Zuma steps search for Zim solution

President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara have reached common position on the 27 issues they had initially differed on but remain divided on the matter of the appointment of the countrys central bank governor and attorney general.

They also is disagreement over the appointment of Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett to the post of deputy agriculture minister, which Mugabe has resisted insisting the MDC treasurer general must be first be cleared of treason before he can join Cabinet.

Mugabe refuses to fire Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana, two top allies he unilaterally appointed to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general respectively in breach of the power-sharing agreement that says he must consult Tsvangirai before making such appointments.

Welshman Ncube, who is one of the negotiators representing the smaller MDC party led by Mutambara, said last week that a team led by anti-apartheid struggle veteran Mac Maharaj that was in Harare on Tuesday was working to get the Zimbabwean principals to agree on three outstanding issues.

He said: We recommended to the facilitator that he should engage with the principals over and over again so thats why you are seeing more trips here by Maharaj. The only outstanding issues are those of Gono (Gideon, central bank governor), Tomana (Johannes, Attorney General) and Bennett and those are the issues that the principals are grappling with.

Maharaj who has for the past two weeks been shuttling between Zimbabwe and South Africa to meet with the leaders of the three political parties would not give much when contacted for a comment yesterday evening. I had a meeting over that issue today and I can tell you that I was in Harare on Tuesday (last week), our facilitation is continuing. President Zuma will give a public report on what is coming out, said Maharaj without elaboration.

Zuma, the Southern African Development Community (SADC)s official mediator in Zimbabwe, has battled without much success to prod the Harare coalition partners into a compromise deal to resolve their political differences that have hobbled their power-sharing government. The South African President, who earlier this year suggested that a free and fair election to choose a single party government to replace the coalition, was probably the best way to move Zimbabwe forward, will brief SADC leaders on the political situation in his northern neighbour.

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have in recent weeks urged supporters to prepare for new elections with the former, who is empowered to call elections, adding that Zimbabwe will have to go to polls whether an ongoing exercise to draft a new constitution that will ensure free and fair election flops or succeeds.