President Robert Mugabe refused to speak to fellow African leaders when he was defeated in the first vote of the 2008 presidential elections because they were ‘not his age mates’, this is revealed in latest Wikileaks United States cables released Wednesday.
In the cable released Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni communicating with United States Assistant secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer said Mugabe told him that he could not listen or take calls from other African presidents because they were not of his age.
The cable also revealed that Museveni said Zimbabwe’s economy which was then perfoming badly because Mugabe was failing to grasp how the private sectors works. Museveni said Mugabe had failed Zimbabwe’s economy and the veteran leader was embarassing liberation leaders on the contninent.
“Museveni thought Zimbabwe’s faltering economy and Mugabe’s poor understanding of the private sector were at the root of Zimbabwe’s political problems. He said a discussion of the economy would provide an entry point to tell Mugabe that he has failed and is embarrassing liberation leaders. He noted that Mugabe is unwilling to take calls from most African leaders saying they are not his age-mates,” the cable revealed.
Museveni told Frazer that Mugabe told the Ugandan leader that although he lost in the first round of the March 2008 presidential elections, he was confident to win in the run-off. Museveni said Mugabe told him he was against the invitation of foreign election observers from countries which are hostile to Zimbabwe “but wouldn’t mind observers from other countries.”
The latest release by Wikileaks comes barely hours after its founder, Julian Assange was arrested in London. Wikileaks has ruffled feathers across the world by releasing classified information of the United States communication with its embassies across the globe.
Wikileaks said it is sitting on about 250 000 cables that it intends to release to the outside world. Zimbabwe ambassador, Charles Ray in a statement last week said he regrets the release of the first diplomatic communication by Wikileaks which described Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as ‘an indicisive leader’ while President Mugabe was described as a ‘bully.’
Wikileaks has said it is sitting on 3000 documents on Zimbabwe.
