The coalition of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been issuing conflicting statements on a myriad of issues.
The deliberate misinformation has been costly to the MDC, which saw Jameson Timba, the minister of State in the Prime Minister's office, arrested and jailed briefly for calling Mugabe a liar over the outcome of a regional summit.
The conflicting statements have become even more confused as the GNU hurtles towards another election.
The latest has been on the agenda of a meeting whose purpose was to agree on a timeline for reforms to be carried out in the homestretch of the political marriage.
The President and the Prime Minister last week issued separate and divergent news statements at the end of what was supposed to have been a principals’ briefing.
The GNU has tried bonding retreats to promote cohesion in government but that has apparently been unhelpful. The fissures are widening.
One senior government spokesman is saying one thing, while another says the contrary. The comical drama has played out in the coalition government since its formation in 2009 but has got worse over the past six months. Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba is at the centre.
Misleading reports
The PM's spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, a trained journalist, moved quickly to correct misconceptions created by Mugabe's spokesmen about the outcome of the briefing on the election roadmap and media reforms.
"There have been misleading reports in the press about what transpired at the meeting of the principals held at Zimbabwe House on July 6," Tamborinyoka said.
"The Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and the Permanent Secretary are not spokespersons of the principals and cannot claim to speak on behalf of all the principals of the inclusive government.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News