Stephen T. Matenga, Africa News reporter in Haarlem, The Netherlands
It is now almost a month since the power sharing deal was signed but no cabinet has been appointed owing to disagreements over the sharing of key ministerial posts. All parties accuse each other for the failure to implement the deal which has seen Zimbabwe running for months without a government.
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has said that compromising key and strategic posts will be allowing imperialists back to colonise Zimbabwe, an accusation that the opposition scoffs at charging that in fact Zanu-PF is not negotiating in good faith and wants to trivialise the opposition to mere passengers in this power sharing deal at the expense of the economy and the suffering masses.
Some people allege that Zanu-PF is extending its looting time while others say the patience of the people has been extended to the extreme given the harsh socio-eco-political turmoil attending in the country.
International donors and governments are holding back their purses until they are convinced Mugabe will implement the September deal meaningfully. Inflation has reached 231 million percent, the education system has collapsed and the government has failed to run the annual primary school leaving exam with indications that many universities and colleges may not open in the next semester.
There is no food in the supermarkets. People spend the whole day in queues to withdraw worthless money from banks. There is hate language mainly from government zealots like George Charamba, the Government Secretary of Information masquerading as columnist Nathaniel Manheru in the state daily, The Herald.
Sufferings
There is total chaos in the country. The people have suffered and are suffering creating a ripe environment for political tension and mass action. All hope that came with the signing of the deal at a colourful ceremony is now fading as the economic situation is biting mercilessly at the ordinary citizen. The people wonder whose interests are being served by the parties in delaying to reach consensus based on pursuance of The Country First Principle.
Controversial out-going MP for Zemngeza, Job Sikhala lashed at all the parties including his own party president, Mutambara, labelling them the ‘’three musketeers.” He said, “They are all greedy, they talk about power…power and more power and not the people who are living under difficult and extremely poor conditions. Every single day now is an engagement to negotiate to stay afloat.”
MDC Tsvangirai spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, confirmed that the talks have reached a deadlock. “I can confirm that there was a meeting of the principals. Unfortunately, there was no meeting of the minds other than meeting of the bodies. Meaning to say, the deadlock has been officially declared and now the matter rests with the SADC and the African Union,” Sikhala’s broadside.
All the parties have expressed confidence in, and have agreed to re-call Mbeki who will help them reach an agreement on the distribution of key ministries of Finance, Defence, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Provincial Governors.
On Friday, Mugabe signed a government notice announcing his party’s grab of all the key ministries prompting the opposition leader Prime-Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to declare at a rally on Sunday that there is no compromise, “if Zanu-PF takes Defence we take Home Affairs”
The greatest questions are; will Mbeki break the impasse? How long shall Zimbabweans wait again for the talks about talks? Why did the parties sign the agreement on 15 September when there seem to be nothing agreed upon? For how long will Zimbabweans suffer again? A solution has to come. If not now then when?
Journalist Francis Ncube made exclusive photos for Africanews.com to show how people survive in Zimbabwe. You find them here:
Surviving in Zimbabwe
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in Harare this week to break the impasse in the power sharing talks between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the two formations of the opposition MDC. Mbeki brokered the talks since March 2007 until a power sharing deal was reached and signed on September 15.
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