UNDP ResRep in Zimbabwe informs on Mugabe's Health

Mugabe met UN expert on health woes

BY OUR STAFF (click here to view this article on www.thestandard.co.sw)

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe consulted a United Nations (UN) specialist about some of his medical problems, a leaked United States diplomatic cable has revealed. The claims by former UN resident representative Victor Angelo contained in the cable publicised by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks might be the most credible information yet about the octogenarian’s health, which is a closely guarded secret.

Angelo spoke to the former US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Joseph Sullivan.“According to Angelo, Mugabe’s ailments include periodic convulsions and stroke-like episodes (perhaps ischemia) brought on by diabetes and a lipid disorder which affects the covering of the brain,” Sullivan said in the dispatch.

“He apparently suffered one of these episodes several weeks ago, although he never left the country. “Mugabe can be revived rather quickly on such occasions, but does not need to be under constant observation since he can fall or suffocate during the episode.”

There have been reports of Mugabe collapsing in the past. In 2000, Mugabe fell and cut his head near the right eye during an international conference in Malaysia.
He needed six stitches to close the cut, which he suffered after slipping and bumping against a rail on arrival on the island.

Despite wide speculation about Mugabe’s health, the 88-year-old Zanu PF leader has always managed to appear alert and healthy for his age in public. But the American diplomats believe he makes a lot of effort to look healthy during his public appearances.

“In any event, Mugabe’s public appearances and reports of his behaviour suggest that he generally remains lucid and assertive, albeit apparently frail at times in discharging the duties of his office,” reads Sullivan’s cable in part.

Sullivan said the information he had gleaned from Angelo and friends of the Mugabe family depicted “an ailing, egotistical family man interested in leaving office but gives no indication of when he would be prepared to leave”.

Recent US diplomatic cables have suggested that Mugabe has advanced prostate cancer. The cable also gives an insight into the First family where there are claims that Mugabe was always at loggerheads with his wife over matters such as raising their children.

Other cables also show that the Americans have over the years unsuccessfully tried to ascertain Mugabe’s wealth.
All they could do was to speculate that Mugabe’s fortune could be in excess of US$1 billion.

Malloch Brown Will Face a Zimbabwe Question

Turtle Bay
By BENNY AVNI April 14, 2008

Here is a question I plan to ask Britain's Minister Mark Malloch Brown, who will visit his old Turtle Bay stomping grounds this week: Are the U.N. Development Program's representatives in Zimbabwe too close to the dictator Robert Mugabe?

President Mugabe, who for decades has held back his country's potential for success on the pretext of fighting colonialist ghosts, is justly one of Britain's least favorite world leaders. He is currently involved in a fight for his long political life, attempting to steal the recent election. Mr. Malloch Brown, whose role for the British government includes responsibility for Africa and the United Nations, would score a victory for British Prime Minister Brown — and for himself — if he gets the Security Council involved in Zimbabwe during this week's summit of world and African leaders here. But more about that later.

Prior to joining Britain's government, Mr. Malloch Brown was the U.N.'s deputy secretary-general. Before that, between 1999 and 2005, as the UNDP's administrator, he was hailed by admirers as a forceful leader who made sweeping changes at the agency, and created practices and policies that govern its activities to this very day.

It was therefore entirely appropriate for Baroness Park of Monmouth to address Lord Malloch Brown during an April 3 debate on African issues in Britain's House of Lords. "Unless the present head of the UNDP" — Agostinho Zacarias — "is withdrawn, there will not be very much confidence in the U.N.'s role in the future of Zimbabwe," Ms. Park was quoted as saying by Zimbabwe's Sunday news. "Two successive UNDP leaders" — Victor Angelo and Mr. Zacarias — "have been far too close" to Mr. Mugabe.

A UNDP spokesman, David Morrison, told me the agency has looked into the matter of whether its officials ever accepted land from Mr. Mugabe and has determined that the charge is unfounded. Privately, UNDP officials wonder how they could ever operate in dictatorships without being considered "too close" to the local dictator.

Zimbabwe's crisis is not expected to be on the agenda of Wednesday's special Security Council meeting on Africa's relations with the United Nations, called by Prime Minister Mbeki of South Africa, which holds the rotating council presidency in April. Mr. Brown will represent Britain, and will be accompanied by Mr. Malloch Brown.

Currently, issues involving Sudan-Chad, Somalia, Kenya, and other African crises are expected to be discussed only "at the margin" of the council's summit, as a Western diplomat put it last week. Mr. Mbeki was hoping to raise Africa's profile in general, and to stress international coordination on the continent. He certainly did not intend to embarrass Mr. Mugabe. On his way to this weekend's emergency meeting of southern African leaders, Mr. Mbeki defied some of his neighbor's wishes, stopping by for a visit with Mr. Mugabe in Harare. There is "no crisis in Zimbabwe," Mr. Mbeki announced, indicating no change in his long-held opposition to international intervention in his neighbor's affairs.

The London Times reported over the weekend that to soften such opposition, Mr. Malloch Brown is conducting a "discreet" visit to Beijing, where he would try to leverage worldwide anger over China's policies in Tibet and Sudan to convince the Communist regime to drop its support for Mr. Mugabe. China has long insisted that problems in places like Burma and Sudan — not to mention Tibet or Taiwan — do not add up to threats to international peace and security, the threshold for Security Council action. getting Beijing, a veto-wielding council member, in this case to drop such opposition could help pave the way for a British-led action on Zimbabwe.

The British prime minister is the highest-ranking official among the Security Council's permanent members planning to attend Wednesday's council meeting and the press in London will laugh at him if he returns home without action on Mr. Mugabe. Conversely, Mr. Malloch Brown will be crowned a hero if the council does issue at least a statement on Zimbabwe. But first, Mr. Malloch Brown will have to field a question about the role there of the UNDP he once led.

British House of Lords denounces secret deals among UNDP Res Reps and Zimbabwe's Mugabe - demands their immediate dissmisal

Sunday News Reporter


THE British House of Lords has vowed to pressure its government to expeditiously press for a regime agenda change in Zimbabwe and has pledged to move in if “chaos” erupts in the country after harmonised polls despite its other commitments in war torn Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been learnt.

This came out in a full text of the United Kingdom's House of Lords debate on Zimbabwe held on Thursday 3 April 2008 and was presented by UK Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown. The House of Lords had a lengthy debate on Zimbabwe’s harmonised elections and the need to put the right people in the right places in order to effect regime change in the country. The lords could not wait to see an MDC Tsvangirai government taking over in the country which they described as good news and pledged to assist the new government as they were a major donor to the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Baroness Northover in her contribution to the debate, said the situation in Zimbabwe was fragile and there was need for Britain’s position on the country to be clarified, likening the happenings in the country with Iraq and Afghanistan..
“We cannot let Zimbabwe slide into chaos. Could the Minister assure us that, even though we have pressing concerns in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will not let Zimbabwe slide down the agenda.

“I did not anticipate that Mugabe might be removed, as now seems possible, by peaceful, democratic means. That makes me feel incredibly optimistic about development in Africa. However, we must make sure that the citizens of Zimbabwe, who are not resorting to violence, are supported and reinforced in their exercise of democracy. We are still in very dangerous and fluid circumstances and the present crisis is far from over,” she said.

The House of Lords was unanimous that although the harmonised elections were held within the confines of the country’s electoral laws and Southern Africa Development Community’s principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic polls, the political playing field was still tilted towards the ruling party.

“The conditions for free and fair elections were not in place. The playing field was tilted heavily in favour of Zanu-PF.

“ We will probably never know how many dead people on that roll cast ghost votes. But we do know that, in spite of those problems, millions of ordinary Zimbabweans still queued peacefully and voted. Now they are holding their breath: will their country reverse the spiral of decline or exacerbate it,” she said.

The house confirmed that a heft package was already in place to rescue the MDC Government if it win the Presidential poll.

“I welcome the Minister’s confirmation that a $1 billion package is being discussed. I hope that it will be further discussed at the IMF spring meeting in Washington later this month,” said Lord Watson of Invergowrie. The house also agreed to put more pressure on the region, mainly the South African leader, Mr Thabo Mbeki to put pressure on President Mugabe to step down.

Contributing to the debate, Baroness Park of Monmouth, argued that for change to take place in Zimbabwe, there was need for what she called right people being put on “the right places.”

“Unless the present head of the UNDP (Agostinho Zacarias) is withdrawn, there will not be very much confidence in the UN’s role in the future of Zimbabwe. Two successive UNDP leaders (Victor Angelo and Dr Zacarias) have been far too close to (President) Mugabe and indeed, in one case, have taken land from him.

“It will be extremely important to create confidence among the people of Zimbabwe by telling them that the international community is going to come to help them, but it will be the right people. I propose having Anna Tibaijuka as the UN commissioner. She would have their total trust - she reported honestly on the (Operation) Murambatsvina.

“Her role in the UN is to do building and that is what is going to be necessary. She understands the situation, she is respected and she understands women’s issues. She would make an excellent UN representative,” she said.

Dr Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian was dispatched by the UN to access the impact of Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Hope in June 2005, but later produced a damning report on the country. The Government of Zimbabwe however dismissed the report as flawed as it did not also input the steps by the Government to construct house for affected people under Operation Garikai/Hlalani Khuhle.

Baroness Park said Britain had left the decisions to resolve Zimbabwe’s crisis too long to the Southern African Development Community (SADC.)

She argued that Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in 2004 because President Mugabe took the country out - not because the people wanted to leave. She argued that it was time that the country was re-admitted.

“…Therefore, I hope that the Secretary of State, who said that he would be approaching the new head of the Commonwealth at the appropriate time, will regard this as the appropriate time. It is a time when the Commonwealth can do a great deal,” she said.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth after the 2002 Presidential election which the Commonwealth observer mission argued was flawed inspite of the fact that other observers said it was free, fair and legitimate.

Zimbabweans went to the polls on March 29 to choose President, Senate, Lower House Assembly and Councillors. The results of the council, Senate and House of Assembly polls were made public at the command centres. So far the out of the results of announced Zanu-PF got 97 seats, MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai 99 seats and MDC led by Aurthar Mutambara 10 seats. Professor Jonathan Moyo, an independent got one seat in Tsholotsho.