Crying for the moon

But perhaps the best summation came from University of Zimbabwe political scientist John Makumbe. He called it a classic case of crying for the moon. This is the story of Zimbabwes quest to raise a staggering US$18.4 billion within the next six months to confront a sneezing economy currently operating at below 20 percent and a plethora of humanitarian challenges.

The international humanitarian community led by the United Nations increased its donor appeal for Zimbabwe last week to better reflect the depth of need in the southern African nation still smarting from a decade-long political and economic crisis.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also stated that Zimbabwes Short-Term Emergency and Recovery Programme (STERP) would chew up to US$18.4 billion by the end of 2009 if the money can be raised. The budget for the short-term recovery programme was initially put at US$8.3 billion when the programme was launched in March.

Credit lines

However, with President Robert Mugabe remaining firmly in charge of Zimbabwe, only US$1 billion has been pledged in credit lines by African governments and continental financial institutions as of May 2009. The STERP remains uncomfortably under-funded halfway into the year and threatening the country’s efforts at recovery.

I dont see where we are going to get US$18.4 billion to finance the STERP before the end of the year when we are failing to raise US$100 million a month to fund government operations and pay the civil service, Makumbe said. The short-term economic recovery programme, which was due to run from March to December, is effectively on ice, according to analysts.

Little hope

Barring any miracles, there is very little hope of reaching the revised funding target this year, said an economist with a Harare-based financial institution who could not be named for professional reasons.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is due to travel to Europe and the United States next month on a mission to meet top government officials there and plead for direct financial support for the unity government he formed with Mugabe.

Tsvangirai is expected to leave the country headed for France on June 24 and from there he will visit Britain, Belgium, the US and some Scandinavian countries.

During the trip, Tsvangirai is expected to appeal to Western nations to increase humanitarian support to Zimbabwe and to consider direct assistance to the Harare administration.

Tsvangirai will meet senior government officials as well as private business leaders during his tour, but it was not immediately clear if he would meet heads of state and government such as US President Barack Obama or France President Nicholas Sarkozy.

Success of the Harare administration hinges on its ability to raise financial support from rich Western countries that have however said they will not immediately help until they are convinced Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with his former opposition foes.

Repeated calls

Tsvangirai last weekend repeated calls on Western countries to assist Zimbabwes unity government arguing that continuing withholding direct financial support could weaken those working for transformation in the African country while strengthening the hand of hardliners opposed to democratic change.

But Makumbe said whether Tsvangirai would get the support he needed or would return empty-handed depended on how soon he and Mugabe would be able to resolve the remaining power-sharing issues bedevilling the new Harare regime.

Without an acceptable deal on the contentious issue of (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon) Gono and (Attorney General Johannes) Tomana this whole exercise of trying to raise US$18.4 billion in six months would be like crying for the moon, the political scientist observed. Mugabe and Tsvangirai have differed over the appointments of Gono and Tomana, with the 85-year-old leader insisting the two are staying put despite calls for their removal.

Tsvangirais Movement for Democratic Change party has appealed to the Southern African Development Community to arbitrate over the matter which is threatening to derail the fragile coalition government. Rich Western nations have pushed for the removal of Gono and Tomana and are unlikely to loosen their purses until there are positive changes in Harare.