Zimbabwe features among the confidential documents released online by WikiLeaks, a whistle blower website, on Sunday. In a 2007 confidential diplomatic cable on Zimbabwe, the then-outgoing American ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, penned about the US policy on Zimbabwe as follows:
“Having said my piece repeatedly over the last three years, I won’t offer a lengthy prescription for our Zimbabwe policy. My views can be stated very simply as stay the course and prepare for change.”
While Dell’s blunt assessment of Robert Mugabe and key political figures in Zimbabwe holds truths, the cable contains no damaging surprise as far as the US’s Zimbabwe policy is concerned. But what is also true is that this WikiLeaks release handed the ruling ZANU-PF fresh ammunition against the opposition parties, especially Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party which is vying to unseat Mugabe from power.
Firstly, ZANU-PF will say that the documents confirmed what they have been saying all along, that the United States was advocating a policy of “regime change” in Zimbabwe, which the US has been publicly denying. It is this “regime change” theory that Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF cronies have been using as a tool to intimidate, instill fear, and mobilize their support-base in Zimbabwe and outside the country, especially in neighboring African countries. The fear of befalling the same fate is the prime motive why some African leaders would buy into the “regime change” theory. But for many ordinary Zimbabweans and Africans in general, the notion of regime change smacks of colonialism, imperialism, and Cold War manipulations. There is a general perception throughout the continent that the US and the West through regime change policies during the Cold War era have assisted in the overthrowing of genuine African leadership (remember Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkuruma!) and replacing them with puppet leadership such as Mobuto and other dictators who have haunted the continent.
Secondly, not only may Morgan Tsvangirai, supposedly US ally, be displeased with his American report card (which calls him, among other things, flawed, indecisive and lacking in executive experience), but also Robert Mugabe may be smiling all the way through as well. Why? The tone and language used by Ambassador Dell to describe Morgan and MDC seem to be a mirror image of the same opinions and sentiments Mugabe has been saying about his main political rival and the MDC.
Here is Ambassador Dell again:
“Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai (now the Prime Minister) “is a brave, committed man and, by and large, a democrat. He is also the only player on the scene right now with real star quality and the ability to rally the masses. But Tsvangarai (sic) is also a flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable judgment in selecting those around him. He is the indispensable element for opposition success, but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power. In short, he is a kind of Lech Walesa character: Zimbabwe needs him, but should not rely on his executive abilities to lead the country’s recovery.”
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