad reality in this case is that Grace could have a very strong argument and The Standard could be sued into poverty.
As journalists and Zimbabweans who have worked under the hostile media conditions in Zimbabwe, we are not celebrating that eventuality.
It must be mentioned from the onset that the real reason Grace could have a strong case is not because she is clean but rather that The Standard could have bungled the story. The result might turn out to be calamitous.
The Standard forgot that those leaked cables are not a statement of fact but an opinion of their writer, McGee.
Strong case
They were written to help the US government formulate its policy strategy in foreign affairs dealings with Zimbabwe.
They were an update to the US government on the Zimbabwean situation according to McGee. They were an assessment of a situation and not the situation itself. McGee did not put those damaging allegations to an ample test that is required for journalists before they publish stories. In any case, McGee had no obligation to do that because he was not writing them for publication.
He relied on one source who has since denied having mentioned Grace or any other name when he gave the information.
The Standard made the mistake of rushing to publish that information without verification.
They forgot that the cables were mere allegations that they, as a newspaper, had to seek to verify before going to print.
The paper mistook what was otherwise a plausible “tip-off” for a complete story ready for publication.
When the case goes to court the obligation will be on the newspaper to prove that those allegations are true and that they took pains to verify them.
In other words, The Standard now has to start doing what it should have done before publishing the story – which is verifying the cabled information.
To do that they will have to do the story in reverse – they wrote the story now they have to find evidence to corroborate it.
Mission impossible
But that might be a mission impossible. Rumours have always been abound that people close to President Robert Mugabe were involved in clandestine diamond dealings but what has stopped many Zimbabwean journalists from writing the story is the lack of evidence.
Now, The Standard has to find that elusive evidence to prove that rumour.
And because this is a court case the evidence will have to be more concrete than what a newspaper normally needs to write a story. The real drama however will be in the courts.
Because of the circumstances surrounding the cables and Wikileaks, The Standard will obviously have to scrounge around for witnesses. Only God knows where they will get anyone to corroborate those allegations.
They clearly can’t call McGee to testify that the allegations in the cables are true because the US government has already said the cables are stolen information and they want nothing to do with Wikileaks.
It’s therefore highly unlikely that a whole US diplomat will agree to give evidence on a confidential document he wrote for the State Department’s use only.
That takes one pillar off The Standard’s defence case which is already shaky even if we assume that, by some divine intervention, McGee will agree to testify.
It does not help The Standard’s case that Cranswick, the man McGee purports to be the source of the diamond smuggling allegations against Grace and others, has denied any connection. He has said the cables are a lie.
Cranswick is therefore not likely to testify and vouch for the truthfulness of allegations that he has already publicly labelled falsehoods.
The fact that he has also said he never met a US official to discuss the issue only makes The Standard’s case even more wobbly.
So when the case opens The Standard will walk into court to fight probably the biggest libel case in the world without both the source of the information and the author of the document they used to write the story.
Predicament
In fact, Cranswick’s denials actually strengthen Grace’s case and she might call him to testify against the paper. Yet The Standard’s predicament gets bleaker when you analyse the way the story itself was written.
The paper will have to prove that it took pains to verify the allegations in the cable. They have to show that they investigated the validity and accuracy of the information they rushed to publish.
But their story does not show that the reporter did any work other than regurgitate what was contained in the cable. There is zilch evidence that they really tried to prove the allegations.
It gets worse.
The story does not even show that the paper tried to give Grace the right of reply as is required in journalism. It doesn’t even attempt to hide behind the routine excuse “efforts to get a comment were not successful at the time of going to press”.
Grace, by the way, has a fulltime spokesperson. Come the hearing day, The Standard might have neither witnesses nor sources to corroborate their story.
Neither will they have proof that they tried to verify the allegations or at least give Grace a chance to respond (this evidence should be in the story and not in the editor’s head).
If The Standard’s defence case has any leg to stand on then that leg is a crippled one that might not be able to support them for long in their battle against “the mother of all lawsuits”.
There are those arguing that the newspaper merely wrote what Wikileaks had already published and therefore it is not liable. Such kindergarten arguments will not carry the day in a court of law.
They are for bar-talk where they can impress people who would have imbibed “one too many”. Sober minds, especially in a court of law, will trash them.
The fact that the cables had already been leaked does not exempt a newspaper of the duty to verify the allegations contained therein.
Obligation
Remember a newspaper or any other medium can be sued for a story lifted from another publication. The Standard still had an obligation to probe those allegations before publishing.
Even if Cranswick admits that he made those allegations The Standard will still have to prove that they are true.
Yet those are not the only reasons why The Standard is in a tight spot in this case.
The merits of Grace’s case aside, there is also the fact that the High Court bench is generally pliable and too friendly to the government.
Most of the judges on that bench are actually too grateful for the funds and farms they got during the so-called land reform.
Imagine then, The Standard walking into a Zimbabwean court to face one of those meek judges with such a weak case. God forbid!
It is true that Grace’s reputation is not worth the US$15 million tag she has placed on it and that she is unlikely to get that much.
The amount demanded sounds more like an effort towards self-enrichment than redress.
So why did Grace pounce on a case that alleged her to be a thief of diamonds and not the one alleging she is adulterous?
At face value it doesn’t make sense that Grace could be angrier at being called a thief than being labelled an adulterous wife of the president.
It would seem senseless that she could pass an opportunity to get US$15 million from a rich UK paper and then try her luck with The Standard, a Zimbabwe paper so poor it can’t even pay a living wage to its reporters.
Collateral damage
The answer lies in the fact that the adultery case, which would have been heard in the UK, would have left her reputation in tatters. It had too much collateral damage.
How would she have answered the following questions from those media lawyers in the UK: Mrs Mugabe, have you ever committed adultery in your life?
When you first slept with your current husband (President Mugabe), were you still married to your first husband? And was your current husband still married to his wife?
Did you divorce your first husband first before you started an affair with your current husband?
You only need to Google the date of birth of one prominent teenager in Zimbabwe and the date of a certain high-profile wedding in the 1990s to see how tricky those questions would have been for Grace.
The UK papers would have made capital out of that case. Which paper would not have wanted to write about the wife of a despised African leader coming to London to defend allegations that she had an affair with one of her husband’s most trusted friends and banker?
Add that to the fact that UK judges cannot be influenced and are generally progressively in favour of the media and you see why she decided not to pursue the case even though she might have really wanted.
In the Wikileaks case Grace would not need to worry about those questions or the judge who will take the case.
Compliant judges
Even if the selection of the judge is random chances are very high that it will inevitably end up in the hands of one of those compliant judges.
Grace will just have to sit in court and watch the editor sink one nail after the other into the paper.
It is sad that when all is done, the story of whether Grace is really a diamond smuggler or not will still not have been written.
She might walk out of court with victory and a little pocket money not because she would have proven that she is not a diamond smuggler but because The Standard editors and reporters decided to walk around with their pens “cocked” and their eyes and minds closed.
Julian Assange’s gift to the media in the form of leaked US government cables might not be risk-free after all.
The cables might choke The Standard even though they were supposed to be a boon for the media. We wish The Standard all the best and hopefully we all as journalists learn from this sad episode.
*Mugari and Majonga are Zimbabwean journalists working in southern Africa.
Labels: ANDREW CRANSWICK, DEFAMATION, JAMES MCGEE, WIKILEAKS
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WikiLeaks reveal Mugabe’s views on Zuma
by Staff Reporter
22/12/2010 00:00:00
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe regards Thabo Mbeki as a “great man” and Jacob Zuma as a “man of the people who likes to make promises without necessarily knowing how to fulfil them”. Mugabe’s feelings about South Africa’s leaders are revealed in a classified U.S. embassy cable leaked to whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
The cable gives details of a “surreal” three-hour meeting in which an “alert, articulate” and “defiant” Mugabe expressed his views to U.S. diplomats.
Dated June 2, 2009, and bearing the subject line: “Tea with Mugabe”, the confidential 16-page cable records a “marathon” meeting between Mugabe, Zimbabwean government officials, the former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, and Democratic Party congressman Donald Payne.
The cable describes Mugabe as “possibly the healthiest 85-year-old in Zimbabwe”, “clearly stuck in the past” and “desperate to re-engage with the world and to be treated as an elder statesman”.
Questioned by McGee about Jacob Zuma’s government, Mugabe “sighed that he didn’t think (the ANC) treated Thabo well, particularly as he was in the midst of helping Zimbabwe”. While describing Mbeki as “judgmental and calculating and cautious with policies”, he said, “to us (Mbeki) is a great man”.
According to the cable, Mugabe “noted that the South African people want to see their social needs attended to”.
“While Zuma has made promises, it remains to be seen if they will come true.” Mugabe opined that in order to fulfill his campaign promises, Zuma will have to take from the haves — the whites — and give to the have-nots. The question, Mugabe believed, is whether the whites are willing to share their businesses with blacks.
“He said it was ‘easier’ in Zimbabwe where there are ‘not that many whites,’ but ‘South Africa has four million whites … plus the Indians’.”
Mugabe remarked that South Africa “truly is a rainbow nation”.
The meeting, which was conducted at Mugabe’s official state house residence in Harare on May 30, last year, was the first between U.S. diplomats and Mugabe in over a year. Welcoming his guests he commented that “Zimbabwe hadn’t had many visitors lately”.
Then he launched into an “hour-long monologue” in which he painted himself “as the victim of international abuse and broken promises” and embarked on a “long-winded rehashing of Zimbabwe’s history”.
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He talked “non-stop … without so much as a sip of water or a clearing of the throat”, declaring at one point that “we want to engage with the world”.
Growing “increasingly adamant and agitated”, Mugabe asked: “In the context of all the countries in the world — are we really the worst?”
Discussing the country’s mineral wealth and rich uranium deposits, Mugabe giggled and said: “Zimbabwe doesn’t intend to ‘go nuclear’ like some countries have done”.
Payne then “gently and masterfully praised Mugabe for his liberation credentials before confronting him about human rights abuses”.
Describing himself as having been a fan of Mugabe as a young man, Payne said he had followed the Zimbabwean president’s “distinguished” career since its beginnings “but noted that he is now concerned about the things he reads”.
Payne said there was a “stark ‘dichotomy’ between the compassionate statesman who fought for freedom … and the current government that now allows police to beat black women who dare protest”.
According to the cable, “Mugabe sank into the couch and appeared expressionless and somewhat stunned.
“At the mention of police beating women, he responded with a puzzled look. ‘Which women? Where did they get them from?’”
Mugabe “neither confirmed nor denied the abuses” but “responded well to Payne’s gentle confrontation”.
Then he piped up: “Well, I think we deserve some tea.” A “white-gloved butler emerged and began the very formal process of serving tea.
“After the butler poured water over the guest’s hands into a bowl and offered each guest a clean towel to dry their hands, the butler served tea, parmesan breadsticks, dinner rolls, sausage and a beef/onion dish.
“Mugabe took his tea with milk and a few breadsticks but did not eat anything else.”
Throughout the discussions, the Americans keenly studied Mugabe for signs of ill-health. But, while he “could not sit still” and “constantly pulled up his socks”, he “appeared to be a vigorous 85-year-old in superb health”.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, DONALD PAYNE, JAMES MCGEE, ROBERT MUGABE, THABO MBEKI, WIKILEAKS
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Of course Andrew Cranswick has now himself been shown to be extremely corrupt, getting more than the legal appropriation of diamond fields and evading taxes in Australia. See
Cranswick's minerals smuggling racket exposed and
ACR's Cranswick declared bankrupt in Australia, no perm domE.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2018
TAGS: PGOV EMIN ASEC PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: REGIME ELITES LOOTING DEADLY DIAMOND FIELD
REF: 2007 HARARE 319
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
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SUMMARY
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¶1. (C) The
CEO of a British mining company described to us how high-ranking Zimbabwean government officials and well-connected elites are generating millions of dollars in personal income by hiring teams of diggers to hand-extract diamonds from the Chiadzwa mine in eastern Zimbabwe. They are selling the undocumented diamonds to a mix of foreign buyers including Belgians, Israelis, Lebanese, Russians and South Africans who smuggle them out of the country for cutting and resale elsewhere. Despite efforts to control the diamond site with police, the prospect of accessible diamonds lying just beneath the soil's surface has attracted a swarm of several thousand local and foreign diggers. The police response has been violent, with a handful of homicides reported each week, though that number could grow as diggers arm themselves and attract police and army deserters to their ranks. END SUMMARY
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High-Ranking Officials Trading Diamonds
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¶2. (C) On November 6, poloff met with Andrew Cranswick, the CEO of African Consolidated Resources (ACR), the publicly-traded British firm that had its Chiadzwa diamond claim in the Marange district of Manicaland seized by the government parastatal Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) in 2006 (reftel). According to Cranswick, there is a small group of high-ranking Zimbabwean officials who have been extracting tremendous diamond profits from Chiadzwa. Cranswick said that RBZ Governor Gideon Gono, Grace Mugabe, wife of President Robert Mugabe, Vice President Joyce Mujuru, Mines and Mining Development Minister Amos Midzi, General Constantine Chiwenga and wife Jocelyn, CIO Director Happyton Bonyongwe, Manicaland Governor Chris Mushowe, and several white Zimbabweans, including Ken Sharpe, Greg Scott, and Hendrik O,Neill, are all involved in the Marange diamond trade.
¶3. (C) On October 14, econ specialist traveled to the periphery of the no-go area around the Chiadzwa diamond site located about 60 km southwest of Mutare in Manicaland. Repeated inquiries about who was involved in the diamond trade elicited many of the same names mentioned by Cranswick.
¶4. (C) Econ specialist also met with Manatsawani Mutasa, a ZANU-PF Central Committee member and Manicaland resident, who added that Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Women's Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri, and Sabina Mugabe--sister of President Mugabe--have also been profiting from the purchase and sale of Chiadzwa diamonds.
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How the Chiadzwa Diamond Trade Works
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¶5. (C) The GOZ possesses the diamond mining rights to Chiadzwa, but the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) does not do any extraction itself. The ZMDC brought in some mining equipment in 2006 after seizing the mining rights from ACR, but their efforts were minimal and soon halted altogether. According to Cranswick, all extraction is now being done by hand panners who merely sift the top meter of soil. Some of these panners operate in teams that sell
HARARE 00001016 002 OF 005
their diamonds to representatives of the above-named officials and connected elites. Other panners are individual operators who merely sell to the highest bidder. Often the panners who are affiliated with a particular regime buyer, will only sell a portion of their diamonds to that person's representative, holding back the remainder to sell for higher prices to foreign buyers offering hard currency.
¶6. (C) The diamonds that are sold to regime members and elites are sold for freshly printed Zimbabwean notes issued by the RBZ. These diamonds are aggregated and resold to foreign buyers for US dollars or rand in nearby Mutare, in Harare, over the border in the Mozambican towns of Manica and Chimoio, or even in South Africa. (NOTE: Econ specialist reported that Mutare was awash with diamond money. The Holiday Inn was booked with guests checking in for weeks at a time. Food prices in shops near Marange were exorbitant, with meat prices four times higher than in Harare. END NOTE.)
¶7. (C) The diamonds that are not sold to regime members and elites, but instead are sold directly to foreign buyers, actually constitute the majority of the diamond trade in Chiadzwa. Cranswick said that around 85 percent of the diamonds extracted from Chiadzwa are sold directly to foreign buyers. Even so, he conservatively estimated that Mujuru, Gono and the rest were probably each making several hundred thousand dollars a month.
¶8. (C) Whether bought first by regime members or not, eventually the diamonds are sold to a mix of Belgians, Israelis, Lebanese (the largest contingent), Russians, and
South Africans. A well-known buyer named Gonyeti fronts for Gono, as do two other buyers named Tendai Makurumidze and Takunda Nyaguze, according to Mutasa. Once sold to foreigners, the majority of the diamonds are smuggled to Dubai and sold at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority, a dedicated economic free-trade zone created in 2002 for the exchange of metals and commodities, most notably gold and diamonds. Although Zimbabwe is a participant in the Kimberley process, the diamonds from Chiadzwa are undocumented and therefore are not in compliance with Kimberley, which requires loose uncut diamonds to be certified.
¶9. (C) The highest quality diamonds are not sent to Dubai,
but are shipped to Belgium, Israel, or South Africa for
cutting. Despite this wide dispersal, Chiadzwa diamonds are
very distinctive because of their age, color, and clarity and
can easily be traced back to the Marange mine, according to
Cranswick. He implicated Ernie Blom, president of South
Africa's Diamond Merchants Association in the illicit trade
of Chiadzwa diamonds, and said that Blom had been known to
boast of his involvement in illegal Zimbabwean diamonds.
When asked why purportedly reputable diamond dealers would
involve themselves in Chiadzwa, Cranswick said that the site
was "massive" with tremendous profit potential that was
attracting numerous buyers. One such group consisted of
Russians who had recently bought US$500,000 worth of diamonds
at an MMCZ auction, paying US$29/carat. They bought eight to
ten carat rough diamonds, five to ten percent of which were
gem quality.
--------------------------------
Diamond Trade a Violent Business
--------------------------------
¶10. (C) The diamond frenzy in Chiadzwa has led to hundreds
and possibly thousands of homicides. Word of easy diamonds
spurred a rush of Zimbabwean and foreign diggers to the area
including Angolans, Congolese, Mozambicans, South Africans
and Zambians, as well as diggers from as far away as Sierra
HARARE 00001016 003 OF 005
Leone and Cote D'Ivoire Cranswick estimated there are
currently around three or four thousand diggers swarming over
the 70 hectare Chiadzwa site. The police have unsuccessfully
tried to prevent the site from becoming overrun, and
routinely use live fire to chase away diggers. Anyone trying
to enter the area has to present a Zimbabwean national
identification card with a registration number that ends in
"75", signifying the person is a resident of the Mutare
region of Manicaland.
¶11. (C) During the first weekend of November, police killed
at least five panners in Chiadzwa, according to the on-line
newspaper Zimbabwe Times. While usually operating on foot
with attack dogs, this time the police used a helicopter to
shoot at panners. Passmore Nyakureba, a lawyer with the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said, "This has become an
everyday scenario. Up to five people die every week as a
result of being shot at by police or after being bitten by
dogs." Cranswick said that at the peak of the frenzy in
2007, up to a hundred panners were shot in a week.
¶12. (C) In response to aggressive police action, diggers
began arming themselves with handguns and in some cases
automatic weapons. They also formed loose gangs in an
attempt to protect themselves as well as "claimed" areas.
Cranswick said that some members of the police and army have
deserted in order to join the digging, and they typically
brought their firearms with them. Some former police even
still wear their uniforms as they search for diamonds.
-------------------------------------
Police Corrupted; Community Destroyed
-------------------------------------
¶13. (C) Cranswick said that the police were rotated into the
area on two-week shifts to control the mining and keep
unauthorized diggers out, but they were immediately
corrupted. Police officers routinely charged 100 rand or
US$10 a person for a day's digging in Chiadzwa. The military
has largely avoided the area out of fear that commanding
officers would lose control of their troops, according to
Cranswick.
¶14. (C) Cranswick maintained that local chiefs were on ACR's
side in its pending court battle to win back its claim. They
realized that the "curse" of diamonds had wreaked havoc in
the community. Children were no longer attending school, the
environmental degradation was severe, lawlessness and
violence reigned, and the community was not benefiting from
the resource. According to an independent weekly newspaper,
three quarters of the schools in Marange, Buhera, and
Chimanimani districts failed to open this term because
teachers and students alike were digging for diamonds.
----------------
What's At Stake?
----------------
¶15. (C) Chiadzwa has the potential of being a major source
of industrial and gem quality diamonds. What makes it so
commercially valuable is that it possesses a diverse mix of
different size and color stones, all within just a few meters
of the surface. It also has a high carat per hundred tons
(CPHT) ratio, a measure the industry uses to characterize the
diamond concentration. Cranswick told us he was
confidentially shown a report prepared for the De Beers
Corporation by noted geologist John Ward. The report
estimated that Chiadzwa had a CPHT of over 1,000. By
comparison, the Rio Tinto/Rio Zimbabwe-owned Murowa diamond
mine near Zvishavane in Midlands province has a CPHT of 120.
HARARE 00001016 004 OF 005
¶16. (C) Eye witnesses and panners told us that they were extracting both industrial and gem quality stones, but predominantly the former. Cranswick believed that the site
had 30 to 40 percent industrial diamonds and the rest gem quality, including very good quality five to 30 carat colored diamonds. In his view, the area could be commercially exploited for five to 25 years, including excavation of diamond yielding hard rock that ran deeper than the one meter depth currently being worked. Econ specialist also was told that another diamond field was discovered this year within five km of Chiadzwa at the village of Chirasika. Panners had begun working the site and it had not yet become a police-restricted area. We have no estimates for the potential of this new diamond discovery.
¶17. (C) On October 27, Gono publicly declared that the
Zimbabwean economy could be turned around by stemming losses
caused by illegal mining at Chiadzwa. According to Gono, "A
reliable estimate shows that US$1.2 billion per month would
be realized from diamond sales in the country, enough to
solve the economic challenges the country is currently
facing." Cranswick said that while the estimate is probably
exaggerated, Gono may be looking for a large one time
dividend by selling a share of the mine or the mining rights
to an outside investor. This would dwarf the relatively
small profits he is now accruing from the mine.
¶18. (C) ACR has offered the government a deal in which ACR would take a 49 percent share of all diamond proceeds and
give the rest to the GOZ, but Cranswick did not seem
optimistic that the government would accept the deal.
-----------------------------
Two Other Major Diamond Mines
-----------------------------
¶19. (U) Murowa is a well-regulated mine operated by the
British multinational mining giant Rio Tinto, which since
2004 has held a 78 percent share in the open-pit Murowa
diamond mine in Zvishavane district, in southern Masvingo
province. Murowa is a deep kimberlitic deposit that requires
heavy machinery to extract the soil and rock.
¶20. (U) River Ranch is partially owned by retired General Solomon Mujuru (husband of Vice President Joyce Mujuru) and is located in Beitbridge in Matabeleland South. Mujuru gained a 20 percent stake in the mine at the expense of a local company, Bubye Minerals, which was pushed out to Mujuru's benefit. Bubye Minerals contested the ownership change, but was thwarted by the Zimbabwean courts. It is unclear if Mujuru purchased his stake.
-------
COMMENT
-------
¶21. (C) In a country filled with corrupt schemes, the diamond business in Zimbabwe is one of the dirtiest. Mining in general remains the largest single source of foreign exchange, but the potential of Chiadzwa is being lost to Zimbabwean corruption. While Gono talks about using diamonds to stabilize the Zimbabwean economy, he would only do so if he thought he could personally make more in the process. At present, police trying to bring order to Chiadzwa are benefiting Zimbabwean officials who see the diamond field as a new source of illegitimateincome; the people of Zimbabwe are seeing little return.
¶22. (C) It is also clear that Cranswick is a businessman trying to find any pressure point he can through which to leverage his own claim. At the same time, he sheds light on
HARARE 00001016 005 OF 005
an industry that is enriching many of the same old corrupt Zimbabwean elite--and causing violence and deaths that so far have received little attention. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
Labels: AFRICAN CONSOLIDATED RESOURCES PLC, ANDREW CRANSWICK, BLOOD DIAMONDS, CORRUPTION, JAMES MCGEE
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Mugabe refuses to bid farewell to immediate-past US ambassador
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 5:22:09 PM
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has refused to bid farewell to immediate-past US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, who left the Zimbabwean capital on Sunday after his two-year term expired.
The US embassy in Harare yesterday stated that it had requested a courtesy call with President Mugabe two weeks before but never got a response.
McGee, an abrasive critic of President Mugabe, often had confrontations with the Zimbabwean government, with President Mugabe once threatening to expel him for breaking diplomatic etiquette.
In May last year, at the height of politically-linked violence prior to the June 27 run-off election, McGee was summoned by foreign affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and accused of circumventing diplomatic protocol by going on a fact-finding mission to investigate allegations of state-sponsored political violence.
The Zimbabwean government also protested to the dean of diplomatic corps about a diplomatic incident in which Ambassador McGee was accused of physically confronting a police officer.
Ambassador McGee and other diplomats from Japan, the EU, the Netherlands and Tanzania, were detained for about an hour at a police roadblock as they returned from the fact-finding mission, as they had allegedly gone beyond the permitted 40km radius without seeking authority.
A police officer was said to have threatened to beat up one of Ambassador McGee's senior aides. In the ensuing melee, one of the cars in the envoy was said to have hit Ambassador McGee's shins, but he was not injured.
US Embassy public affairs officer Tim Gerhardson, in response to a press query regarding whether or not Ambassador McGee bade farewell to President Mugabe before he left, said no response was received from the President's office in two weeks.
"Over two weeks before Ambassador McGee departed Zimbabwe, the US Embassy requested a courtesy call with President Mugabe through a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unfortunately, the US Embassy never received a reply from the government of Zimbabwe regarding the US Ambassador's request for a meeting with the President," Gerhadson stated.
Ambassador McGee left Harare on Sunday and will now be working for the US State Department at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.
In his farewell remarks circulated by the embassy, Ambassador McGee noted the changes that have taken place in Zimbabwe since he arrived in November 2007.
"Today ... we have an inclusive government comprised of Zimbabwe's three main parties. ... Zimbabwe is at least working on recovery. But at the same time so much remains to be done. The rule of law and human rights are still under attack in Zimbabwe. Innocent Zimbabweans continue to be arrested and prosecuted," he said.
Ambassador McGee pledged his government's support to efforts by Zimbabweans to restore democracy and economic prosperity.
"For real change to take hold in Zimbabwe, average Zimbabweans must do what the founders of the US did 233 years ago. They must stand up for their rights and demand a government of their choosing that serves their interests. If they do so, I promise that the United States will support them in their quest," said Ambassador McGee.
President Barack Obama has since nominated Charles Ray to replace Ambassador McGee.
Ray has been a career member of the US Foreign Service since 1982.
He has been the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Prisoners of War/Missing Personnel Affairs since 2006 and served as ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia from 2002 to 2005.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, JAMES MCGEE, MUGABE
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‘We’ll not spare a penny for Zim’
Herald Reporter
OUTGOING United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr James McGee says Washington will not give a penny to Harare because it has its own economic problems.
He said Washington was unable to provide aid because it faced its own financial problems, adding that the illegal sanctions imposed by his country on Zimbabwe would remain.
In an interview after paying a courtesy call on Vice President Joice Mujuru at her Munhumutapa Offices in Harare yesterday, Mr McGee said US citizens desperately needed help and were against giving Zimbabwe financial aid.
Asked whether the US was capable of assisting Zimbabwe considering its current economic woes, he said: "We have millions who have lost their jobs. It is serious (the recession).
"People say why should we give one penny to Zimbabwe or Sudan? We should take care of our people at home. They desperately need assistance.
"Sanctions are in place. They will remain in place. People know what has to be done (for them to be removed)."
But Mr McGee described his meeting with VP Mujuru as "good".
"It was good," he said. "It was my first time to meet her in person. It is important that we open dialogue and continue to dialogue. All parties should talk to each other."
The outgoing ambassador was silent on his achievements since his appointment here in 2007.
"I still have three weeks left," was all he could say.
He said he hoped to "score one or two" goals before flying back home.
During his meeting with VP Mujuru, Mr McGee was said to have acknowledged progress made by the inclusive Government so far in resolving outstanding issues under the Global Political Agreement.
Government has started the constitution-making process while it is in the process of appointing commissioners to the Zimbabwe Media Commission, Anti Corruption Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, among other reforms.
"Indications from him were that there is potential for further improvements on our relations," a source close to the meeting.
He acknowledged there was progress in resolving "outstanding issues."
VP Mujuru called on the US to lift the sanctions and to acknowledge the existence of the inclusive Government.
Ambassador McGee replaced Mr Christopher Dell as ambassador to Zimbabwe in July 2007, following his appointment by the George W Bush administration.
Like his predecessor, Mr McGee worked towards achieving an illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.
In his testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations in the US Senate in September 2007, Mr McGee claimed there was a deep reservoir of democratic knowledge, capacity, and desire in Zimbabwe that needed continued support to challenge the Government.
He said the US would use all tools at its disposal to "achieve the results we seek".
The ambassador boasted that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act and illegal sanctions had increased pressure on the Zanu-PF Government.
During his two-year stay in Zimbabwe, Mr McGee was on a spirited campaign to demonise the Government ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off.
He has been US ambassador in the Comoros, Madagascar and Swaziland.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, JAMES MCGEE, JOICE MUJURU
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McGee back to military to specialise on Zim
Tue, 05 May 2009 12:06:00 +0000
THE outgoing United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee has told a South African newspaper that he will be
going back to work in the military and his "speciality" will be Zimbabwe.
Asked what was in store for him when he returns to the US, Ambassador McGee told Mail and Guardian newspaper, "I'm going back to the US military, and my speciality will be Zimbabwe. Asked what this meant, McGee said, "You'll find out!"
The US ambassador who was taunted in the Herald newspaper when news of his imminent departure was announced slammed President Mugabe's Zanu PF party for what he termed "their continued mismanagement during the move to a unity Government".
"We want to see all the Government of National Unity partners observing the letter of the agreement," said McGee.
"That means improvements in the rule of law, which is not happening. Farm invasions are continuing; in fact, two farm workers were shot by police two days ago -- two black farm workers trying to make a living. Now what kind of rule of law is that? You're told by one group of authorities you can return to the farm and you're shot by another set of authorities."
McGee was less optimistic about the role of the MDC party in the inclusive Government. He said that party did not have enough clout in government to push for more reforms.
"Zanu PF controls the Central Bank and the security apparatus, and that's very important. The MDC controls Parliament, finance and local governments.
"Zanu-PF still has the ability to say 'we will do what we want', and there's nothing the MDC can do about it. This is where I talk about the lack of political will. And what can the MDC do about it? Their options are limited."
McGee said in spite of all criticism that the US was not forthcoming in its support of the inclusive Government, the country had poured in billions of dollars in assistance to ZImbabwe.
"We've put $1.5-billion into Zimbabwe since 2000 and donor countries combined have brought in a total of $5-billion. In the last year alone the US gave $250-million to Zimbabwe and we want to increase that funding this year. So it's not fair to say the US is not doing enough to assist Zimbabwe. We are doing a hell of a lot."
The outgoing ambassador also said comments in the media that he was friends with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai only were misplaced.
Media reports suggested that because the MDC leader played golf with McGee, he was a partial figure in Zimbabwean politics -- sympathetic only to the MDC.
McGee said there are a lot more Zanu PF officials he plays golf with.
"A lot has been said about Jim McGee playing golf with Morgan Tsvangirai. But I have relationships with senior Zanu PF officials. Just this last week I was playing golf with two senior Zanu PF figures. And if you keep your eyes open in early May you might see two Zanu PF ministers, Morgan and Jim McGee, playing golf together in a charity tournament."
McGee reiterated that the US had not shifted its stance on Zimbabwe and that relaxation of travel warnings did not amount to a shift in policy on Zimbabwe.
"Lifting travel warnings does not represent any real change in US position on Zimbabwe," said McGee. "I saw a story saying Obama is taking a different direction and that's why I'm leaving. That's not true. The president re-signed the laws that said we will maintain sanctions on Zimbabwe. Is that a different line?"
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, NEOCOLONIALISM, ZIMBABWE
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McGee, Pocock do not deserve any respect
Marondera
EDITOR — Like I have always argued, The Herald has been, and will always be, my newspaper of choice as long as it remains objective as currently reflected through its nationalistic policies.
I refer to the article by Eddie Cross in Wednesday’s issue of your paper in which he raised issues which, if not handled properly, evoke emotions that are better left in the past.
Cross, the way I see it, is very misinformed because he has not read Zimbabwe’s national newspaper in 10 years and I doubt if then he ever listened to or watched national radio and television stations other than the dubiously broadcasting ghost stations that illegally beam into the country.
He portrays ambassadors James McGee (United States) and Andrew Pocock (Britain) as figures who determine the destiny of Zimbabweans, something which is very false.
These two ambassadors’ governments played a very serious role in accepting the request by Cross and friends to have illegal sanctions imposed on this nation with the idea of Cross himself letting Zimbabwe "crash and burn" so that he would come in like the saviour.
The reason why Cross and friends crafted the sanctions on behalf of these two’s governments was because Zimbabwe had dared repossess land illegally acquired and held by Cross and his white friends, this time not with the black ones who helped him knit the sanctions proposals.
These sanctions destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy to an extent that had never been witnessed in our history.
We all remember McGee’s predecessor, Christopher Dell, swearing that our Government would collapse in six months because he knew the effect that the evil sanctions were having on the country’s economy.
Cross demands that we must respect the two ambassadors because they are our guests, but since when did guests start behaving as if they were the hosts? With such kind of behaviour, will guests get the respect they deserve?
I doubt that very much.
Cross tries to drag President Barack Obama into this whole saga, but does the good president hold the same view on Zimbabwe as that held by George W. Bush whom we all know had assigned McGee here for the specific purpose of making sure President Mugabe was taken out of office at whatever cost?
Cross should bear in mind that with land evenly redistributed and with no sanctions in place, even our dogs and chickens would never sniff at the bait his friends are using for our people to view our Government negatively.
He sympathises with those ministers who are going around pleading with the West to remove sanctions, but if McGee and Pocock are as holy as Cross alludes to, would these ministers really have to be begging the way that they are doing?
I don’t think so, especially considering what role was played by who in crafting these sanctions and statements like "chitongai tione".
Cross is just trying to create a storm in a teacup, but I would suggest that the best way for us to benefit from McGee and Pocock’s governments is for them to remove sanctions without us pleading so that we farm our own food on our own land just like the British grow their own food on their own soils in Europe and see if we will ever queue for food handouts again.
Cde Jairos Tapfuma.
Marondera.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, ANDREW POCOCK, EDDIE CROSS, JAMES MCGEE, LAND REFORM, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS
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Inclusive Government fails to curry favour with the West
Farai Mutungi - Opinion
Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:45:00 +0000
DEAR EDITOR - The inclusive Government has failed to curry favour with the major players in the West. Not only is this an indictment on Zimbabwe's right to self-determination, but is a slap in the face to Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai who was a friend of the West not so long ago.
US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee made it a point on Monday that the US would not lift sanctions against Zimbabwe. Many of those people who argued that sanctions were "targetted" only against individuals should now realise that the US and the EU have been using sanctions as a stick with which to "whip Zimbabwe into line".
President Barack Obama said the US would extend sanctions for another year "to protect US national interests". What are these interests in relation to Zimbabwe? The suffering of the general Zimbabwe population is undoubtedly a concern of the US as it not in line with their national interest.
Those who naively thought the US, EU and their allies were concerned about Zimbabweans should now realise that the buck starts and stops with the Land Reform Program which sought to correct imbalances in land ownership and the distribution of the means of production in Zimbabwe.
It is interesting to note that not one Western country has invited Prime Minister Tsvangirai into their country since his inauguration as Prime Minister. Before the formation of the inclusive Government, PM Tsvangirai was a darling of the West. Now he is not! Now he travels more in the region, than he ever did before.
There is a deja vu feeling here. President Mugabe was once the darling of the West, so long as he left 1% of the white population owned 70% of the productive land in Zimbabwe. This was in line with Western interests.
Now that PM Tsvangirai and the MDC parties have agreed that the land acquisitions are irreversible and that the rule of law should prevail with regards to people like Roy Bennett, Jestina Mukoko and others, they are no longer "friends" of the West.
I hope that when Finance Minister Tendai Biti told Haru Mutasa of Al Jazeera that PM Tsvangirai "has friends across the world", he did not mean the erstwhile Western friends who won't even lift sanctions to help the poor. They only find friends who advance their national interests.
I welcome all new inclusive Government ministers to the real world. Interesting that as each day passes, they are getting less and less vocal.
_________________
Farai Mutungi
Leeds, UK
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS
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COMMENT - If the Zimbabwean economy was brought down by 'mismanagement', why would George Bush offer the architect of it's economic policies the position of Senior Vice President at the World Bank? The MDC/UK/USA are talking out of both sides of their mouths. Echoes of Confessions Of An Economic Hitman by John Perkins.
'McGee secretly met President Mugabe'
Our reporter
Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:45:00 +0000
THE United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee recently met with President Mugabe, although he pretends to the world that he has only met him once at the presentation of his credentials, The Sunday Mail reports. According to the paper, the meeting was facilitated by Reserve Bank Governor, Dr. Gideon Gono.
“Dr. Gono said
Mr McGee had turned the American Embassy into ‘a nerve centre of rumour-mongering’ despite the fact that he had the opportunity to get first-hand information about developments in the country from the President,” reports the paper.
The revelation is said to have come from Dr Gono’s recently published book, “Casino Economy” in which he calls McGee “reckless and irresponsible”.
Gono is quoted as saying Ambassador McGee was grateful for having the opportunity to meet President Mugabe and learn first hand the situation on the ground – a meeting that none of the Western ambassadors have had the opportunity to have.
“He seemed grateful about that given that he was the first and only ambassador from the powerful Western countries to have such an opportunity in a long time,” Dr. Gono was quoted as saying.
"I have no idea what he and President Mugabe discussed in their private meeting, but McGee seems to have been happy and satisfied with it although subsequently I was surprised and disappointed to see and hear him pretend to the public that he had never met with President Mugabe except when he presented his credentials.
"My disappointment deepened when McGee started making direct and strident personal attacks on President Mugabe which sounded to me as orders given to him from Washington because I had first-hand information that he knew better and that he had had access to President Mugabe which he could develop and use constructively," wrote Dr Gono.
Dr Gono also claims that on July 25, 2008 he was approached by Ambassador McGee with an offer by US President George W. Bush to become Senior Vice President at the World Bank.
". . . I was both humbled and surprised to get an approach from Ambassador McGee on 25 July 2008 with an offer which he said was from President George Bush and Secretary (of State) Condoleezza Rice and the President of the World Bank for me to take a position in Washington as a Senior Vice-President of the World Bank."
Besides the job at the World Bank, Dr Gono was also offered a job at the African Development Bank also as a Senior Vice-President by the American government.
According to the Sunday Mail, Dr. Gono’s book is already sold out. 5 000 copies have been ordered and is being sold in Zimbabwe, South Africa, West and East Africa, United Kingdom and the US.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, GIDEON GONO, JAMES MCGEE, MUGABE, NEOCOLONIALISM
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COMMENT - This is the strategy the US and the MDC have decided upon - going back to claiming that there is an 'urgent' humanitarian crisis. Obviously they did not get all the ministries they wanted or needed to destroy the economy or government. If he was truly concerned, he would state that he wanted to see sanctions lifted.
US ambassador blames Zim govt for humanitarian crisis
Written by George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Saturday, November 22, 2008 9:02:24 AM
ZIMBABWE is facing a man-made food and health emergency, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee has said. And health minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has spread to nine of the country's 10 provinces.
According to a statement released by the US embassy in Harare, Ambassador McGee analyzed the Zimbabwean situation to journalists at the US state department via a videoconference.
"Zimbabwe is facing a man-made food and health emergency that is being exacerbated by the actions of its government and the government's failure to implement a power-sharing agreement with its political opposition, Ambassador McGee stated. "We're seeing the humanitarian situation here in Zimbabwe really go down the tubes."
He said according to estimates from the UN community, about 1.5 million Zimbabweans were at risk of food insecurity currently.
"And by the end of this crop season, that number could jump up to over five million people," Ambassador McGee said.
Ambassador McGee also highlighted the sanitation problems facing the country.
"There are now 294 confirmed deaths from cholera here in Zimbabwe," Ambassador McGee said.
He said Zimbabwe's health system had totally collapsed and medical professionals were not being paid.
"The three major hospitals here in Harare have closed," Ambassador McGee claimed. "In some places, police have been stationed outside of clinics to ensure that no one can enter the premises."_
Ambassador McGee stated that the overall heath and food situation was "frankly, intolerable," and was concurrent with the political impasse between ZANU-PF and MDC.
"I don't see anything that's going to alleviate these problems until the government of Robert Mugabe starts to act in good faith and deal with Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC faction in a true manner," Ambassador McGee said. "Mugabe's grip over the country has become stronger during the past year, thanks to continued political payoffs to subordinates and the self-interested loyalty of security force leaders whose "hands are absolutely as bloody as his."
He said the United States would continue to put pressure on President Mugabe's regime.
"Through targeted sanctions that are having an effect against ZANU-PF officials, whose foreign assets have been seized and who have been forced to take their children out of foreign schools," Ambassador McGee said. "Unless something does happen in the very, very near future, we have no choice but to become more difficult, tougher, on our sanctions."
Ambassador McGee said the Bush administration also would continue to work with the SADC, AU and the United Nations to encourage them to "spin up" their actions against President Mugabe's regime.
"SADC's negotiations that led to the September 15 power-sharing agreement between ZANU-PF and the MDC were "a watershed moment" for the group, but SADC needs to continue its pressure against the government to "ensure that the will of the people of Zimbabwe is met" and "that the agreement or unity government is established," Ambassador McGee said.
He said SADC should not recognise President Mugabe as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe unless the power-sharing agreement was implemented.
Ambassador McGee said Zimbabweans also needed to encourage change to help relieve their suffering.
"As much as we can help them with the humanitarian assistance, and as much as we try to assist them with our political stance against this country, if there's going to be meaningful change in Zimbabwe, it's going to occur because of peaceful, democratic change here within the country," said Ambassador McGee.
Meanwhile, the country's health minister Dr Parirenyatwa said the cholera cases had increased.
Dr Parirenyatwa said Harare remained the worst hit and that the majority of outbreaks in other provinces were being traced to those in Harare.
There have been no reported cases of the disease in Bulawayo.
"The ministry is battling to control unprecedented cholera outbreaks affecting the country. The current wave of cholera outbreaks began in September 2008 affecting Chitungwiza Municipality and has since spread to Budiriro suburb in Harare area, which is now the epicentre of the disease.
"All cholera outbreaks in Beitbridge, Karoi, Manicaland, Seke, Goromonzi and others, except in Mudzi, are being traced to Harare with Budiriro being the main source," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the first wave of the cholera outbreaks that started in January this year had resulted in cumulative 991 cases and 120 deaths.
But the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights insist that around 300 people have died.
Labels: JAMES MCGEE
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McGee, MDC meet before summit
Floyd Nkomo in Johannesburg, SA
Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:27:00 +0000
THE United States ambassador to Zimbabwe met with Movement for Democratic Change leaders just before the regional summit on Zimbabwe opened.
According to insider sources,
the US ambassador briefed the MDC leadership on the interests of the United States in the ongoing talks.
The summit of the Southern African Development Community was not open to members of the diplomatic corps. Ambassador McGee is believed to have come up with some terms of reference for the MDC.
A source in the opposition party who spoke to the Zimbabwe Guardian said, “McGee briefed the MDC about the development in the US and how the discussions in the ongoing talks would be affected by the election of a new President in America.”
“He reassured the MDC team that there would no fundamental shift in US policy, although the Republican party stood to be replaced by US President-elect, Barack Obama’s administration.”
McGee is due to step down as Ambassador to Zimbabwe in less than two months.
He met with the MDC’s international relations chief Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, MP Jameson Timba and legal advisor Innocent Chagonda before the summit opened.
Our source said the invitation to the briefing was not extended to the Zanu PF party.
It is also believed that former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell was also present in that meeting although he is currently serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan.
“We were surprised to see (Christopher) Dell at the venue. Last time I saw Dell was at the Harare airport in July last year,” said our source.
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, MDC, SADC
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Tsvangirai: With friends like these….
Nathaniel Manheru - Opinion
Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:40:00 +0000
TSVANGIRAI plays golf with James McGee. He likes it more than he likes anything else, his country included. This is why he will not hesitate to miss national regional fixtures for one more game with the American. Tsvangirai is the student, McGee the teacher. James McGee appears to relish the asymmetrical power relations fastening Tsvangirai to him.
He teaches our "prime minister-designate" how to swing his body-power for a good shot, or whatever golfers call it. This is why he agitates for so much power for Tsvangirai. Hailing from a history slavery and attendant powerlessness, McGee wonderfully feels his newfound power as his younger brother’s keeper. And his ward is poised to becoming the prime minister of a country which means what begins as power over one will end up being power over all.
It is a wonderful investment for imperial America, indeed a wonderful compensation for the power he personally never wields back home, may never wield after Zimbabwe. Sent by the world’s supposed only superpower, I am sure McGee relishes the colour twist which history occasions for him. Today he carries the burden of tutelage, thereby ensuring the "civilising mission" for once falls on black shoulders.
Serving Freedom House
It is a wonderful feeling and McGee is all over proclaiming the good news to the world. On October 16, he was in downtown Washington DC, selflessly measuring the prospects of democratic transition in Zimbabwe, in a wide ranging address to an NGO-dominated audience, put together for him by the Freedom House. Freedom House is white American Republican power deployed abroad, often acting unilaterally, untrammelled by international strictures which bind and inhibit state actors. Thanks to the Freedom House, many parts of the lowly world of men and women of colour today enjoy varying states of permanent un-freedoms, itself a condition most ideal for the preservation of American interests and dominance worldwide.
Cracks within Sadc
In that meeting, McGee made it clear America was singularly interested in effecting regime change in Zimbabwe, and stood heartily encouraged by cracks within Sadc which gave their programme good prospects. He mentioned two countries in Sadc on which America rested its hopes for achieving the desired regime change. Equally, the food shortages, challenges in the health and education sectors — all sired by illegal sanctions — bode so well for the regime change agenda. And in his reckoning, all these challenges were "man-made".
The audience did not have to sweat to guess the man who "made" these problems. But it certainly was not George Bush and his ZDERA. It certainly was not McGee and his golfing acolyte, Morgan Tsvangirai. It was not the potentates of Europe and America who had designed the ruinous sanctions; rather it was Robert Mugabe, the victim of those sanctions, who was being blamed. It made the envoy messianic and righteous.
The other side, the other Brown
On the other side of the Atlantic, on October 22, Malloch Brown — himself a citizen of bygone Rhodesia — was busy with a similar propaganda choreography in Britain’s upper house, the House of Hoary Lords. As in McGee’s act, this Brown’s agenda was similar, namely that of regime change. The language was as polite as Ian Smith could have used in describing Mugabe after the blasting of Rhodesian fuel tanks; Nkomo after the blasting of two viscounts, both at the height of the war. Back home, the MDC was doing slightly better than a sieve in leaking to the Press. Building up on Britain’s tentative effort at the UN Security Council a mere two weeks ago, the quislings made it clear they would be playing a hardball, if only to put matters above and beyond the detested Mbeki’s mediation effort. They want the whole action to shift to the African Union and the United Nations, their preferred "mediators". Basildon Peta carried this leak quite helpfully. Only yesterday, they grew bolder, with Tsvangirai telling OECD diplomats MDC would seek international "arbitration", not facilitation, in breaking the impasse. Recalling his history is in trade unionism, there is little wonder why Tsvangirai prefers "arbitration" to "facilitation".
Arbitration is a key word in trade union discourse. Little does our famous prime minister-designate know that in international relations, the term is especially reserved for mechanisms for resolving inter-state disputes, mostly of boundary or commercial nature. While we may be dealing with sincere ignorance, we must be alive to possibilities of "a giant’s robes on a dwarfish thief". Someone is feeling oversized here, a very unhelpful psychological state in negotiations.
The man without a corner.
Then you have the histrionic Mutambara and his "no troika without Tsvangirai" mantra. After that coquettish act at the Royal Villas of Mbabane, I started wondering whether or not to agree with the harsh verdict the MDC-T long passed on Mutambara, namely that "anopenga uyo, musamupe any Ministry".
Here was the leader of a vying faction of the MDC turning himself into an information officer of a rival faction, of a rival leader. I am fighting in Morgan Tsvangirai’s corner, he thundered. Indeed he was, for that is the only corner he has. As he made this filling performance, 52 of his councillors were busy crossing the floor to rejoin MDC-T, after roundly denouncing him. For me, Mutambara was completing his dismemberment, paying tribute to the paramount chief, after losing a bruising war, hoping for new favours. Is Welshman Ncube aware of the working truce between Mutambara and Tsvangirai, where the former acquiesces to MDC-T defections until there is no MDC-M? By that act, Mutambara followed what his ten MPs had started in Parliament when they could not support their own for MDC-T’s Moyo.
Royalty, no loyalty
All this would seem to suggest that for Morgan, things appear inexorably happy. And he has been showing it, either directly or via his minions, foremost Chamisa who has just recovered ground from Sibotshiwe. The MDC leader would not attend the meeting in Mbabane, we were told. He did not, in spite of the entreaty from His Majesty King Mswati who sent for him in his royal plane. The MDC would not attend the rescheduled Summit of the Troika in Zimbabwe, we were again told by Chamisa. All the time the problem was Robert Mugabe who could not see that the people of Zimbabwe are suffering, we were again told by Tsvangirai’s propaganda machinery. How Robert Mugabe, himself a victim of sanctions, becomes the one indifferent to sanctions-wrought sanctions, no one in MDC has quite said. The people’s suffering has become something the MDC can flaunt, hoping to escape the harsh and deserved verdict that they brought it about in the first place.
Searching for a deadlock
They were more dimensions to this convolution. How could the Prime Minister of the country be without a passport, the MDC-T asked. Why was he not getting a diplomatic passport, they added. Why were his inalienable human rights being violated by the Registrar General, still they asked. An ETD (emergency travel document) was downright humiliation, clear indication Zanu-PF was not negotiating in good faith, they again cried. He did not have cash to pay for the ETD, cried the dutiful Mangoma. But the ETD does not include South Africa where the "president" must pass through to pick up members of his delegation, they added. And since it is an ETD, where will the "president" sit while waiting for the flight to Swaziland, they again added, making it clear there was nothing rhetorical about the question.
Why did Mugabe fly on a State plane, leaving him behind, still they asked. It was a self-replicating barrage which suggested a determination to find an excuse. And at every stage, the Registrar General was most polite and accommodative. The ETD was organised for him on a Sunday; the cash upfront requirement for average Zimbabweans was waived; a second destination of South Africa was added on the ETD. Still the man would not go, to a chorus of approval from an obliging media.
Red herring or red passport?
Just what is the issue here? Is it about travel? Is it about a passport? Is it about a diplomatic passport? Is it about destinations? Is it about human rights? Is it about planes? Is it about talks? What is the real issue? For our average media it is about the passport, more accurately about the respect Zanu-PF and its Government are supposed to show to a man about to be the country’s Prime Minister. I wish that was the issue.
Let’s clear obvious points regarding this non-matter. Tsvangirai had all he needed to travel. Indeed he had used this very documentation to go places. That could not have been an issue. Secondly, a passport is not a right, which is why all passports the whole world over belong to Governments of given States. That holds true for America as it does for UK where all passports belong to the Government of Her Majesty. It is no different here. It will not be, merely because there is a man about to be a Prime Minister but not quite one yet. There is a backlog at the passport office, which is growing by the day. It stands at upward of 130 000, with many eager applicants having been on the waiting list for periods longer than the gallivanting Tsvangirai. The needs of these applicants are even more basic: travelling to neighbouring countries to buy necessaries.
Contrast that with Tsvangirai whose passport fills up on sanctions-buying trips. And anyway, why should he jump the queue? Why should he escape the shortages arising from the very sanctions he so loves? Is it very bad to pay the guy with his own coin? It is very lame for Financial Gazette to suggest a brand new passport flies to Tsvangirai to buy him into playing a constructive role in the talks. It smacks of blackmail.
Anyway, if he thinks we owe him regard as country’s Prime Minister, let him become one by concluding this one matter between him and premiership. It does not have to end up in Swaziland or any such country. It does not. But he wants more. He wants a diplomatic passport. For which Government? For which diplomacy? Sanctions-getting diplomacy. Let us reflect a bit.
With friends like these….
Let me pose a simple question: If you had George Bush, Gordon Brown, the EU leaders on your side, would you negotiate with any of your enemies, however strong? If you think you have the support of Jacob Zuma, of the Sadc chair, of the AU chair, of the UN Secretary General, of Botswana, of Tanzania, would you sit down to jaw-jaw with your enemies? With friends like these, who needs talks?
Tsvangirai’s cockiness comes not from the power he wields in the country; it comes from the powers that he knows and thinks are behind him. They look formidable; they look numberless, which is why he flaunts them with reckless abandon. Their support to him is unconditional, which is why he can afford to abuse everyone, Sadc institutions included. That — not the so-called Zanu-PF’s clinging to power — is what will wreck the talks. And when his American and British masters do not come for Government briefings, as happened yesterday, the message encouraging obstinacy clearly rings home. Equally, when envoys accredited to this country attempt to refuse to present credentials to the Head of State until a bit of twisting, clearly the man cannot help but feel big-headed. After all both the British and Americans have made it clear nothing short of Mugabe’s departure settles the matter.
Ten to one
Let me spill a few more beans. The dispute between MDC and Zanu-PF is great or small, depending on who in MDC you speak to. To Chamisa, it is up to 10 ministries, plus ten governors. To Khupe — and that again depends on where she is — it is one ministry of Home Affairs. Still to others within the MDC, it is three ministries. And in all this, an impression is created Zanu-PF has been obdurate, starkly refusing to shift. And the obduracy is explained by two factors, as far as the MDC propagandists are concerned: hardliners in Zanu-PF who now hold President Mugabe hostage; former President Mbeki who is incurably pro-Zanu-PF and thus a very bad mediator.
The former includes entrenched generals and politicians who fear investigations for crimes allegedly committed in the past. To protect themselves, they want Zanu-PF to retain the investigative mandate wielded by the Police, we are copiously told. No regard is given to the fact that the office of the Police Commissioner General is a constitutional one, which may never be subjected to the whims of any one minister. That is one office which no minister controls. In respect of the latter, Mbeki should be replaced by Jacob Zuma, the current President of South Africa or by an arbitrating team of eminent world statesmen. Or by the AU and UN. But are these the facts?
Remarkable compromises
No, never! It is a fact that since Mbeki’s return into the country, the whole facilitation effort of Mbeki has been to get Zanu-PF to make more concessions to the rapacious MDC-T. Zanu-PF made a major concession in respect of the Finance portfolio. That left just one portfolio outstanding, that of Home Affairs. And let it be recorded that Zanu-PF made yet another major concession in respect of Home Affairs portfolio, which included co-managing it with MDC as suggested by the facilitator. The MDC-T rejected this starkly.
They wanted it all. Armed with these concessions from Zanu-PF, Mbeki had no presentment of the debacle to follow. Woefully, he had misread MDC-T battle to have been that for the control of a given set of ministries. And let history record that the four days President Mbeki was here only one matter was discussed, that of Home Affairs. In reality, the MDC was looking for a talks-breaking issue as a way out of an agreement that turned out sour for their constituency. They still are looking for such a pretext to this day. Who would not, with friends like these?
Keeping the closet
Let us get impertinencies out of the way. There are a lot of ugly things that happened within the MDC during campaigns for harmonised elections and of the run-off. Boldly put, MDC-T fratricidally killed many of its activists who had offended a few people in the hierarchy, or who happened to work for different vying factions within the formation. One particularly bloody case involved activists who ran away with a massive purse of foreign currency belonging to a senior MDC official and his wife. The culprits were slaughtered in cold blood and the matter was blamed on Zanu-PF.
Today the police do have full facts of the matter, and the MDC is aware of it. Then you have senior MDC officials behind inter-party violence who are either on the run or facing cases, which are pending. I do not need to refer to those facing higher charges. Even more serious is the matter to do with youngsters MDC-T was training in South Africa and other places, apparently hoping to launch an armed struggle. These have to melt back into the country, with no questions asked. The MDC badly needs to control a security ministry, and especially Home Affairs, to take care of its wide miscellany of fears. No one fears the reopening of the issue of party violence more than the MDC. So let not the media give easy answers to matters which in fact quite complex and carrying deep fears of the MDC. It is no paragon. It does not want the cupboard opened.
His real keeper
Morgan Tsvangirai knows he badly needs the goodwill of the command. He has tried hard to charm them; tried hard to charm those he thinks can charm them for him. It has not worked. He knows fully well that he cannot govern this country for a single minute without the man who commands the veterans.
He knows what is at stake; he knows we have a political security structure here whose loyalty is fiercely sworn to the ideals of the struggle he allegedly so infamously undermined. The matter was put quite graphically to Fraser by a regional leader who knows Zanu-PF well: do Americans think for once that Tsvangirai can govern or even "live" in Zimbabwe without Mugabe? That was his own way of putting it across to the Americans and the responsibility is his.
Which mediation, which mediator?
Let us not kid ourselves, when the chips are down, not one country in Southern Africa can handle Zimbabwe. The present mediation effort has largely succeeded because Zanu-PF reserves deep respect for South Africa and President Mbeki’s person. I happen to know that even the latest concessions made by Zanu-PF would not have come about under a different mediation.
Facilitators are not imposed on countries, still less on parties with the history that Zanu-PF has. So you do not just jettison this facilitator and pull out another like you are getting dry nuts from your pocket. It does not work like that. Zimbabwe is a sovereign country and will have to agree to mediation and to mediators.
I notice Tsvangirai seems to realise that fact, which is probably why he says a new mediator, would have to be agreed to by both Zanu-PF and his party. Except he benchmarks the matter one step faster. Zanu-PF will have to agree that Mbeki must go, that a new facilitator must come. Zanu-PF has to agree that more mediation must continue at all after the collapse of the current round of talks.
Indulgent or weak?
It has many options including some, which are quite unpalatable. It could very well choose to go back to the people for a clearer mandate. I notice MDC is throwing that up not because it prefers it, but because it fears Zanu-PF could so decide. MDC has to be careful what it wishes for as it might just get it.
I notice people like Chamisa have not posed to imagine what kind of a Zimbabwe they will wake up to once the talks have collapsed. Zanu-PF is in the talks not for want of options, but because it prefers an inclusive political settlement. More dire options are available. Let no one think that should things come to a head there will be any hesitation. Which is why MDC-T must never confuse Zanu-PF’s indulgence with weakness.
Peace-making or peace-breaking?
Given the present state of political and security matters in the region, the only State with the competence and experience for a peacekeeping and peace-making role in the region is Zimbabwe. I dread to imagine that capacity being turned the other way, namely as a peace-breaking proposition. Should that happen — and God forbid — those quarters, which have been pretending militant solidarity with MDC-T, will go quiet. They stand no chance. The environment will be very grave and forbidding. So the MDC must never overrate its friends who can only go so far, do so much, with Zanu-PF’s tolerance. Except the region will not allow that dire eventuality of peace breaking, not for Zimbabwe’s sake but for its own sake.
Today, Sadc faces real threats of implosions and possible annexationist wars. An implosion could visit a very unlikely country. It is clear where the onus of peace-enforcement will lie. Countries in the region need Zimbabwe’s peace-enforcement capacity to deter aggression; to help restore order and keep the regional peace. I make this point in view of glib references to military interventions in respect of the Zimbabwe question. Zimbabwe can never be pacified by its neighbours; it can only be invaded by outsiders through them, to very dire consequences.
Sanctions boomerang
Equally, there is a glib reference to sanctions against Zimbabwe by Sadc countries, possibly led by a South Africa different to that under Mbeki. You see arguments crafted by thinking fingers and toes, never by brains. With Zimbabwe being where it is geographically, it cannot be a country for African sanctions. Only Europe can sanction Zimbabwe, the way it already is doing. This is a sober fact of geography — geo-economics to be exact.
How would South Africa impose sanctions against Zimbabwe without throttling its north-bound trade with the rest of Africa? Just how? And for what, for whom? Uncle Brown? And even then has anyone stopped to think of the relationship between a harmonious South Africa where the powerful white man behaves well, and a strong, assertive Zimbabwe across the Limpopo setting pace for social transformation for the rest of the region?
I don’t like Mondays
Then you have this yarn about Tsvangirai holding the key to Western donor support. All this assumes post-inclusive Zimbabwe will pursue pro-Western policies, does it not? It also assumes a West which has a surplus capital to donate, does it not? It assumes a West which is the sole donor player and market, does it not?
I found it interesting that Iceland is bailed out by Russia. Does anyone in the MDC follow these events? True, there will not be a shift of US policy towards under Obama or McCain, in that order. But US hostility whilst not diminishing, will certainly be blunted by other factors. In fact this has already begun.
I should not be tempted to say more on this matter as that scuppers "things" underway. Before long, Zanu-PF will not be an underdog. Which takes me to my central thesis: with friends like these, Tsvangirai needs an enemy like Zanu-PF to enter into a national agreement. It is not the goodness of Bush, Brown or the combined EU, which will make him constructive in the talks; it is the strength of Zanu-PF which will. That is why that strength must be nurtured to full growth for a definitive way forward. I don’t know what Monday will do. Certainly I know the aftermath. Icho!
The Herald
Labels: JAMES MCGEE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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McGee admits playing golf with Tsvangirai
Our reporter
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:53:00 +0000
THE U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee has admitted playing gold with Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai in an interview with SW Radio Africa – a shortwave radio station beaming into Zimbabwe from London. McGee was confronted over the golf course match-ups with the former trade union leader by SW Radio Africa’s Violet Gonda in an interview on Friday.
McGee revealed the news in an interview with Violet Gonda in an interview on the Hot Seat programme on Friday.
McGee described Tsvangirai as “new to the game”, but said during the matches they were “not talking matters of State, we are talking about our poor golf swing” and that these matches were an opportunity to ““walk and talk (with Tsvangirai) for four hours”.
McGee also said that he will not stop playing golf with the Prime Minister-designate regardless of how politicians in the ruling party view that relationship.
“I did play golf with Morgan Tsvangirai and I have played golf with Morgan Tsvangirai before and I will continue to play golf with Morgan Tsvangirai,” said McGee.
“Despite the fact that people think we work 24 hours a day, we don’t,” McGee continued. “We do need to unwind and have some social relaxation. I enjoy playing golf with Morgan Tsvangirai.
The U.S. Ambassador added that “the idea behind diplomatic involvement in any country was to be involved with the government and the people who occupy seats in government in that particular country”, referring to the time he spent with Tsvangirai.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, JAMES MCGEE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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Mugabe's fury as US envoy admits playing golf with Tsvangirai
By Staff Reporter
Posted to the web: 06/10/2008 01:06:53
ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been playing golf with the American ambassador in the heat of delicate power sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe, it is revealed today. Mugabe who accuses Tsvangirai of being a western puppet is said to be angry at what he sees as American interference in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs.
By playing golf with Ambassador James McGee, the US’ top envoy in Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai will not help lower the level of distrust between him and Mugabe as he readies to take the post of Prime Minister in a new inclusive government.
McGee was confronted over the golf course match-ups with the former trade union leader by SW Radio Africa’s Violet Gonda in an interview on Friday.
He admitted that he had been playing golf with Tsvangirai whom he described as “new to the game”, but he insisted they were “not talking matters of State, we are talking about our poor golf swing.”
McGee said he found golf as an opportunity to “walk and talk (with Tsvangirai) for four hours”.
“I did play golf with Morgan Tsvangirai and I have played golf with Morgan Tsvangirai before and I will continue to play golf with Morgan Tsvangirai,” the ambassador said after Gonda challenged him on “an allegation that you recently played golf with Mr Tsvangirai and that Mr Mugabe was very unhappy about this”.
McGee said Mugabe had not personally communicated his anger over his games with Tsvangirai because the two do not talk. He however said he “got that second hand” that Mugabe was privately indignant.
The envoy insisted “the idea behind diplomatic involvement in any country was to be involved with the government and the people who occupy seats in government in that particular country”, justifying the time he spends with Tsvangirai on the golf course.
Asked if he had invited other political leaders to play with him apart from the MDC leader, McGee said he had played “some of the leading figures here in Zimbabwe”, including Zanu PF officials whom he would not name.
“Despite the fact that people think we work 24 hours a day, we don’t,” McGee said. “We do need to unwind and have some social relaxation. I enjoy playing golf with Morgan Tsvangirai.
“I have been playing the game of golf for almost 50 years and Morgan and I find this an opportunity to walk and talk for four hours. Again we are not talking matters of State; we are talking about our poor golf swing.”
In May this year, Mugabe threatened to expel McGee from Zimbabwe, accusing the envoy of interfering in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs.
"I am just waiting to see if he makes one more step wrong. He will get out," Mugabe said.
Delicate power sharing talks between Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and the two MDC factions are expected to conclude this week with the appointment of a 31-member cabinet.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, JAMES MCGEE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NEOCOLONIALISM
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