Zim govt starts work under ominous shadow of Bennett’s arrest

Mugabe’s decision to appoint old guard allies and hardliners from his
ZANU PF party to work with the MDC in the new power-sharing Cabinet was
as much a sign he was yet to fully embrace change as it was a recipe
for friction between his ageing team and the young new comers from the
MDC, according to analysts.

"Mugabe’s actions show that he is still insincere. The MDC will try to
fuse in new ideas but Mugabe has picked an old guard that will try to
safeguard its territory," said Gabriel Shumba, a lawyer and political
commentator, who fled Zimbabwe to South Africa after he was severely
tortured by state security agents.

"It is certainly not the new era that Tsvangirai has been talking about,"

said Shumba, referring to both Mugabe’s selection for Cabinet and the
move by police to arrest Roy Bennett who is treasurer in Tsvangirai’s
MDC party.

Bennett, who fled Zimbabwe three years ago fearing arrest by the police
and only returned to Harare a few days ahead of Tsvangirai’s
inauguration, was arrested as Mugabe swore in the new unity Cabinet. A
top farmer, Bennett is his party’s choice for deputy agriculture
minister in the new unity government.

Under the power-sharing agreement brokered by the Southern African
Development Community last December, Mugabe remains an executive
President while Tsvangirai also enjoys executive powers as Prime
Minister.

The unity government deal that was clinched after several months of
tense and sometimes acrimonious negotiations says that Tsvangirai will
be in charge of the day-to-day running of government business. But the
former trade unionist is required to keep Mugabe, who still chairs the
Cabinet, "fully informed".

There will be a National Security Council to oversee the military and
security agents but Mugabe will still retain total control over these
important institutions that are also staffed with hardliners several
who have vowed never to salute Tsvangirai.

Top army generals did not attend Tsvangirai’s swearing in ceremony on
Wednesday, a sign analysts said showed that security agents were yet to
warm up to the former trade unionist’s ascendancy to power.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist and a long time Mugabe
critic, John Makumbe said it was not only military generals keen to
wreck the unity government but there were several influential people in
ZANU PF who wanted to see the administration fail.

He said: "There is still a key component of ZANU PF that is against
this unity government, obviously because they stand to lose after years
of patronage. Security chiefs are part of the component.

"Mugabe is not keen to retire them so they will be around and they are
taking every opportunity to wreck the new government’s chances of
survival.

Mugabe himself has also acted in ways that show he is not sincere."

Some of Mugabe’s behaviour that have led many to question his
commitment to genuine power sharing was on display the same day the new
Cabinet was sworn in.

Instead of sticking to the number of ministers allocated his ZANU PF
under the power-sharing agreement, Mugabe attempted to appoint an
additional five people from his party into the new government without
consulting his Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
of the smaller MDC formation.

The swearing in ceremony had to be delayed by several hours as the
parties bickered over the attempt by Mugabe to unilaterally give his
party additional ministerial posts before he later relented.

Shumba said Mugabe appeared determined to show Tsvangirai that he was
the junior in the partnership, adding the MDC leader – who insists
there is no viable option to power-sharing – is going to struggle to
make the unity government work.

He said: "Tsvangirai will have a tough time making this work. Mugabe is
already showing that he is in charge and Tsvangirai is the junior
partner.

Mugabe has refused to meet Tsvangirai’s demands for the release of
imprisoned activists, and now he has even gone further to arrest
Bennett." – ZimOnline