Security reform not GPA issue

The cables made it clear that the so-called security sector reform is neither a Global Political Agreement issue nor an MDC-T initiative but an American project meant to weaken the security sector in Zimbabwe before organising some form of Arab uprising in the likely event the MDC-T loses the next harmonised elections.

The call for security sector reform should therefore be read together with efforts by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to rope in former Nato Chief General Wesley Clark, his enticement of Chinese and Russian military support in exchange for minerals and the United Nations insistence on financing our electoral processes, in itself a way of trying to create an Ivory Coast situation in which United Nations forces find their way into the country in anticipation of an insurgent uprising.

It is also instructive to point out that the Americans are not going it alone in their quest to weaken the security sector in Zimbabwe, but have sought the assistance of one of our neighbours and efforts have been made to rope in China and other African states with diplomatic missions in Zimbabwe to advance the sinister “reformation” of our security services.

The cables reveal that former American Ambassador, Charles Ray, immediately after his arrival in the country did rounds meeting other ambassadors accredited here to sell the issue of security sector reform in order to depose President Mugabe. In a short period in 2009, Ray had met the German, South African, Tanzanian, Chinese, Bulgarian, European Union, Swedish, Norwegian, Democratic Republic of Congo and Algerian ambassadors, among others, trying to get a buy-in for his drive towards security sector reform.

In fact, Ray exposes America’s sinister motives behind its call for security sector reform in Zimbabwe in a cable wired on the same day (December 18 2009) after meeting then South African Ambassador Mlungisi Makalima. He stresses that “US support for security sector reform is important, but there should be no US fingerprints on the program to avoid arousing the suspicions of and possible disruption from hard-liners in Zanu-PF who continue to believe that our main aim is regime change.” Ray even stressed that “failure of SSR (security sector reform) could be catastrophic” to the Americas without really elaborating.

He, however, defines his role in the push for security sector reform as “quietly trying to pull all these components (Foreign Embassies) together to see if we can change a static situation in Zimbabwe for the better.”

His other meeting with the then German Ambassador is instructive in as far as it shows the real intentions of the Americans in their call for security sector reform.
In the meeting, Ray stresses that “there is a strong need in Zimbabwe for security sector reform, as without it, none of the efforts at political reform can be assured” and that America and its European allies need to work on this issue diligently and in concomitant efforts aimed at identifying “the next generation of leadership in Zimbabwe and start influencing them.”

Ray also notes that the Germany Ambassador agreed with him that “the PRC (People’s Republic of China) might even be useful in moving security sector reform forward” although he had earlier expressed reservations on talking about security sector reform with the Chinese Ambassador when he met him on December 18 2009 at the PRC Embassy.

In a December 18 2009 cable, Ray commented that “as this was my first meeting with the Chinese here, I stayed away from sensitive topics such as security sector reform” giving an indication that there is something sinister about the Americans’ pursuit of security sector reform.

Ray did not only meet ambassadors in his eager pursuit of security sector weakening but clandestinely, in the absence of other ambassadors at a luncheon he had with several other diplomats, met the leaders of a group formed by the Swedes to push for security sector reform called the Zimbabwe Peace and Security Programme (ZPSP). The group comprises Wilfred Mhanda, Jeremy Brickhill, Nyasha Masiwa and Bjorn Holbmerg, a senior consultant with SwedePeace, a Swedish NGO that supports ZPSP.

But the MDC-T has not been just an interested bystander, it has been preparing itself for a violent take-over of power. While Ray expressed his reservations on openly discussing security sector reform with the Chinese Ambassador, the MDC-T has been trying to lure China and Russia to its side in case a violent post-election uprising ensues and the United Nations Security Council is called in to intervene.

In a paper, titled “Cultivating Relations with Russia and China”, the Prime Minister’s Research and Development Department housed at number 14 Bath Road, makes it clear that the PM’s visit to China in April 2012, and his then proposed trip to Russia, were meant to establish links with the political leadership of these countries so that Russia and China, help “in assisting the Prime Minister achieve ‘smooth’ transfer of power.”