Tsvangirai declared Zimbabwe open for business and eager for investment
and described his first 100 days in office, blighted by personal
tragedy, as "the most wonderful and awful" of his life.
Critics argue that Mugabe has been winning the battle of wills against
his rival since they signed a power-sharing agreement in February. They
point to the president’s control of key ministries and the continuing
detention of political prisoners and seizures of white-owned farms.
Anxieties that Tsvangirai has conceded too much ground, inadvertently
legitimising his rival, were voiced when he attended a public forum
with exiled Zimbabweans at South Africa’s University of the
Witwatersrand last week.
One member of the audience declared, to applause, that Mugabe "has
almost single-handedly destroyed the country, lost two elections and
yet is still there Why do you have to sleep with the enemy? Is not
the simple solution that Mugabe goes?"
Tsvangirai responded with a message partly aimed at doubters in the
west: "Don’t be too paranoid about your obsession with Robert Mugabe
because he isn’t going to go away; he is there. Robert Mugabe was part
of the problem but he is also part of the solution, whether you like it
or not."
The prime minister said his Movement for Democratic Change, and
Mugabe’s Zanu(PF), had resolved nearly all the outstanding issues and
that an announcement would be made on Tuesday. It could prove a
watershed in what has become a delicate waiting game for the west.
Britain and other countries provided about $670m (444m) in emergency
humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe in 2008 and have pledged more this year,
but they have demanded that certain preconditions be met before they
will deliver long-term development support.
They were urged to give the unity government the benefit of the doubt
last week by the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders including
the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, and the former
South African president Nelson Mandela.
The Elders said they believed the risks of inaction by donors outweighed the challenges of delivering increased aid.
The group’s chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said: "The inclusive
government needs more support to ensure that it can initiate the urgent
stabilisation and early recovery programmes that the people so
desperately need. Now is not the time for donors to take a ‘wait and
see’ approach. This is the best chance Zimbabweans have had for peace
and prosperity in decades."
The Elders said more funds were needed to provide teaching materials,
cover school fees, support local food production and rehabilitate the
water and sanitation infrastructure, especially after a devastating
cholera outbreak.
There is some evidence of increased willingness among investors to
gamble on Zimbabwe stabilising. Neighbouring countries and two African
banks have pledged $650m in credit lines. The International Monetary
Fund said last week that its board had decided to partially lift the
suspension of technical assistance.
Patrice Motsepe, a Soweto-born businessman dubbed South Africa’s first
black billionaire, visited Harare last month and told Mugabe that, with
reassurances, capital would flow in. "I’m very confident and
optimistic, Mr President, that two years from now, there will be huge
investment in this country," he said.
But the government is still far short of its target of $2bn in
emergency funding and $8bn in the long term to help stabilise an
economy ravaged by a decade of hyperinflation, unemployment above 90%
and political violence.
Tendai Biti, the finance minister, made the case for the lifting of
western sanctions during recent visits to Washington and London. He
said: "There are some western colleagues who still have bones to chew
with us, and we understand that. We welcome African institutions that
want to help us."
In an interview with South Africa’s Sunday Times, Tsvangirai
meanwhile reflected on "the most wonderful and awful" time of his life.
His first 100 days as prime minister were marked by the deaths of his
wife and his grandson in separate accidents.
"It has been quite an experience, from the formation of an inclusive
government to the trepidation about what’s going to happen, and the
personal loss," he said.
"It is only 100 days so far, but this government has consolidated. We have our problems – who doesn’t?.
"Some people are not happy with everything that’s happening, but
sceptics are now the minority. The majority believe we are on the right
track and I believe so myself."
The newspaper predicted that, in his review in parliament on Tuesday,
Tsvangirai would detail the ongoing torture and beatings of political
detainees and continuing looting and farm invasions. He would thank the
British government for its assistance in paying retention allowances to
doctors and nurses so state hospitals could be reopened, the Sunday Times said.
The Guardian (UK)
Post published in: News