Wikileaks: Mugabe offered lucrative UN exit package

According to the cable, dated September 27th 2000, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan offered Mugabe the retirement package in an overseas safe-haven if he stepped down as President. The refused package was offered at a time when ZANU PF was apparently interested in a deal with the MDC, according to another leaked cable.

The cable, titled ZANU PF reportedly interested in deal with MDC that involves Mugabes departure, states that an unnamed senior MDC advisor said that his party had received information from ZANU PF about making a deal, which involved Mugabes exit from office. The official revealed that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was willing to agree to a graceful exit for Mugabe, because it was in the countrys best interest.

The cable says that the MDC official had heard hints that President Mugabe is willing to step down under the right conditions . . . The President, he (the MDC official) has been told, would be willing to stand down now if he is convinced that his land redistribution plan is on track.

The unnamed MDC advisor also said that a Zimbabwean businessman had told ZANU PF he was willing to finance a retirement package for Mugabe. The cables revealed that many ZANU PF officials were convinced that Mugabe had become a liability and his stay in power will lead inevitably to the election of an MDC president in 2002. ZANU PF officials were understandably searching for a way to protect themselves from prosecution and their economic assets from seizure or continued deterioration.

An exit strategy for Mugabe is widely believed to be the only answer to Zimbabwes political crisis, as it is Mugabes presence in the government that is the key stumbling block to progress. A roadmap to democracy in Zimbabwe, suggested by South Africas opposition Democratic Allaince, has also suggested that Mugabe be given the incentive to willingly leave office.

His interests, both in retaining power and protecting the small and unquestioning ZANU PF elite around which he has shaped executive power, mean, unless he is convinced to willingly step down without fear of repercussion or retribution, he will continue to hold Zimbabwean democracy hostage to his own political whims, the DA said.

Meanwhile, other leaked cables have revealed that Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara cautioned a European Union (EU) delegation not to be fooled into thinking that Mugabe was being led by hardliners. A previous leaked US cable said that Mugabe had lost the plot of normal human interaction, and that he was surrounded by dodgy, cold and less intelligent hardliners. But Mutambara apparently said this is not the case, calling Mugabe the worst hardliner there is.

The revelations will do little to ease the tensions in the coalition government, which has been steadily crumbling since its inception. Adding to the tensions will be revelations that the MDC had asked the US government to contribute to a trust fund to be used to negotiate military chiefs retirement packages. This is according to a WikiLeaks diplomatic cable which followed an earlier cable that showed Tsvangirai privately urged the US to maintain targeted sanctions on the Mugabe regime.