Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the Southern African Development Community as the guarantors of Zimbabwe’s transitional inclusive government must live up to its responsibility by ensuring that all parties to the Global Political Agreement abide by the letter and spirit of that agreement.
He said this two years ago when he met Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila who was SADC chairman at the time.
Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change had “pulled out” of the inclusive government accusing the Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front of being “dishonest and unreliable”.
He went on a regional tour to press Southern African leaders to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to abide by the GPA.
There has been speculation that Mugabe regards himself as Joseph Kabila’s godfather because of the support he gave to his father Laurent Kabila but United States officials felt that Kabila now understood that Mugabe had become an embarrassment for SADC.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09KINSHASA968, Tsvangirai Seeks More Active SADC Involvement in
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Reference ID |
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Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO0340
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0968 2991729
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261729Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0244
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000968
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
SUBJECT: Tsvangirai Seeks More Active SADC Involvement in
Zimbabwean Impasse
REF: Kinshasa 826
¶1. (SBU) Following Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan’s Tsvangirai’s
October 22 meeting with DRC President Joseph Kabila, Seraphin Ngwej,
Ambassador-at-large in the presidency, said that Tsvangirai had
briefed the DRC President on the current situation in Zimbabwe,
including his decision to freeze relations with the Mugabe camp.
Ngwej added that Tsvangirai pressed SADC (and by extension the SADC
Chairman) to take a more active involvement in finding a political
resolution to the internal Zimbabwean crisis. Kabila, according to
Ngwej, would travel with Mozambican President Guebuza, who chairs
SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defense, and Security, to Harare in the
coming days to evaluate the situation.
¶2. (SBU) Tsvangirai pointed to the DRC’s experience with political
transition as something from which Zimbabwe could learn. He added
that as “guarantors of Zimbabwe’s transitional inclusive government,
SADC must live up to its responsibility by ensuring that all parties
to the agreement abide by the letter and spirit of that agreement.”
A Tsvangirai aide said that Kabila promised to “actively resolve the
crisis.”
¶3. (SBU) Kinshasa press speculated that Tsvangirai was concerned
because Kabila, as SADC Chairman, had not taken the initiative to
engage on the Zimbabwean crisis. Robert Mugabe, according to one
press report, had always fashioned himself as Joseph Kabila’s
godfather, pointing to the Zimbabwean president’s political and
military support for Laurent Kabila. Pro-government press hailed
Tsvangirai’s visit as an indication that the DRC’s experience with
political transition could serve as a model for Zimbabwe.
¶4. (SBU) Comment: It is not clear how active the GDRC will want to
be on the Zimbabwe issue given contradictory influences playing on
its Zimbabwean policy (reftel). There are many who remember the
support Mugabe gave Laurent Kabila in his time of need and there are
still commercial contacts stemming from this period. However, the
GDRC appears to clearly understand that Mugabe has become an
embarrassment for SADC. The GDRC will continue to take its lead
from the South African Government, which appears to moving towards a
more noticeable SADC involvement in resolving the crisis. End
comment.
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