The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Member of Parliament for Mazowe North, Cairo Mhandu, is reported to have “gone mad” as a result of his involvement in the violence in the run-up to the presidential elections run-off of 2008.
Movement for Democratic Change MP for Mazowe Central Shepherd Mushonga and MDC local councillor Martin Musemwa told United States embassy officials that Mhandu had gone mad because of the ngozi that was haunting him.
Mushonga said Mhandu wanted to give a cow to the family of one of the victims of the 2008 violence in Chaona where six people died from their extensive injuries through one of the traditional leaders Chief Makope.
Chief Makope had, however, refused to serve as an intermediary, telling Mhandu to do it himself.
Mhandu never did.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE734, PEACE (BUT NOT PROSPERITY) RETURNS TO MAZOWE CENTRAL
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Reference ID |
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VZCZCXRO6850
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0734/01 2591055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161055Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4898
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3025
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3140
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1569
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2403
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2772
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3188
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5633
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2316
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000734
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR M. GAVIN
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND E.LOKEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PHUM ASEC PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: PEACE (BUT NOT PROSPERITY) RETURNS TO MAZOWE CENTRAL
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) During election violence that stretched across Zimbabwe in
2008, few areas were hit harder than the Mazowe Central constituency
in the heartland of Mashonaland Central province. We recently went
to the rural area to visit a site for a proposed project for the
Ambassador’s Self Help fund. We were impressed with the resilience
of the population and the peace that has returned to this area where
Ambassador McGee was briefly detained at a rural hospital in May
2008 while visiting violence victims. Before the March 2008
elections, all eight of the constituency’s councilors and were from
ZANU-PF. Now MDC has seven councilors and the MP, while ZANU-PF has
only one councilor. Although the new MP is optimistic about his
constituency’s future, he remains deeply concerned that ZANU-PF’s
intimidation structures remain intact and that he needs to deliver
improvements to ensure continued MDC support. END SUMMARY.
——————————————— —–
2008: Mazowe Central Turned Its Back on ZANU-PF…
——————————————— —–
¶2. (U) In the March 2008 harmonized elections, Mazowe Central, a
rural constituency of about 26,000 registered voters located an
hour’s drive north of Harare, turned dramatically away from ZANU-PF
and voted for the MDC. Before the election, the local NGO Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN) summarized the characteristics of
the constituency, which was created in 2008 from portions of the
Mazowe East and West constituencies. According to the ZESN report,
most of the youth in Mazowe Central were unemployed and relied on
subsistence farming. ZANU-PF had always been favored in this area,
and that support was strengthened with the initiation of the
so-called “fast-track” land reform program in 2000.
¶3. (U) Despite a tradition of supporting ZANU-PF, in the March 2008
elections Mazowe Central voted out seven of eight ZANU-PF councilors
and elected MDC-T’s Shepherd Mushonga as MP. Mushonga, a lawyer,
had run for office as an MDC-T candidate several times since the
party was formed in 2000. He won his seat by just 145 votes,
defeating the ZANU-PF candidate, Chenhamo Chimutengwende, who was
also the Minister of State for Public and Interactive Affairs and
had been an MP since 1985. With 59.7 percent of the vote, Morgan
Tsvangirai dramatically beat Robert Mugabe among Mazowe Central
voters.
———————————
… And Faced Violent Retribution
———————————
¶4. (SBU) After the March 2008 elections, violence struck hard in
Mazowe Central. In May 2008, Ambassador McGee led a caravan of
ambassadors and journalists to visit one of Mazowe Central’s rural
public hospitals, Rosa Clinic. Zimbabwean security forces attempted
to block the ambassadors from leaving the clinic. As a result of
the visit, images of the victims of rural election violence were
Qthe visit, images of the victims of rural election violence were
broadcast to the world. Mushonga was in hiding for several weeks
during the electoral period, fearing he might become a victim as
well. In a recent conversation, he praised Ambassador McGee’s
bravery in visiting the clinic and standing up to the security
forces, saying “we need more like him.”
¶5. (SBU) During a recent visit to Mazowe Central, we met one of the
newly-elected MDC councilors, Martin Musemwa. He told us that in
2008 ZANU-PF supporters stole property from his home including two
solar pnels, five goats, and 51 of his 54 chickens – the goats and
chickens were eaten by ZANU-PF youths or war vets at nearby bases.
Although he reported the stolen property to the police, no action
HARARE 00000734 002 OF 004
was ever taken. He felt somewhat vindicated, however, that the
ZANU-PF supporter who led the thuggery in his area had fled to South
Africa.
——————————
Is Spiritual Vengeance Enough?
——————————
¶6. (U) When we asked about retribution or justice for victims of
violence or theft during the 2008 election period, Musemwa and
Mushonga told us that Mazowe North MP Cairo Mhandu (ZANU-PF) had
“gone mad” (i.e. insane) as a result of his involvement in violence
in his constituency. On May 4, 2008 over 70 villagers were brutally
beaten and tortured during a ZANU-PF re-education session in Chaona,
in Mazowe North; six men died from their extensive injuries.
Mushonga told us that Mhandu later wanted to give a cow to the
family of one victim through one of the local traditional leaders,
Chief Makope. The chief reportedly refused to serve as an
intermediary, telling Mhandu to do it himself. Mhandu, however,
never did. Musemwa and Mushonga both seemed resigned that the
police would not investigate crimes from 2008, but also placated
that some perpetrators may face spiritual vengeance. (NOTE:
According to local traditional beliefs, vengeful spirits known as
“ngozi” come from people who were mistreated while alive or killed
without just cause. Many perpetrators of violence report they have
been haunted by the “ngozi,” who come back to exact revenge.
“Ngozi” are believed to be capable of causing disease and hardship
and may haunt the perpetrators to death if they are not appeased.
By presenting the family of the victim with a significant gift, such
as a cow, the perpetrator could hope to appease the “ngozi” who
haunt him. END NOTE.)
¶7. (U) According to Musemwa and Mushonga, calm has returned to the
area. Although there are reports that in other rural areas ZANU-PF
youths and war veterans have re-established bases or are holding
meetings and intimidating members of the opposition, none of these
things have happened in Mazowe Central. Zimbabwe Peace Project, a
local NGO that tracks human rights violations through a network of
local monitors, confirmed that Mazowe is “quiet” and that very few
cases of violence or intimidation have been reported in recent
months.
¶8. (SBU) Nonetheless, Musemwa and Mushonga told us that ZANU-PF
maintains its presence through 14,000 Ministry of Youth “Ward
Officers” deployed nationwide who were previously within the ranks
of the ZANU-PF youths. These “Ward Officers” are supposed to work
with local councilors to help distribute seed and other handouts
from the government. Most in the MDC and civil society view these
“Ward Officers” as a blatant effort by ZANU-PF to maintain a
conspicuous and threatening presence in rural areas that could
rapidly re-initiate intimidation and violence in the event of an
election or constitutional referendum. In his constituency,
Qelection or constitutional referendum. In his constituency,
Mushonga has identified MDC youths to work with the “Ward Officers”
to keep tabs on their activities. Although the MDC youths are not
paid and they are demoralized that the ZANU-PF youths are receiving
government salaries for essentially nothing, Mushonga believes his
efforts have stemmed ZANU-PF’s ability to use these youths
effectively. (NOTE: We have previously heard that many ZANU-PF
youths were absorbed into the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry of
Gender and Women’s Affairs. The Ministry of Public Service is
seeking to undertake a survey of all government employees, but it is
unclear if that survey will identify these individuals who are not
“ghost” workers, but rather government workers without a legitimate
job. END NOTE.)
————————————-
“Green Valley” Still Hungers for Help
————————————-
HARARE 00000734 003 OF 004
¶9. (SBU) Mushonga and Musemwa both lamented that the Mazowe area has
been labeled a “green valley” and was therefore not eligible for
food assistance. Although they admit the landscape was once covered
with fertile farms, now rural farmers struggle to scratch an
existence on subsistence plots. Many areas lack irrigation and most
of the rich commercial farms produce crops such as oranges and wheat
that are sold in Harare or exported. Musemwa told us that rural
shops lack adequate seed and fertilizer, and that if such goods were
available rural citizens would find a way to buy it.
¶10. (U) As we toured the prospective Self Help project — a new
borehole pump to supply the Bell Rock Primary School and surrounding
community with water — Musemwa estimated that 75 percent of the
school’s 600 students were orphans. School officials showed us the
school’s impressive garden where students and teachers grow
vegetables to help support the students’ participation in sports
competitions with nearby schools. The borehole pump, which was
installed in 1974 during the liberation war, functioned until 2007
when it finally broke after several years of neglect by the
parastatal Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), which took
over the borehole in 1999. For the last two years, students and
teachers have carried water from a river one kilometer away to water
the garden. The headmaster told us that many students were affected
by cholera during the nationwide epidemic last year.
¶11. (SBU) Although Mushonga believed Musemwa overestimated the
proportion of orphaned children at the school, he concurred that
many children in his area have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and live in
child-headed households or with their grandmothers. He regretted
that food assessments had labeled his area a “green valley,”
particularly in light of the large populaton of vulnerable
children. He told us that when he asked why his area was deemed
unworthy of food assistance, government officials told him that they
“had to say something was green” so as not to embarrass the
government.
¶12. (U) Mushonga and Musemwa lamented that the rural councils have
not been able to tax or levy households or businesses to improve
services. In many of these small communities, residents refuse to
give up their precious dollars to the council to improve services,
demanding instead that services be improved first before they will
pay.
¶13. (SBU) Although we explained to Mushonga that our ability to
provide assistance to additional projects in his constituency was
limited, he eagerly presented us with two more proposals:
construction and sanitation for a primary school and a clinic. With
the government struggling to pay bills, Mushonga has few options
other than to seek help from potential donors.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶14. (SBU) In 2008, the Self Help Coordinator could not visit Bell
Q14. (SBU) In 2008, the Self Help Coordinator could not visit Bell
Rock Primary due to widespread violence and the risk of travel in
the area. In a marked contrast from the Ambassador’s visit to Rosa
Clinic in May 2008, our visit in August 2009 attracted relatively
little attention, and the few police manning roadblocks lazily waved
us past without any questions. Our ability to travel freely is in
itself a testament to the dramatic change in the political climate.
The MDC officials in rural areas, such as Mazowe, feel pressure to
deliver on improved services in substantive ways. Although donors
continue to support the Zimbabwean people through humanitarian
assistance, some areas believe they are neglected by national-level
efforts. If Mushonga and his MDC colleagues can’t deliver better
services, will the rural population be more easily convinced to vote
for ZANU-PF again? END COMMENT.
HARARE 00000734 004 OF 004
PETTERSON
(87 VIEWS)
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