News / National
Ari Ben Menashe set up Tsvangirai
04 Feb 2012 at 14:13hrs | Views
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's 2003-2004 treason trial was a virtual "intelligence sting", documents in possession of the Weekend Post show.
The MDC leader, who has battled all kinds of social challenges and allegations lately, has always cried foul about persecution from opponents mainly in President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF.
According to the papers accessed under America's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), controversial Israeli businessman Ari Ben Menashe's one-year political consultancy agreement with the Zimbabwean government was directly supervised by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
While the secretive pact does not clearly state that the Canadian-based lobbyist would trap Tsvangirai under a discredited plot to eliminate Mugabe, clause six of the $400 000 memorandum of agreement (MoA) says that Dickens & Madison (D&M) would develop "a series of guidelines within which they shall have the discretion to act on behalf of the Zimbabwe government, but subject always to the specific instructions from the latter".
"D&M shall operate their lobbying services to maintain contacts with the aforesaid governments and international organisations in order to influence the creation of favourable policies to the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), and the elimination or prevention of policies and laws unfavourable to the GoZ," read clause three of the MoA signed between Menashe and former CIO director-general Elisha Muzonzini.
The disgraced political consultant not only undertook to lobby foreign governments, including Britain, Washington and other western capitals to embrace Mugabe's contentious policies, but also push for investments in the country by fighting such punitive measures as America's African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa).
"On investment, D&M shall also use its expertise and influence to promote the export of Zimbabwean goods onto the markets of the aforesaid countries. Substantial exports by the Zimbabwean companies are to be realised as a direct result of D&M's efforts," it said.
"The pariah state label currently attached to Zimbabwe… should have disappeared and one measure of success would be that Zimbabwe would have become eligible and acceded to the United States' Agoa," the agreement added.
Although part of the payment information is what leading South African advocate George Bizos used to trash government and Menashe's evidence-in-chief in the sedition charges against Tsvangirai, no Zimbabwean newspaper has ever published the controversial contract and document, which shows the unsavoury side of Zimbabwean politics.
On signing the contract, the ex-Israeli spy was paid $100 000, another $50 000 at the end of March 2002 and monthly stipends of $15 000 until the end of the contract to make up the initial $225 000 sign-on figure, which later ballooned to $400 000.
The money was paid into a Chase Manhattan Bank account given as 694500993365 and held under D&M's then attorney-in-trust William H. Schapp.
On top of that, he was also eligible for a tantalising $20 000 performance bonus, but it all fell apart when Menashe failed to deliver on some of the agreed targets to rehabilitate Mugabe's battered image.
However, the ex-arms dealer does not seem to have made much headway in his endeavours after setting himself very tough performance targets such as a heavy use of propaganda locally and abroad.
"On the political front, D&M shall directly influence, working with the GoZ, the pronouncement by the US government that 'the March 2002 presidential election held in Zimbabwe was conducted freely and fairly, that the outcome reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe and hence the resultant government is legitimate, or words to that effect," the six-page document says.
Described by Wikipedia as a "spinner of tangled yarns", the ex-arms dealer also claimed he could cause or influence at least seven business and political meetings between President George W. Bush's officials, and the Harare administration at the time.
Under the 2002 FARA filing, Menashe was not only on the Mugabe spooks' payroll, but also did some work for Jerry Rawlings' equally-desperate Ghanaian government.
In that deal, he milked as much as $350 000 under the West African contract.
On Thursday, Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said: "The whole saga exposes the role of the CIO in electoral processes in Zimbabwe. They should be ashamed of this (act or episode) and this is particularly disturbing, as it raises questions as to what role these guys are going to play in the next election."
"The whole saga exposes the fact the CIO is a vital cog in the Zanu PF election machinery and it necessitates the need to vaccinate the next election from the excesses of this unpopular outfit," he added.
According to the American government's Justice Department, FARA is a disclosure law requiring persons acting as agents of foreign principals to make periodic revelations about their relationships as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.
It says that such disclosures would enable its citizens to evaluate such people, statements and their activities, and the National Security Division's counter intelligence unit is responsible for administering and enforcing the act.
"The activities noted are inherently 'political', as they relate to the acceptance and recognition of the GoZ, its policies and activities," read part of the D&M filing signed and submitted by Menashe.
"With respect to the attached contract, it should be noted that, although the written contract calls for a payment of $225 000, because disbursements, primarily for travel-related expenses, have already exceeded $400 000, payments totalling that sum have been made by the foreign principal to the registrant," it said, adding no written agreements had been procured in respect of amending or extending any aspect of the MoA.
And to back up his claims that he engaged in heavy doses of propaganda in the global press and other mediums, Menashe attached a list of 26 releases or articles in Mugabe's defence and to discredit the then opposition MDC ahead of the 2002 presidential elections.
While Tsvangirai escaped the gallows after Justice Paddington Garwe acceded that the former commodity trader was unreliable due to his double-dealing and hostile testimony, analysts say the episode and exposure highlighted the CIO and Zanu PF's hugger-mugger tactics â€" through off-the-book operations â€" in dealing with political opponents in favour of the octogenarian leader.
The MDC leader, who has battled all kinds of social challenges and allegations lately, has always cried foul about persecution from opponents mainly in President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF.
According to the papers accessed under America's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), controversial Israeli businessman Ari Ben Menashe's one-year political consultancy agreement with the Zimbabwean government was directly supervised by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
While the secretive pact does not clearly state that the Canadian-based lobbyist would trap Tsvangirai under a discredited plot to eliminate Mugabe, clause six of the $400 000 memorandum of agreement (MoA) says that Dickens & Madison (D&M) would develop "a series of guidelines within which they shall have the discretion to act on behalf of the Zimbabwe government, but subject always to the specific instructions from the latter".
"D&M shall operate their lobbying services to maintain contacts with the aforesaid governments and international organisations in order to influence the creation of favourable policies to the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), and the elimination or prevention of policies and laws unfavourable to the GoZ," read clause three of the MoA signed between Menashe and former CIO director-general Elisha Muzonzini.
The disgraced political consultant not only undertook to lobby foreign governments, including Britain, Washington and other western capitals to embrace Mugabe's contentious policies, but also push for investments in the country by fighting such punitive measures as America's African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa).
"On investment, D&M shall also use its expertise and influence to promote the export of Zimbabwean goods onto the markets of the aforesaid countries. Substantial exports by the Zimbabwean companies are to be realised as a direct result of D&M's efforts," it said.
"The pariah state label currently attached to Zimbabwe… should have disappeared and one measure of success would be that Zimbabwe would have become eligible and acceded to the United States' Agoa," the agreement added.
Although part of the payment information is what leading South African advocate George Bizos used to trash government and Menashe's evidence-in-chief in the sedition charges against Tsvangirai, no Zimbabwean newspaper has ever published the controversial contract and document, which shows the unsavoury side of Zimbabwean politics.
On signing the contract, the ex-Israeli spy was paid $100 000, another $50 000 at the end of March 2002 and monthly stipends of $15 000 until the end of the contract to make up the initial $225 000 sign-on figure, which later ballooned to $400 000.
The money was paid into a Chase Manhattan Bank account given as 694500993365 and held under D&M's then attorney-in-trust William H. Schapp.
On top of that, he was also eligible for a tantalising $20 000 performance bonus, but it all fell apart when Menashe failed to deliver on some of the agreed targets to rehabilitate Mugabe's battered image.
"On the political front, D&M shall directly influence, working with the GoZ, the pronouncement by the US government that 'the March 2002 presidential election held in Zimbabwe was conducted freely and fairly, that the outcome reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe and hence the resultant government is legitimate, or words to that effect," the six-page document says.
Described by Wikipedia as a "spinner of tangled yarns", the ex-arms dealer also claimed he could cause or influence at least seven business and political meetings between President George W. Bush's officials, and the Harare administration at the time.
Under the 2002 FARA filing, Menashe was not only on the Mugabe spooks' payroll, but also did some work for Jerry Rawlings' equally-desperate Ghanaian government.
In that deal, he milked as much as $350 000 under the West African contract.
On Thursday, Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said: "The whole saga exposes the role of the CIO in electoral processes in Zimbabwe. They should be ashamed of this (act or episode) and this is particularly disturbing, as it raises questions as to what role these guys are going to play in the next election."
"The whole saga exposes the fact the CIO is a vital cog in the Zanu PF election machinery and it necessitates the need to vaccinate the next election from the excesses of this unpopular outfit," he added.
According to the American government's Justice Department, FARA is a disclosure law requiring persons acting as agents of foreign principals to make periodic revelations about their relationships as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.
It says that such disclosures would enable its citizens to evaluate such people, statements and their activities, and the National Security Division's counter intelligence unit is responsible for administering and enforcing the act.
"The activities noted are inherently 'political', as they relate to the acceptance and recognition of the GoZ, its policies and activities," read part of the D&M filing signed and submitted by Menashe.
"With respect to the attached contract, it should be noted that, although the written contract calls for a payment of $225 000, because disbursements, primarily for travel-related expenses, have already exceeded $400 000, payments totalling that sum have been made by the foreign principal to the registrant," it said, adding no written agreements had been procured in respect of amending or extending any aspect of the MoA.
And to back up his claims that he engaged in heavy doses of propaganda in the global press and other mediums, Menashe attached a list of 26 releases or articles in Mugabe's defence and to discredit the then opposition MDC ahead of the 2002 presidential elections.
While Tsvangirai escaped the gallows after Justice Paddington Garwe acceded that the former commodity trader was unreliable due to his double-dealing and hostile testimony, analysts say the episode and exposure highlighted the CIO and Zanu PF's hugger-mugger tactics â€" through off-the-book operations â€" in dealing with political opponents in favour of the octogenarian leader.
Source - Weekend Post
