Mangoma said Zimbabweans must rely on themselves

Former Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said Zimbabweans must rely on themselves to find a solution to problems in the country because the Southern African Development Community was largely ineffective.

He also said he did not support the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme because the inclusive government was working to regularise operations at Chiadzwa.

Mangoma, now Energy Minister and one of the Movement for Democratic Change negotiators, said he had few expectations from SADC because many SADC leaders, like Mugabe, were dictators or belonged to dominant parties.

It was therefore up to the MDC and the Zimbabwean people to extricate Zimbabwe from its crisis.

Mangoma said he was opposed to the suspension of Zimbabwe from the KP because the government had set up an inter-ministerial task force to bring order to Marange and he was confident that the task force would restore order.

The task-force included Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube and Mangoma himself.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 09HARARE726, CHARGE’S MEETING WITH ELTON MANGOMA

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000726

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STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2019

TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ECON EMIN ZI

SUBJECT: CHARGE’S MEETING WITH ELTON MANGOMA

Classified By: CDA Donald Petterson for reason 1.4 (d)

——-

SUMMARY

——-

¶1. (C) Minister of Economic Development Elton Mangoma on

September 10 discussed current political and economic events

with the Charge. He believes SADC is largely ineffective and

that the MDC and Zimbabweans must rely on themselves. The

constitutional process and other elements of the Global

Political Agreement (GPA) are hampered because of inadequate

funding. Negotiations toward an investment treaty with South

Africa are proceeding slowly; the treaty is necessary to

increase trade and build investor confidence. Indigenization

laws, while off-putting to investors, are politically

untouchable, but the MDC can effectively regulate them to

allow investment. Finally, the MDC does not favor a

suspension of the Kimberly Process as the government is

moving to regularize the Chiadzwa fields. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (SBU) The Charge called on Minister of Economic

Development Elton Mangoma at his office on September 10.

Mangoma, who was one of the MDC negotiators of the GPA,

remains part of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s inner

circle.

—————–

No Help from SADC

—————–

¶3. (C) Noting that SADC had not conducted a six-month review

of the GPA, as it indicated it would in its January

Extraordinary Summit, Mangoma said he had had few

expectations for the recently-concluded SADC Summit in

Kinshasa. Many SADC leaders, like Mugabe, were dictators or

belonged to dominant parties. The SADC Troika (of the Organ

on Politics, Defence, and Security), which Mangoma believed

would now consider GPA issues, might do what the Summit had

not, but Mangoma was skeptical. Ultimately, it was up to the

MDC and the Zimbabwean people to extricate Zimbabwe from its

crisis.

———————————–

No Funds for Constitutional Process

———————————–

¶4. (C) Mangoma discussed the constitutional process and

related processes established by the GPA: national healing

and the establishment of commissions (media, electoral, human

rights, and anti-corruption). He said all were hampered by a

lack of funds. (NOTE: With regard to the constitution, UNDP

has so far provided USD 2 million for a process that the

Parliamentary Select Committee on the constitution has

estimated will cost USD 11.2 million. ZANU-PF has taken the

position, perhaps to stall the process, that funding should

not come from donors. END NOTE.)

—————————–

Investment and Indigenization

—————————–

¶5. (C) Mangoma said that negotiations for a bilateral

investment treaty with South Africa were proceeding slowly

due to ZANU-PF stalling. Since the treaty would prohibit

prospective expropriation, ZANU-PF was claiming it could

reverse land reform, and was demanding an audit to determine

how much land remained in white and South African hands

(presumably to take more land before signing the treaty).

Q(presumably to take more land before signing the treaty).

Mangoma opined that the treaty would boost investor

confidence, and that ZANU-PF was concerned that economic

activity would increase despite continuing sanctions, thereby

HARARE 00000726 002 OF 002

putting the lie to ZANU-PF’s argument that sanctions rather

than ZANU-PF policies were responsible for Zimbabwe’s

economic predicament.

¶6. (C) Mangoma commented that economic growth was important

for the success of the MDC; failure of the economy to grow

would strengthen ZANU-PF. He believed that development

without assistance would be difficult, although he projected

5 percent growth for this year and 10 percent for next year.

¶7. (C) Acknowledging that laws requiring that 51 percent of

investments be held by Zimbabweans could be a deterrent to

investment, Mangoma said it would be politically impossible

to repeal such laws. Nevertheless, he averred that his

ministry could regulate investment so as to allow flexibility

with regard to indigenization requirements.

———————–

Violence Still a Threat

———————–

¶8. (C) Mangoma stated economic reform was producing a

salutary effect on violence; with dollarization and an end to

printing money, there was less money available to pay youths

and others who had been responsible. The danger of violence

had not passed, however, and would continue to pose a threat

as long as perpetrators had not been brought to justice and

as long as there had been no reconciliation process between

perpetrators and victims.

———————————

The Kimberly Process and Chiadzwa

———————————

¶9. (C) The government had set up an inter-ministerial task

force that included the ministers of mines, (Obert Mpofu)

finance (Tendai Biti), industry and commerce (Welshman

Ncube), defense (Emmerson Mnangagwa) and economic development

(Mangoma) to bring order to the Chiadzwa diamond fields,

according to Mangoma. He said he and the others opposed

suspension from the process because he was confident the task

force could restore order — suspending Chiadzwa alone would

be difficult and would result in penalizing other areas, and

suspension of Zimbabwe as a whole would likewise penalize

areas where there were no problems.

——-

COMMENT

——-

¶10. (C) Negotiations on an investment treaty with South

Africa began after the formation of the inclusive government

last February. Chiadzwa likewise has been a longstanding

issue. Resolution of both these issues would bolster the

economy and increase government revenues. The failure to

resolve them is indicative of the ability of ZANU-PF to

frustrate the good intentions of MDC-led ministries.

PETTERSON

(30 VIEWS)

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