·
Tsvangirai expects control over security apparatus
· President tells chiefs
that parties 'will never mix'
Chris McGreal in Harare
The
Guardian,
Saturday September 13 2008
Questions were raised yesterday
about Robert Mugabe's commitment to
Zimbabwe's historic power-sharing deal
after it was revealed that hours
before agreeing to a coalition
administration with his arch foe, Morgan
Tsvangirai, the president told
traditional chiefs he could never work with
the opposition.
The
revelation came as the two sides attempted to hammer out the composition
of
a coalition cabinet ahead of a formal signing of the power-sharing
agreement
on Monday that is expected to end the Zimbabwean leader's 28 years
of
political domination.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the head of a smaller
opposition faction are
wrangling over the division of 31 cabinet
seats.
Sources in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said
the party
expected to secure control over the police and intelligence agency
- which
were central to the state-orchestrated campaign of killings and
other
violence against the opposition during the recent election - while
Mugabe's
Zanu-PF will oversee the military through the defence
ministry.
Such an arrangement could prove crucial to the MDC which plans
to force
fresh elections in about two years, laying the path for Mugabe's
final
political demise as it appears unlikely he could ever again win a
legitimate
ballot in Zimbabwe.
But Mugabe's commitment to the deal
was swiftly called into question when it
was revealed that hours before
agreeing to the power-sharing arrangement he
told a meeting of traditional
chiefs that the MDC and Zanu-PF "will never
mix".
"Putting Zanu-PF
and the MDC together to work together is like mixing water
and fire," he
said. "It is quite difficult for these parties to be friends
especially if
one party is being supported and sponsored by the outside
countries that are
pushing for a regime change agenda. They want Mugabe to
go."
If
Mugabe does sign the coalition agreement on Monday, the allocation of
portfolios will help determine how much power he continues to wield as
president. But his grip will in any case be greatly weakened, with
Tsvangirai destined to take over the daily running of government as prime
minister and the combined opposition holding a majority in cabinet, albeit
by only one seat.
Mugabe will chair the cabinet while Tsvangirai
heads a new council of
ministers that will undertake the daily
administration of the country.
The combined opposition's majority in both
bodies means Mugabe and his party
can be outvoted in government and
parliament, further whittling down the
president's political control
provided the two MDC factions work together.
But that may prove difficult
given the animosity between Tsvangirai and the
leader of the rival MDC
grouping, Arthur Mutambara, who is to serve as one
of two deputy prime
ministers.
Perhaps crucially, the MDC also won its demand for the
negotiation of a new
constitution within 18 months which will lay the ground
for fresh elections.
In the meantime, the new administration will face
formidable challenges.
Desperate Zimbabweans are looking to a new
government for relief from
hyperinflation running above 20 million percent,
widespread food and fuel
shortages, and mass unemployment.
David
Coltart, legal affairs secretary for the smaller MDC faction, said the
additional challenge for the new government would be for former foes to work
together.
"The grave humanitarian and economic crises are enough to
test any
government. The new cabinet that will have to address these
challenges is
composed of protagonists - virtually all of the cabinet
ministers to be
appointed by the MDC [factions] have at some stage in the
last nine years
been brutalised on the instructions of those they will now
have to work
with. Zimbabwe remains highly polarised and it will take
statesmanship on
all sides to make this work," he said.
Many in the
MDC also remain deeply hostile to Mugabe, reflected in the
jeering of its
MPs as the president opened parliament last month.
The agreement has met
with scepticism from some of Mugabe's opponents who
have accused Tsvangirai
of making too many concessions.
Lovemore Madhuku, head of the National
Constitutional Assembly, which has
been at the forefront of pressing for
political reform, said he feared
Mugabe would outmanoeuvre his opponents and
retain control.
"I believe that under this arrangement the MDC will now
be neutralised as a
political force. But we will have to wait to see how the
union will work but
generally the people of Zimbabwe were also looking for
some kind of
settlement," he said.
The European Union yesterday said
it would consider whether to extend
sanctions against Mugabe and other
Zanu-PF leaders following the agreement.
Power-sharing: Opposition
divisions may be key
How will power-sharing work?
Robert Mugabe
remains president but with greatly reduced powers. He will
chair an advisory
cabinet. Morgan Tsvangirai will be prime minister and
oversee day-to-day
rule through a council of ministers. Tsvangirai will also
sit in the
cabinet, where the opposition will have a majority of one,
allowing it to
set policy. Cabinet seats are based on March's parliamentary
election.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF will have 15 seats, Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic
Change has 13 and a breakaway MDC faction, led by Arthur
Mutambara, has
three. The opposition also has a majority of MPs.
Will it
work?
There are challenges, not least the bitter legacy of the elections.
MDC
leaders must work with men who led the murder and torture of MDC
activists
and their families. There is deep distrust between the two MDC
factions.
Much will depend on whether Tsvangirai can assert control over the
council
of ministers. If Tsvangirai does not make power-sharing work, he
will
quickly lose the people's confidence.
So is this the end for
Mugabe?
Although he has had to concede much of his power, Mugabe is adept
at
exploiting divisions, notably within the MDC. But some key levers of
power,
such as the police, will be under MDC control. Meanwhile, a new
constitution
is to be put in place that could see fresh elections held in as
little as 18
months.
New York Times
By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: September 12,
2008
JOHANNESBURG - Lovemore Moyo, a senior leader in Zimbabwe's opposition,
on
Friday likened the opposition's power-sharing deal with President Robert
Mugabe, its bitter enemy, to a "sister sister" accord. His homespun metaphor
left a critical question unanswered: If the two estranged and hostile
sisters cannot agree on how to revive the economically devastated country,
which one prevails?
Refugees at a church in Johannesburg on
Friday. The recent violence in
Zimbabwe led many people to flee to South
Africa.
A day after the agreement was announced - though with essential parts
still
undisclosed - opposition officials and Western diplomats acknowledged
that
they were in the dark. Though the accord is to be celebrated in Harare,
Zimbabwe's capital, on Monday before an audience of dignitaries from across
Africa, crucial elements have yet to be resolved.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the
opposition leader who is to become prime minister,
and Mr. Mugabe, the
84-year-old president in power for 28 years, have until
then to reach
agreement on dividing the ministries between their parties and
selecting
people to fill the jobs.
Though time is short, Mr. Mugabe postponed a
meeting today with Mr.
Tsvangirai, according to a Western diplomat who met
with Mr. Tsvangirai this
morning. Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the
opposition, confirmed that the
two leaders did not meet today and that the
composition of the cabinet
remained unsettled.
"Nobody knows these
details, including myself, the spokesman," Mr. Chamisa
said. "They haven't
been resolved, but they're going to be resolved."
Negotiators for the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change and the
governing party, ZANU-PF,
have jousted over an agreement since July. One
irreducible issue had blocked
a settlement until a day ago: Mr. Tsvangirai's
insistence that as the
biggest vote-getter in Zimbabwe's last credible
election, in March, he
should be in charge.
Under the compromise announced Thursday, Mr. Mugabe
will remain as president
in charge of the cabinet, while Mr. Tsvangirai will
head a twin body of the
very same ministers, known as the council of
ministers, according to
officials close to the talks. It remains to be seen
which man will have the
last word in setting policy.
David Coltart,
an opposition senator and constitutional law expert who
supports the
agreement, acknowledged that the opposition still had a
treacherous route to
navigate in changing the government's destructive
economic
policies.
"If there is a disagreement and there's no consensus and Morgan
tries to
enforce it, Mugabe is still in charge of the cabinet," he said.
"You have a
council of ministers, but it's very unclear how it will work.
It's not clear
it can dominate the cabinet."
The cabinet will have 31
ministers, with 15 from the governing party, 13
from Mr. Tsvangirai's party
and 3 from a small opposition faction to which
Mr. Coltart belongs.
Political analysts in Zimbabwe said Friday that the
success of the deal
would largely depend on whether Mr. Tsvangirai did
indeed wind up with real
authority. Opposition officials were optimistic
that he would.
"The
deal will hold depending on who will have control of the cohesive
machinery
of the state," said John Makumbe, a political scientist at the
University of
Zimbabwe. "If these are still in Mugabe's hands, the deal will
unravel, and
we will soon be back to the negotiating table."
Zimbabwe will also
desperately need an infusion of foreign aid from wealthy
Western nations.
Inflation now runs at more than 11 million percent, and
most people are out
of work. When Zimbabwe turns to austerity measures in an
effort to arrest
the runaway inflation, it will need aid to feed and care
for its millions of
hungry and unemployed.
But doubts linger about whether Mr. Tsvangirai
will have the clout he needs,
when Mugabe loyalists are entrenched
throughout the government. A great deal
rests on the elements of
power-sharing, to be disclosed Monday. "We're
waiting to see the final
outcome of this deal," James D. McGee, the American
ambassador, said in an
interview on Friday.
A journalist in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed
reporting.
http://www.latimes.com/
'The ruling party's time was
over,' one Zimbabwean says. But others fear
more trickery from President
Robert Mugabe.
By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September
13, 2008
HARARE, ZIMBABWE -- Like most people here, Brian Mwale has seen his
hopes
tempered by a long list of disappointments.
On the hot, dusty
streets of Harare on Friday, people were talking of little
besides the news
that the country's rival political leaders had agreed to
share power after
weeks of negotiations. With the deal still secret, and
rumors flying like
litter, the 28-year-old trader was feeling frustration,
hope and cynicism --
all at once.
But, even after flawed elections and a campaign of
violence by the ruling
party, Mwale said he also felt in his gut that
opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai would come out on top.
When he
heard Thursday on late TV news that Zimbabwe's president of 28
years, Robert
Mugabe, had signed a deal with Tsvangirai, "I knew that the
ruling party's
time was over," Mwale said. "We're hopeful, but we know it's
not something
that will happen in one day."
Mwale, a structural engineer, is forced to
work as a trader to survive. When
he needs to restock his family's food
supply, he has to shop in a
neighboring country because there is nothing to
be found in Zimbabwe.
Hyperinflation is almost beyond calculating, and life
expectancy is among
the lowest in the world.
"The economy is
going down every day, every minute. Prices are changing all
the time," Mwale
said.
As life gets harsher, beggars are multiplying on the streets of
Harare, the
capital, each with a desperate story. They knock on Mwale's door
several
times a week.
On Tuesday, he said, the beggar was a civil
servant from the Ministry of
Local Government who had no food for his wife
and two children. Mwale gave
him enough for one meal.
"He'll only
come when he's really desperate," he said.
Mwale's emotions chronicle the
hopes and despair of Zimbabwe's last six
months.
On election day,
March 29, he bounced out of bed and sniffed the air. He
told The Times then
that he was certain he could smell change. That night
after voting, he went
out and celebrated, playing Tsvangirai's campaign song
at top
volume.
But the ruling party delayed the results for weeks, and when it
released
them, it said a runoff was necessary between Tsvangirai and
Mugabe.
The next time Mwale spoke to The Times was June 27. Tsvangirai
was
boycotting the runoff because of the violence. Mwale felt bitter and
tainted, forced to vote for Mugabe because of intimidation by ruling party
thugs. He was not sure whether he could ever forgive himself for casting
that vote.
But a bubble of hope reappeared last month as Mwale
watched the opening of
parliament on television, when the stiff pomp and
ceremony were undermined
by opposition members jeering Mugabe.
"It
showed that he's no longer respected. It showed that they don't fear him
anymore, because he was a fearsome leader, that one. A leader should leave
office when he's still respected," Mwale said.
"He's old. Age is
going to force him out."
Although the deal remains secret until Monday's
official signing ceremony in
Harare, it is known that Mugabe would remain
president and Tsvangirai would
become prime minister. People close to the
opposition and the ruling ZANU-PF
party say the key to breaking a deadlock
over who would have executive power
was to set up two ministerial bodies to
determine government policy.
But the same ministers would meet twice:
first under Tsvangirai as the
Council of Ministers to make recommendations
to the Cabinet, then under
Mugabe as the Cabinet.
But the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, combined with an MDC
splinter faction, would
have a one-seat majority in the 31-member Cabinet,
placing a limit on
Mugabe's powers for the first time in his presidency.
Mugabe still would
head the army, but it is not clear who would control the
police and the
intelligence apparatus.
Euphraidge Manyere, 42, a civil servant, was
skeptical. "Mugabe, if you know
him, is a man of tricks. Sometimes he agrees
and the next day he changes his
mind. He's not a trustworthy
person."
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=4002#more-4002
September 13, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
NYABIRA - Zimbabwe's Registrar-General Tobaiwa Tonneth
Mudede has evicted a
pioneer land invader, Jacqueline Mukanganyama, who took
over a sub-division
of Ballineety Farm in Mazowe West near Nyabira from a
white farmer back in
June 2002.
In a cruel twist of irony, Mudede
launched eviction proceedings against
Mukanganyama from the 68 hectare
sub-division 10 of the property, which
includes the main farm house, on
Thursday morning on the basis of an
unstamped letter from former Lands and
Resettlement minister, Didymus
Mutasa, which terminated her status as
caretaker of the plot.
The letter dated September 2, 2008 reads in part:
"You are hereby informed
that the caretakership you were given on June 1,
2002 covering
infrastructure on the then state land of Ballineety Farm is
withdrawn with
immediate effect."
Mukanganyama's lawyers, Hungwe and
Partners lodged an appeal against the
eviction with the High Court (Case
number 4533/08) on Friday.
Mukanganyama, a war veteran, won a court case
last year (Case 346/07)
against Mudede in a hearing held in Bindura by
default when Mudede failed to
appear in court that day.
Mudede
appealed against the judgment arguing that Mukanganyama was occupying
land
that was not allocated to her.
In appealing for a spoliation order,
Mudede lawyers argued: "She attaches an
undated handwritten application to
the DA for the land to be incorporated
into her land but does not attach a
response from the DA. Instead he
attaches a handwritten declaration dated 16
October 2007 that she was
appointed base commander."
Mukanganyama
said Mudede was originally allocated Sub-division 1 officially
which
includes some chalets, although over time he had expropriated and
incorporated into his ownership plots 2, 3, 4, 9 and 13 of the state
land.
Mudede also seek to evict George Kawenda, Roti Gahadzika and
Sylvester
Dendere from other plots on the farm, according to
Mukanganyama.
Over the past five years, she said she had laid irrigation
infrastructure on
the plot, she said and she suspected that Mudede envied
her success.
"For a long time, we watched Mudede abuse state vehicles to
come and collect
things from the farm," a distraught Mukanganyama claimed.
"We have never
seen such abuse of state assets as done by such a
high-ranking civil
servant."
She accused the controversial
Registrar-General of looting equipment such as
fuel tanks; roofing material
and cattle feed mixers from other plots into
his own possession.
She
also revealed that Mudede had given refuge to the so-called diesel n'anga,
Rotina Mavhunga while she was on a police wanted list.
Mavunga duped
government ministers into believing that pure diesel had been
discovered and
was oozing from a rock in a mountain near Chinhoyi. While
government
lavished Mavhunga with money and goods, a high-powered expedition
comprising
Cabinet ministers, including Mutasa, had visited the scene of the
alleged
diesel well, only to discover they had been collectively duped by
the
woman.
A warrant for Mavhunga's arrest was issued. Mukanganyama now
claims that
while the police hunted for Mavhunga Mudede concealed the woman
on the farm.
The Times
September 13, 2008
The Harare deal may break down but it could also become a model for
Africa's
future
Richard Dowden
Will the Zimbabwean deal work? It is
hard to guess until we know the details
for sure next week but it seems to
look like this: Robert Mugabe stays
President and chairs Cabinet meetings.
He will also head the defence and
security services including the Central
Intelligence Organisation,
Zimbabwe's secret police. Two ceremonial
vice-presidents will be Zanu (PF)
appointees.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the
leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), will be Prime
Minister and vice-chair of the Cabinet. He will
also chair the Council of
Ministers, which oversees the Cabinet of 31 - 15
Zanu (PF), 13 MDC and three
from a breakaway wing of the MDC. If the two
MDCs work together in Cabinet
they will therefore have a majority. Mr
Tsvangirai must also be consulted on
the appointment of judges and senior
officials.
Put crudely, it seems
that ceremonial power and state violence - or force if
you prefer - are
retained by Mr Mugabe while the business of running the
country is handed
over to Mr Tsvangirai. One important question is how long
this arrangement
is supposed to last. The MDC wants two years before another
election, Zanu
(PF) demands a full five years. But the most important
question of all is
whether the two sides want it to work.
In one way they do. If anything of
Zimbabwe is to be salvaged and
international help secured to rescue
Zimbabweans from starvation and civil
war, Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai have
to make it work.
Good personal relationships were vital in the success of
the transitional
South African Cabinet in the 1990s and, so far, in Kenya's
national
coalition formed after the violence of last December's election. In
Zimbabwe
this goodwill does not exist. Nearly all the potential MDC Cabinet
members
have been detained, humiliated and even tortured over the past ten
years.
They will be sitting across the table from those responsible. For Mr
Mugabe
this is a circumstance forced on him and he will manoeuvre to keep as
much
power as he can. Pure politician, he has demonstrated time and again
that
staying in power is far more important to him than the interests of the
people of Zimbabwe.
What of the armed forces? Zimbabwe's Government has
recently been described
as a military junta, ruled by the army and air force
commanders, the Joint
Operations Command. Rich, violent and younger than the
octogenarian
President, the generals have most to lose if Mr Mugabe goes.
Their fear is
that he may be able to obtain an immunity deal but they will
be left
swinging in the wind.
The other fear is that the MDC leaders
will settle comfortably into the
perks of the jobs and fail to implement the
changes they have been fighting
for. The MDC leader has been known to take
unilateral decisions in the past,
ignoring his party's executive and
advisers. That caused the MDC to split.
But Mr Tsvangirai has not come so
far, and suffered such humiliation and
pain, to give up now. Even if he were
tempted, the eyes of Zimbabweans are
on him; and if their lives do not
change, his supporters will abandon him
and start another movement. The very
existence of this coalition government
will open up more political space for
criticism.
Twenty years ago Mr Mugabe would have been a fairly typical
African ruler,
commanding a state in which the economy and business as well
as the politics
were formally controlled by one man. Today he is in a small
minority of
rulers who rule by right of personal destiny. But the move to
multiparty
politics in Africa since the end of the Cold War has not produced
healthy
democracies.
Although a handful of presidents have lost their
jobs and stood down, the
vast majority of elections have been won by the
sitting candidate. Angola's
election last week was the latest example.
Marshalling all the resources of
the State to campaign for him, as well as
deploying the vast wealth that the
ruling elite has stolen over decades,
President Eduardo dos Santos and the
party that has ruled since 1975 romped
home with more than 80 per cent of
the votes.
As first-past-the-post,
winner-takes-all democracy seems to create more
problems than they solve in
Africa, perhaps coalition governments will
become the norm. When Kenya
exploded after a close-run and flawed election
last December, the leaders of
government and opposition were forced to sit
down and talk and eventually
worked out a deal by which Mwai Kibaki
continued as President but Raila
Odinga, the opposition leader, became Prime
Minister with real executive
powers.
So far this model has worked. The violence, which was stirred up
and partly
paid for by the politicians, stopped immediately. Kenya now has a
functioning government. If it works in Zimbabwe too, perhaps this model
could work for other African countries trying to escape from civil war or
debilitating political division.
Richard Dowden is Director of the
Royal African Society and author of
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary
Miracles (Portobello Books)
Comments
Joel would have wanted Zimbabwe
to implode; what about the cost in lives
lost? Better a slow and peaceful
transition, than a quick and violent one
that leaves the country irreparably
damaged. My hope is that Zimbabwe can
now focus on development and improving
the living conditions of its
citizens.
Caro, Nagoya,
Japan
Before any attempt is made to formulate any kind of deal, the
current
leaders need a lesson in democracy - they are aware of the other
kind of
government as many suffering Zimbabweans are sorely aware. These
'leaders'
should be removed on the grounds of genocide. Start again with
lawful
elections.
Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, England UK
If
the outline of the deal is as you say it is, then its a bum deal. The MDC
has all of the responsibility and none of the true power. It would have been
shrewder for the MDC to walk away and wait for Zanu PF to implode with
Zimbabwe, and then start fresh after Mugabe and his generals had
fled.
Joel, Sydney, Australia
The Times
September 13, 2008
Until the
details of the Harare deal are known, it is unclear whether the
country has
really rid itself of the curse of Mugabe
The world is right to be cautious.
It has taken seven weeks of talks, with
frequent interruptions and
breakdowns, for Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean
opposition leader, to
reach an accommodation with President Mugabe. Even
now, the agreement
apparently reached on Thursday is far from clear. It will
not be until
Monday, when the two sides officially sign a deal to share
power in a new
government, that the details are made public. Those details
are crucial. For
this agreement is either a long-awaited breakthrough, the
first step towards
ending the Mugabe dictatorship and reviving the shattered
country, or it is
yet another ruse by the 84-year-old autocrat to hang on to
power and escape
retribution for years of tyranny.
Mr Tsvangirai's supporters are unhappy
still with some of the agreement's
provisions. That is hardly surprising.
The latest compromise on the key
issue of where power rests proposes to make
Mr Tsvangirai Prime Minister
with responsibility for the Cabinet. At the
same time, a new council of
state under Mr Mugabe would be created, which
will oversee the Cabinet. The
President, who would be joined by two of his
deputies, would however have no
veto on the council. This looks like a
recipe for confusion and deadlock -
or else a loophole through which Mr
Mugabe, a shrewd political operator, can
escape from any attempt to
undermine his powers.
The key issue is control of the apparatus of
repression. Mr Tsvangirai will,
apparently, have power over the police, the
very men who have beaten him in
custody, killed his supporters and tortured
those who have dared to
challenge the President. That is a fundamental
change. So too is the
proposed disbanding of the feared Central Intelligence
Organisation, a body
that has routinely spied on and hounded anyone deemed
suspicious by the
paranoid leadership, and its replacement with a smaller,
more efficient
national security authority.
The test will be the
behaviour of both bodies from now on. If intimidation
of the Movement for
Democratic Change stops, the Opposition has indeed won a
crucial point. How
crucial will depend, however, on whether Mr Mugabe is
able to employ troops,
who remain under his control, to continue their
marauding sweeps across
villages loyal to the MDC.
To outsiders it nevertheless seems bizarre and
disappointing that a man who
has so comprehensively ruined his country
should remain at the helm, even if
only nominally. Justice demands that he
answer for his crimes in a court -
in Zimbabwe or at The Hague. But as
European Union spokesmen admitted,
outsiders are not able to judge how best
to alleviate the suffering of
ordinary Zimbabweans. With inflation at an
all-time record of 11 million per
cent, the pressing need is to halt the
downward spiral, create jobs and ward
off the starvation that stares most
families in the face. Dismantling the
dictatorship, ending cronyism and
dropping radical nationalist policies such
as seizing control of banks,
mines and other foreign-owned businesses would
be a good start. But without
massive and immediate foreign aid, there is
little chance that Zimbabwe can
rise above the despair into which it has
sunk.
The world must
acknowledge that this is a momentous step - and must perhaps
give some
credit to Thabo Mbeki, whose diplomacy has at last yielded a
result. But
Europe, the US and aid organisations will be waiting to see how
the deal
works. There is a danger that Mr Tsvangirai, a Lech Walesa figure,
may find
it hard to accept advice or display the agility to outmanoeuvre his
enemies.
The world's goodwill and the hopes of millions of exiles are riding
on him.
He will need all the help that he can muster to liberate Zimbabwe
from its
long nightmare.
http://www.mg.co.za
JASON MOYO - Sep 13 2008
06:00
As an army unit paraded flawlessly past Robert Mugabe
at a recent
agriculture fair, the big voice doing the commentary boomed
through the
speakers.
"Here they are, President," the voice said.
"The men that will never betray
you . unlike some of these pregnant
goats."
The insult sounds more abusive in Shona.
Chances are, the
fawning army commentator was the proud driver of one of the
dozens of new
Toyota IMV 4x4s that stood row after row in the parking lot of
the Harare
Showgrounds.
Mugabe spent US$30-million on the new vehicles. This, said a
source quoted
in the Zimbabwean weekly, Standard, was as "a reward for the
army chiefs who
stood by him in his hour of greatest need, after his
humiliating defeat in
the first round of voting on March 29".
The
Toyotas joined the usual bling wheels on display wherever the Zanu-PF
comrades gather -- the sleek new Mercedes CLSes, GLKs, Hummers and Land
Cruisers -- a favourite among the big badges in the army.
It is all
kept in the family. Most of the vehicle supply contracts go to
businessmen
allied to Zanu-PF, just as a company run by the spouse of a top
army
official is the sole supplier of reflective kit to the army and a top
Zanu-PF official supplies beef to the barracks.
For the March
election campaign a car dealership owned by a top Zanu-PF
official supplied
the party with more than 200 overpriced 4x4s.
Despite the repeated media
talk of unrest and suggestions that some military
figures were cutting
secret deals to secure their futures, Zimbabwe's army
bosses remain loyal to
the commander-in-chief.
Many are veterans of the liberation
war and, as members of Mugabe's inner
circle, their bonds with their leader
are sustained by the shared experience
of struggle. Many commentators ignore
this reality.
But there's nothing like a gift of a Merc here and a farm
there to
renewfriendship ties.
Zanu-PF is more than a party -- it is
way of life. Mugabe has built a
prolific patronage system, which hands out
everything from farmland to
wide-screen televisions to
loyalists.
There have been numerous public rows within Zanu-PF over
military figures
hopping from one farm to another every season; a peach
exporter in
Manicaland this year, a game rancher in Matabeleland the
next.
There was public outcry recently when the Reserve Bank splashed out
on the
judiciary and each judge received a new Mercedes-Benz. And, "because
they
can't use the Benz to travel to the farms", an official told the state
Herald, the judges also eachgot a new 4x4 bakkie.
To top it all, the
judges got generators to keep the dark away, wide-screen
Brava televisions
and DStv decoders.
Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)
Date: 12 Sep
2008
While welcoming the
opportunity for a new era in Zimbabwe, CAFOD warns that
the power-sharing
government must act immediately to avert the country's
biggest food crisis
within living memory
CAFOD has worked in Zimbabwe for almost three
decades and is currently
running an emergency food programme targeting
110,000 of the country's most
vulnerable people.
A ban on aid
agencies working in Zimbabwe has only just been partially
lifted with tight
restrictions still remaining.
Unable to reach those affected
CAFOD
partners report that in many areas the ban effectively remains in
place and
they are still unable to reach people badly affected by the poor
harvest and
catastrophic economic crisis.
The impact of the ban has put back
development and emergency relief work
considerably across the
country.
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai now together face the
immediate task of
keeping hundreds of thousands of people alive.
This
year's harvest was only approximately 40% of the average yield -
meaning
that an estimated 5.1 million people, from an official population
figure of
12 million, will be in need of food aid by the start of next year,
according
to United Nations figures.
The population is likely to be smaller than 12
million due to an estimated
three million people leaving the country over
the last few years.
Matthew Carter, CAFOD's head of humanitarian support,
says: "It is hard to
imagine a greater challenge to a new government than
that faced by the new
power-sharing government.
"If it is to turn
Zimbabwe's fortunes around, then Mugabe and Tsvangarai
need to listen to the
people and fully reflect their needs, priorities and
interests.
"The
international community, in particular the community of African
nations, has
a crucial role to accompany the nation during this period and
ensure that
the new government stays responsive and accountable to the
Zimbabwean
people.
"Many aid agencies working in Zimbabwe are receiving significant
financial
support from DfID which is currently subject to temporary
extension
following the election turmoil.
"It is vital this funding
continues for at least the short to medium term to
allow aid agencies to
concentrate on helping to rebuild the country."
CAFOD's long term
development work in Zimbabwe includes HIV work,
sustainable agricultural
support projects, and providing clean water.
Among British aid agencies
in the country, it has one of the biggest
programmes and works closely with
the Catholic Church across the country.
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba & Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Washington
12 September 2008
Zimbabwean and regional
political observers offered mixed opinions on Friday
as to the chances for
success of the national unity government resulting
from the power-sharing
deal struck Thursday in Harare by the ZANU-PF party
of President Robert
Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change of Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
sought the
perspectives of independent South African-based analyst Hermann
Hanekom and
Professor John Makumbe of the University of
Zimbabwe.
Makumbe said the accord is a step in the right direction, but
warned that
those involved should carefully consider its terms before
signing it on
Monday. He said the MDC should be commended for insisting on a
comprehensive
and detailed agreement at a time when Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party is
reluctantly accepting the need for reform.
Zimbabwean
Clever Mtiba of the Harare suburb of Dzivarasekwa told reporter
Marvellous
Mhlanga-Nyahuye that he hopes the deal will help the economy.
Another VOA
listener in Mutare, who gave his name as Bamu, said he hopes to
see national
reconciliation.
http://www.hararetribune.com
Friday, 12 September 2008
22:13 Trymore Magomana
Though Tambo Mbeki had strove to keep
Zimbabweans in the dark about the GNU
deal, details of the said deal are
starting to emerge.
The long sought after GNU deal was reached
Thursday night, following which
Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and
Robert Mugabe appended their
signatures to the historic
document.
Tambo Mbeki, who has been hailed for his sterling efforts
by leaders in
Southern Africa, told the media that the formal signing
ceremony of the GNU
deal would be held Monday next. "You will know the
details of the deal
then," Mbeki said .
"I am absolutely certain that
the leadership of Zimbabwe is committed to
implementing these agreements,"
Mbeki also assured a group of skeptical
reporters at a news
conference.
Though ZANU-PF officials privy to the deal refused to divulge
details of the
deal, MDC officials where more open.
As ZANU-PF had
demanded, the deal gives Robert Mugabe control of the
Zimbabwe Defence
Forces (ZDF), the Tribune was told. The ZDF includes the
Zimbabwe National
Army (ZNA) and the air force.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) will
come under the control of Morgan
Tsvangirai while the ruthless Central
Intelligence Organization (CIO) will
summarilybe disbanded and replaced by a
National Security Agency (NSA).
The CIO and the ZRP have been the pivotal
tools with which Mugabe and
ZANU-PF have terrorized the Zimbabwean populace
over the years.
Asked what would become of the likes of police
commissioner Augustine
Chihuri and his opposite Happyton Bonyongwe director
general of the CIO, the
MDC officials couldn't say.
Chihuri has
pledged time and again that he will never salute Morgan
Tsvangirai. It is
difficult to see any situation in which he will work under
the control of
the MDC now.
The deal is expected to result in a de facto amnesty for the
military and
Zanu-PF party leaders responsible for their bloody campaign
against
opposition supporters and activists.
Activists have in the
past rejected an blanket amnesty on the perpetrators
of
violence.
Opposition officials also said the deal gives the MDC 16
seats in the
cabinet to Zanu-PF's 15. Tsvangirai's party will get eight
deputy
ministries, Mugabe's six, and one will go to a breakaway MDC faction
led by
Arthur Mutambara.
British reaction was muted last night, with
the government waiting to see
the detail. "We are following the situation
closely," said a Foreign Office
spokesman. "We look forward to seeing the
detail of the agreement announced
by President Mbeki this evening. Our
overriding concern is the welfare of
the Zimbabwean people."
If the
agreement results in a real shift in power, it is likely to unlock
the
hundreds of millions of pounds in foreign aid desperately needed to
shore up
Zimbabwe's economy, which is collapsing under the weight of
hyperinflation
that has been a key factor in Mugabe conceding authority.
Meanwhile, as
news of the GNU spread around Zimbabwe, MDC supporters danced
for joy. In
Masvingo, hundreds of MDC supporters marched down the streets of
the town,
with song and dance.
The spontaneous march, reminiscent of the 1980 April
18 Independence
celebrations, were unauthorized by the police, pursuant of
POSA. The police,
some of whom joined in the march, let the march go
uninterrupted.
http://www.mg.co.za
JASON MOYO - Sep 13 2008 00:00
President Thabo Mbeki
dangled the prospect of economic support for a new
unity government in
Zimbabwe as part of a revised draft deal intended to
break the impasse in
the power-sharing talks.
Mbeki proposed that Morgan Tsvangirai should
lead the "Council of State", a
core of ministers that would formulate and
implement government policy,
while Robert Mugabe should remain head of
state.
The intention was to create the impression that both men would
have equal
power in the new government, as they would be "co-chairs" of
Cabinet.
There was optimism on all sides that a deal was to be signed
late on
Thursday. Swaziland's King Mswati III, head of SADC's organ on
defence,
politics and security, was expected to travel to Zimbabwe to
witness the
signing of the deal.
But doubts remained about how the
new arrangement could work and whether
agreement had been reached on areas
of disagreement; the distribution of
ministries and the tenure of the new
government.
For the first time in the talks, Mbeki is said to have used
the prospect of
financial aid to nudge the process forward.
Donald
Kuberuka, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), arrived
in
Harare with Mbeki for the start of the talks on Monday.
Diplomats
speculated that by involving the AfDB the African Union hopes to
signal it
is ready to assist with economic support should a deal be reached.
The
economic crisis has been a central theme of the talks, with Tsvangirai
maintaining that only his leadership in a unity government will unlock
foreign aid.
But this angers Mugabe, who views declarations by Europe
and the United
States that they will support only a Tsvangirai-led
government as evidence
of foreign interference in Zimbabwe's internal
affairs.
Now African leaders, through the AfDB, sought to reassure Mugabe
that any
foreign economic assistance to Zimbabwe would be African-led.
However, close
to 40% of the AfDB's capital is owned by non-African
countries.
The AfDB has funded Nepad, the plan for African economic and
political
renaissance, heavily promoted by Mbeki.
Following the March
election, Kuberuka was quoted saying the bank was ready
to support Zimbabwe
once sanctions against the country were lifted.
With Côte d'Ivoire,
Zimbabwe accounted for 81,9% of arrears to the AfDB at
end-2007.
Despite Mbeki's new proposals, disagreement remained on the
sharing of
power, the life of the unity government and the structure of the
new
administration.
Agreement had previously been reached on a raft
of issues, including a new
Constitution within 18 months, "healing" for
victims of pre-and
post-independence violence and the lifting of a ban on
humanitarian aid.
On July 28, in a document entitled "Framework for a new
government",
agreement was reached on the broad structure of the new
government, with
Mugabe staying on as president while a new post of prime
minister would be
created for Tsvangirai. But the talks stalled over the
distribution of power
between these two offices.
Tsvangirai wants
full authority to formulate and implement government
policy, to chair
Cabinet and the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. The
deal he demands
would leave Mugabe as a ceremonial head of state.
Entering the talks this
week, both sides expressed confidence, with Mugabe
saying "we are not born
to be pessimists". But Mugabe showed less patience
on Tuesday, telling his
rivals "a government will be formed by the end of
the week" regardless of
the outcome.
http://www.independent.co.uk
Leading
article:
Saturday, 13 September 2008
So
fractured a nation has Zimbabwe become that even a political deal that
effectively leaves her with two governments must be cautiously welcomed.
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai will now share power, though both will
have to make an accommodation with the third, undeclared, partner in this
unconventional marriage: the army.
The architect of this solution,
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, seems
satisfied with the deal. It is
not difficult to see where he got the idea.
The model for the "two
government" solution is Kenya, where violence after a
disputed election was
also ended, albeit in an uneasy truce, when the main
protagonists agreed to
share executive office in February. In Zimbabwe, as
in Kenya, it offers
hope, which has been in almost as short supply as fuel,
maize, bread and
other essentials.
Hope for what, though? More than anything, a stable
currency and a growing
economy, which would offer a route out of poverty for
Zimbabweans. This is a
traditionally prosperous country. Mr Tsvangirai
should set about gradually
freeing the economy from the rigor mortis grip of
Zanu-PF ideology. The
remaining productive farms need to be protected.
Further, land reforms
should be orderly and properly funded, if needs be
with British and American
funding (as was originally provided for in the
Lancaster House agreement at
independence in 1980).
The rule of law
urgently needs to return to the countryside. The rest of the
economy should
also be freed up, with market-oriented reforms leveraging in
foreign aid and
capital. As these policies reverse decline, the public
finances and the
Zimbabwean dollar can also move to a more honest and
sustainable footing. In
the past decade the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Angola have shown that
hyperinflation can be tamed relatively easily - if
the state simply stops
behaving like a kleptocracy.
Yet that is the crux of the matter. The
details of the power-sharing
agreement are not yet clear. If it gives Mr
Tsvangirai the opportunity to
steadily marginalise Mr Mugabe and his thugs
there is some hope. But if the
Zanu-PF regime has managed to retain its
power base in the security
services, the prospects of this benighted country
remain as bleak as ever.
africasia
HARARE, Sept 12 (AFP)
Zimbabweans whose lives have been shattered by a deep
economic crisis
reacted warily Friday to a power-sharing agreement agreed by
President
Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader.
With inflation at
an official rate of 11.2 million, mass unemployment and
chronic shorages of
foodstuffs, many people want to wait to see whether
Mugabe and opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai can make their relationship
work.
"I am
happy that there is a deal but it's too early to celebrate. We still
need to
see how the parties will work together," said Billy Moyo, an
unemployed
32-year-old from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city.
Moyo ekes out
a living selling soap, cooking oil and maize brought across
the border from
South Africa on the thriving black market.
Fungai Chiganze, a newspaper
vendor in Harare, said any agreement between
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) meant little unless people's
lives change for the better.
"ZANU-PF cannot be trusted. In fact, it must
be dissolved as it might try to
swallow the MDC just like they did in 1987
when ZANU-PF swallowed PF-ZAPU,"
Chiganze said.
"If it's true that
they really agreed then it must be a good deal for the
MDC and us
Zimbabweans," he told AFP.
Though he has not fixed salary, the newspaper
salesman is better-off than
most of his countrymen who have no jobs. Daily
life is made worse by the
country's worthless currency and sky high food
prices which have turned
Zimbabwe's working class into 'starving
billionares'.
In June, at least 80 percent of the population lived below
the poverty line,
a factor exarcebated by the suspension of aid
organisations ahead of the
election in June.
The government accused
UN and other private aid groups of siding with
opposition parties. The ban
was lifted in August but many aid agencies still
face
restrictions.
Mary Murwira, a secretary at a women's rights organisation,
told AFP she was
not too optimistic about the outcome of the
talks.
"We are a praying nation and we hope the deal will hold until
Monday. The
worrying thing is that President Mugabe has not said anything so
far, and I
hope he will not change his mind by Monday," she
said.
Murwira is one of the army of Zimbabweans who are skipping meals
and walking
or cycling to work to stretch their incomes.
"We have
always prayed that there is food on our table and peace in the
country," she
added.
Apart from spending long hours looking for or queuing for scarce
commodities
like sugar, cooking oil and cornmeal, Zimbabweans increasingly
find
themselves without jobs.
Thandolenkosi Dube a clerk from
Bulawayo said, "my hope is that things will
start changing after the signing
of the deal."
In downtown Harare supermarkets, shelves are empty with few
rotten
foodstuffs costing millions of Zimbabwean dollars.
This week,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono announced that
Zimbabwe had
licensed some shops to sell goods in foreign currency as it
grapples with a
burgeoning black market.
By Lance Guma
12
September 2008
Long suffering Zimbabweans reacted with a mixture of
excitement, relief and
anxiety that a deal between ZANU PF and the MDC had
finally been signed. But
while hope for a better life dominated everyone's
interest, most people were
still anxiously awaiting Monday's final signing
ceremony and the release of
further details relating to the deal. Political
analyst Eldred Masunungure
compared the deal to, 'walking out of a landmine
field while carrying a huge
load,' and thinks it will only survive, 'on a
lot of goodwill, commitment
and strategic thinking by all the key players
because it can easily collapse
even on small things and
misunderstandings.'
Our Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme reported
scenes of jubilation
amongst some residents of the city who remarked,
'umfana omncane
usasilungisela- the young Tsvangirai will sort the economy
for us.' After 28
years of often brutal rule by Robert Mugabe many can be
forgiven for not
trusting his intentions to go into a deal with Tsvangirai.
The ghost of the
late ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo who signed up to a unity
accord with Mugabe in
1987 serves as a reminder that the ZANU PF leader
remains a master of
manipulation. But as Saungweme further explained, 'the
people's suffering is
so intense they are prepared to ignore their
suspicions for a while.'
Some residents in the gold mining town of Kadoma
told Newsreel they were
still unsure what the deal meant for the country.
Rumours trickled through
the town on Friday suggesting the army generals had
called the deal a joke.
"We are not getting enough information on this deal
to make up our minds,"
one pensioner told us. In Harare it was business as
usual for some as they
engaged in the daily struggles of queuing for cash,
food and other basic
goods in stores. From the mood on the street it was
hard to tell a deal had
been signed. "Everyone is waiting for Monday
(signing ceremony) to make up
their minds," a vendor told
Newsreel.
Some analysts argue Tsvangirai only agreed to the deal because
his party
would be assured of winning the next election should the economy
recover
from the current mess. A unity government with Mugabe is being
viewed as a
transitional process towards national healing and the creation
of a better
environment for the holding of fresh elections. Simon Muchemwa
in Harare
reports that certain sections of ZANU PF are clearly not happy
with Mugabe
for signing the deal just as much as there were sections of the
MDC not
happy with Tsvangirai for signing. If suspicions from both sides are
anything to go by then Zimbabwe might have got a proper 50/50
deal.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Namibian
(Windhoek)
12 September 2008
Posted to the web 12 September
2008
Brigitte Weidlich
OVER 300 black Zimbabwean farmers have
applied to a regional tribunal to
give them relief because they cannot move
onto the farms of several dozen
white commercial farmers seized by that
country's government, but who are
currently under the tribunal's interim
protection order.
The full bench of five judges at the Windhoek-based
tribunal of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) reserved
judgement yesterday in a
preliminary application by lawyers representing 343
black farmers who were
promised sections of land seized from white farmers in
a controversial
'fast-track' land reform programme under president Robert
Mugabe.
They want the tribunal to declare that the acquisition of the
farms
previously owned by white farmers was lawful and that the land
reform
programme in Zimbabwe was lawful.
They also want an order
against the Government of Zimbabwe that the delay in
giving them possession
of the land was a breach of their government's SADC
Treaty
obligations.
Two months ago, lawyers representing the 343 black resettled
Zimbabwean
farmers wanted the tribunal to hear this application before
turning to the
hearing of the 77 white commercial farmers, led by Michael
Campbell, who
have remained on their farms seized by the Zimbabwean
government.
The panel of judges declined in July and set a new date for
yesterday, but
Zimbabwean lawyer Farai Mutamangira did not present his main
arguments and
merely criticised the SADC tribunal for not having granted him
the
opportunity back in July.
"The tribunal has [in July] created a
procedural quagmire that has thrown
confusion into this entire matter by
seeking to hear our application after
the main matter [of Campbell],"
Mutamangira argued.
However, Adrian de Bourbon, who represents the 77
commercial farmers,
countered that the SADC tribunal in July already
dismissed the applications
of the 343 resettlement beneficiaries, because
their lawyers filed them late
and incomplete.
"By filing the papers so
late, they tried to interfere with the proper
administration of this
Tribunal.
They failed in that regard and should not now be given an
opportunity to
undo what has already taken place," De Bourbon told the
judges.
"Individuals can turn to the SADC tribunal only if they have
explored all
avenues in their home country.
There is no dispute
involving the 343 resettlement beneficiaries and the
Government of
Zimbabwe.
On this basis the application must be dismissed," he
argued.
There has clearly been no litigation in Zimbabwe between the
applicants and
that Government, he said.
"The requirement to exhaust
domestic remedies before approaching this
Tribunal has not been met and is an
absolute bar to jurisdiction."
A ruling in this application is expected
next week and also on the main case
of the 77 commercial farmers led by
Campbell.
Their application, argued by De Bourbon in July, was based on
the grounds
that seizing farms without compensation in Zimbabwe was
unconstitutional and
violated their human rights.
By Alex Bell
12
September 2008
The deal reached between Zimbabwe's political leaders has
been greeted with
caution from South African human rights groups and trade
unions - as the
world waits to see what the deal has in store for Zimbabwe's
future.
Human Rights Activist and Chair of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition in South
Africa, Elinor Sisulu told Newsreel on Friday the group
is 'cautious' about
commenting on the deal until all the details have been
released. She
explained that so much needs to change in Zimbabwe and the
deal needs to
encompass these changes, including opening up the media
channels.
Sisulu also said that the safety and security of Zimbabweans
needs to be a
top priority, especially if Zimbabwean exiles are to be
persuaded to return
home. Anna Moyo from the Zimbabwe Exiles forum told
Newsreel that while it
is optimistic about the 'dawn of a new era' in
Zimbabwe, she echoed the need
for caution given Zimbabwe's political
history. She warned that agreements
have been reached in the past that have
not produced change in Zimbabwe, and
this past should not be
forgotten.
Moyo added that Zimbabweans in South Africa have welcomed the
deal and are
'looking forward to returning home,' but emphasised that the
deal will not
be accepted if there is not a thorough 'constitutional
reconstruction.'
South Africa's trade union federation, COSATU on Friday
also echoed the
Exiles Forum's statements, and said a deal will not be
accepted if change is
not ensured.
The federation's Patrick Craven
told Newsreel he hopes the deal is not an
'elite agreement' that will merely
see shifts in positions of power and no
real change. Craven said the
federation's policy against Robert Mugabe and
his regime 'will not change if
the deal is not accepted,' and emphasised
that political violence,
humanitarian violations and continued human rights
abuses need to stop. The
federation has been a long time critic of Mugabe
and his cronies and has
made repeated calls for the dictator not to be
recognised as a legitimate
leader.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Star, SA
September
13, 2008 Edition 1
Zimbabweans yesterday received with caution news
of a power-sharing deal
between longtime foes President Robert Mugabe and
Movement for Democratic
Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai amid lack of clarity
over who would wield
the most real power.
After nearly two months of
stop-start talks, President Thabo Mbeki announced
on Thursday that a
"unanimous" agreement had been reached.
While UN secretary-general Ban
ki-Moon and German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the
deal, and South Africa trumpeted the
agreement as proof that Africans can
solve their own problems, Zimbabweans
were opting to keep the champagne on
ice.
"Given the name-calling and the different ideologies of the MDC and
Zanu-PF,
it will be interesting to see how they will work together. I give
them six
months," Farai Mutsakwa (26), a sociology student, said in the
low-income
Highfields suburb of Harare.
"I hope they are sincere. I
want to start a normal life again and everyone
to return home," said Harmond
Greg (36), a shopowner, whose family emigrated
to Britain in 2001. "I can't
stomach this life of suffering."
Zimbabweans have been crossing their
fingers that a negotiated political
settlement will stem the political and
economic rot that set in eight years
ago when Mugabe gave the nod for a
violent land reform campaign.
With inflation running at 11.2-million
percent and food in critically short
supply, Mugabe has grudgingly accepted
to work with the Western-backed MDC
to try to secure much-needed foreign aid
and investment.
But the agreement that sources say emerged from the
talks, where Mugabe
would remain both head of state and head of government
and Tsvangirai become
prime minister, was seen by some, particularly in the
exile community, as a
capitulation by Tsvangirai.
"Tsvangirai is a
coward," one frustrated Zimbabwean refugee at the Central
Methodist Church
in Joburg, a haven for homeless Zimbabweans, said. "He has
to keep fighting
to become president."
"If Mugabe remains in control of defence that is
not good for Zimbabwe,"
Duncan Kapwanya, a councillor from Mashonaland East
constituency, who fled
Zimbabwe in May after a beating by pro-Mugabe
militia, added.
Around 3-million Zimbabweans are estimated to have left
the country over the
past decade in search of safety or work.
No one
in SA is packing for home yet.
"Maybe after one year," said Stephen Bruce
(28), who has lived in the church
for two years. "We have to monitor the
situation."
Tsvangirai had been under pressure from Western powers not to
cave in to
pressure within Southern Africa - including from Mbeki - to
accept a junior
partnership. - Sapa-dpa