Gen Solomon Mujuru told President Robert Mugabe to step down on 10 March 2008 but Mugabe instead went ahead to tell the press that Mujuru was fully behind him and not former Finance Minister Simba Makoni who was the third presidential candidate.
According to a cable just released by Wikileaks, this information was disclosed to United States ambassador James McGee on 17 March by Mujuru’s political advisor and business partner and former legislator Tirivanhu Mudariki.
Three candidates were contesting the presidential elections which were scheduled for 29 March. They were Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change and Simba Makoni of Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn.
Mudariki said Mujuru was so pissed off with Mugabe that he might publicly declare his support for Makoni. He had so far delayed announcing this because he was afraid of jeopardising his wife’s position as vice-president.
Mujuru, he said, was an active supporter and advisor of Makoni. He had been travelling extensively throughout the country to gauge Makoni’s support and had concluded that the MDC’s Tsvangirai had the most support of the three major candidates.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE212, MUJURU SEEKS MUGABE’S RESIGNATION
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXYZ0021
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHSB #0212/01 0771553
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 171553Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2598
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1820
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1944
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0523
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1221
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1578
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2000
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4431
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1071
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000212
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S. HILL,
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2018
SUBJECT: MUJURU SEEKS MUGABE’S RESIGNATION
REF: HARARE 200
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (C) An advisor to General Solomon Mujuru reports that
Mujuru, in a meeting March 10 with President Robert Mugabe,
urged Mugabe to step down, Mugabe declined, subsequently
telling the press that Mujuru supported him and not
presidential candidate Simba Makoni. Mujuru is now
attempting to rally ZANU-PF politburo members to put
additional pressure on Mugabe at a scheduled Wednesday
politburo meeting to resign. Mujuru continues to actively
support Makoni, although he has not come out publicly. He
believes MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is now the favorite of
voters; Makoni will use the upcoming holiday weekend to
‘blitzkrieg” the country to build support. In the event of a
runoff between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, the Makoni forces will
urge support of Tsvangirai–the paramount objective is a
change in leadership. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) Tirivanhu Mudariki, a political advisor to Mujuru and
Mujuru’s principal business partner, told PolEcon chief on
March 17 that Mujuru had met with Mugabe on March 10 and
urged Mugabe to resign. He told Mugabe that he had little
support in the country; resignation would avoid an electoral
humiliation. (COMMENT: Mugabe subsequently told the press
Mujuru was supporting him and not Makoni, but this was
clearly not the case. See Harare 200. END COMMENT.)
¶3. (C) Mudariki stated that ZANU-PF had a politburo meeting
scheduled for March 19. Mujuru was in the process of lining
up members to place additional pressure on Mugabe to resign.
There could be “fireworks” at the meeting, If Mugabe did not
step down, there could be additional and public ZANU-PF
defections to Makoni by the end of the week. Mudariki hinted
that Mujuru would soon make his support public. He had not
done so earlier for fear of jeopardizing his wife’s position
as vice-president. (NOTE: We have also heard that Mujuru is
concerned that his going public with opposition to Mugabe
could result in his prosecution for corrupt business
practices. END NOTE.)
¶4. (C) Mudariki told us that Mujuru, who was an active
supporter and advisor of Makoni, had been traveling
extensively throughout the country to gauge Makoni’s support.
Mujuru had concluded that the MDC’s Tsvangirai had the most
support of the three major candidates. Mudariki acknowledged
that Makoni’s core support now came from intellectuals, the
middle class, and youth in the urban areas. He said Makoni
planned a “blitzkrieg” campaign this weekend throughout
Zimbabwe to try to introduce himself to rural voters.
¶5. (C) Mudariki was confident Mugabe would be defeated: “He
has no support.” In the event of a runoff between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, Mudariki believed Makoni supporters would back
SIPDIS
Tsvangirai. He commented that the major objective was to
SIPDIS
change current leadership, even if the result was a president
with whom he and like-minded individuals differ in
significant areas.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶6. (C) Mudariki’s comments on the relative strength of the
candidates tracks what we have been hearing in pre-election
trips around the country. Mugabe’s support within the
official ranks of ZANU-PF has been steadily eroding and rural
voters are disenchanted with the leadership that has resulted
in their present predicament. Makoni is still relatively
unknown in many areas of the country; his ability to increase
his support will depend on leaders such as Mujuru going
public. It appears increasingly the case that Mugabe can
save his presidency only through massive rigging. The
unanswered question is how his opponents would react to such
rigging. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(38 VIEWS)
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