Govt faces collapse over reforms

The groups that spoke as southern African leaders prepared for the first review of the fragile power-sharing government later this month acknowledged some gains made on the economy but said there had been only token changes on the political front since last February when the government took office.

The Zimbabwe Europe Network (ZEN), comprising civil society organisations from Zimbabwe and Europe, said the first six months of the coalition government would largely go down as a forgettable phase of the power-sharing arrangement in Harare because many commitments under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) had not been fulfilled.

Dzimbabwe Chimbga, programme manager of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for

Human Rights that is part of the ZEN, said the inclusive government (IG) had achieved very little in terms of meeting commitments made during last Septembers signing of the GPA by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.

Despite movement on some of the GPA commitments such as the removal of price controls and the adoption of liberal economic policies to encourage industry and commerce, many things committed to by the parties remained unfulfilled.

Disillusioned public

There was little or no movement on contentious GPA issues such as appointments of provincial governors, ambassadors, central bank chief and Attorney General as well as a cessation of politically motivated violence, Chimbga said

The IG can be said to have made a false start and it will need to really move urgently to address the weaknesses … for it to retain some form of support from an already disillusioned public, according to Chimbga.

Beloved Chiweshe of pressure group Sokwanele observed that the lack of progress on the outstanding issues would ultimately be the undoing of the coalition government.

The unilateral appointments of the reserve bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana by President Robert Mugabe can be singled out as examples, but a number of outstanding issues were swept under the carpet to give a sense of normalcy and legitimacy to the IG, said Chiweshe.

The disputed appointments of Gono and Tomana have threatened to place a wedge among the coalition partners, with Mugabe refusing to give in to demands for their removal.

The civic groups dim assessment of the unity government echoed the MDC-Ts position which last Friday blamed what it said was Zanu (PF)s grab-all attitude for holding back the administration.

Tsvangirais part blames Gono for single-handedly ruining Zimbabwes economy through the quasi-fiscal activities he pursued since becoming Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor in December 2003.

Tomana is also accused of bias against the MDC by targeting officials from the former opposition party for prosecution on trumped-up charges.

At least 10 MDC legislators are facing court cases on largely trumped-up charges in what observers say is a Zanu (PF) ploy to reduce the parliamentary majority of Tsvangirais party.

Farm invasions

The civil society groups identified other GPA unfulfilled commitments as the refusal by Mugabes Zanu (PF) party to prosecute its supporters leading continuing farm occupations as well as a plethora of human rights abuses that have continued right under the noses of the three power-sharing partners.

No practical steps have been taken to encourage the resuscitation of activity in the agriculture sector where marauding gangs of Zanu (PF) youth and so-called war veterans continue to disrupt production at the few productive farms still owned by remaining white farmers.

The lack of decisive action against the illegal activities in the farming sector continues to blight prospects of long-term recovery of the agriculture-dependent Zimbabwean economy, with most foreign investors using events in the sector as a barometer of the overall political health of the country.

The illegal farm occupations have only served to dent investor sentiment by turning away potential investors who perceive such actions as evidence of failure of the unity government.

Investor and international donor support has been tied to the return of rule of law.

The Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee is due to file a report on the unity government to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) by the end of August.