The birth of the unity government on 11 February 2009 was designed to
dilute the powers accumulated during Mugabe’s nearly 29-year rule,
which has reduced the once prosperous nation to penury.
The first few months of the unity government have been characterized by
Mugabe’s intransigence and flouting of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA), brokered between Mugabe’s ZANU(PF) and the MDC by former South
African president Thabo Mbeki, under the auspices of the Southern
African Development Community.
What is clear, following the outcry as a result of Mugabe’s actions, is
that the decision to change the ministries was not arrived at as a
result of consultation and consentMugabe has unilaterally announced
that the transport ministry, controlled by ZANU(PF) stalwart Nicholas
Goche, would be expanded to absorb the functions of the ministry of
information, communication and technology, headed by Nelson Chamisa,
who is also the MDC’s spokesperson.
Among the responsibilities taken from the MDC was control of Net One, a
mobile phone network and services provider, postal services, and the
fixed-line phone network provider, Tel One.
Tsvangirai declared the grab "null and void", saying, "This
[appointment) does not only fly in the face of the letter and spirit of
the Global Political Agreement, but is also an illegality, as the GPA
has legal effect."
ZANU(PF)’s absorption of the communications ministry allows it to avoid
obtaining authorization from the MDC to spy on its citizens.
Spying on its citizens
The Interception of Communications Act permits Zimbabwe’s security
agencies, controlled by ZANU(PF) under the GPA, to monitor telephone
conversations and e-mails, and intercept letters, but had required the
consent of the communications minister.
Mugabe’s realignment of ministries was "in total violation of the GPA,
which is very clear that all major decisions made by the [unity]
government would be as a result of consultation and consent," political
commentator Chris Mhike told IRIN.
"What is clear, following the outcry as a result of Mugabe’s actions,
is that the decision to change the ministries was not arrived at as a
result of consultation and consent."
Since its inception the unity government has suffered numerous body
blows, in which Mugabe has contravened both the spirit and letter of
the GPA, and the violations have been met with a standard response by
Tsvangirai that Mugabe’s actions were "null and void".
Mugabe unilaterally reappointed permanent secretaries in government
ministries without consultation; opposition and civil society
activists, and a journalist, remain jailed on charges of "recruiting
bandits" to topple Mugabe; Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, who
presided over the collapse of the economy, was reappointed – without
consultation – for another five-year term.
Provincial governors have still not been appointed. In line with the
March 2008 election results, in which ZANU(PF)lost control of
parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980,
most governors have to be chosen from the MDC.
Mugabe has also refused to swear in the deputy agriculture minister
designate, Roy Bennett, a white former commercial farmer whose land was
taken as part of the fast-track land reform programme that began in
2000 and triggered the eventual collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy.
If the country is unable to secure the requested funding, we are more
likely to see discontent and social unrest that will challenge the
strength of the unity government. Since the unity government came into
office, the material conditions of Zimbabweans have changed little.
More than half the country relies on emergency food assistance,
unemployment is estimated at 94 percent and pleas for a
multibillion-dollar assistance package have so far gone unanswered.
"If the country is unable to secure the requested funding, we are more
likely to see discontent and social unrest that will challenge the
strength of the unity government," warned a recent report by the
Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s largest.
"The humanitarian crisis might also worsen. The recovery process might
be longer and more difficult, with the high probability of divergence
among major political parties in the unity government," the report
commented.
Finance minister Tendai Biti told IRIN that the unity government was only receiving US$20 million a month, one-fifth of its minimum monthly requirement.
IRIN
Post published in: News