Mugabe-Mutambara alliance in offing
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com
October 2, 2008
HARARE (The Zimbabwean/Own Correspondent) - Under pressure from the
security chiefs to renege on the power-sharing deal signed last month,
President Robert Mugabe has offered cabinet posts to key officials of
the Arthur Mutambara faction of the MDC.
Highly placed sources say such a deal is being struck behind the back
of the mainstream MDC led by Prime Minister-designate Morgan
Tsvangirai. It is an open secret that Mutambara and his faction were
the favourites of negotiation mediator, Thabo Mbeki, who fell from
power in South Africa as the power sharing deal was being signed in
Harare.
For long there have been open lines of communication between Mbeki and
Mutambara's secretay general Welshman Ncube, who engineered the
withdrawal of his faction from the mainstream MDC in 2005.
A highly placed source within Zanu-PF says that upon his return from
New York on Monday, Mugabe was told by the heads of the Zimbabwe
Defense Forces, the Police and the Air Force that two options were open
to him. He either had to renege on the agreement to share key
ministries with the MDC or risk being forcibly removed from office.
There is a widely held perception that the security chiefs, the
so-called Joint Operations Command, effectively usurped executive power
from Mugabe soon after his defeat at the polls by Tsvangirai on March
29. It is they, it is re****ted, who orchestrated the seven week delay
in the announcement of the result of the presidential election and the
subsequent scourge of violence during the run-up to the second
presidential election on June 27.
"Mugabe is determined to remain as President of Zimbabwe until the day
he dies, but he knows that if he ignores the threats from the generals,
that day could come a lot sooner than he thinks", the Zanu-PF source
said.
Aware that the Tsvangirai MDC would have no option but to reject the
minor ministries offered to it, Mugabe is expected to proceed with the
formation of a cabinet of his own.
In the new cabinet key Mugabe ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa will become the
Minister of Home Affairs, while the architect of Zimbabwe's economic
collapse, Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, will become Minister of
Finance.
To provide the necessary window dressing to placate regional unease
over this move, Mugabe has re****tedly enticed the leaders of the MDC
faction led by Arthur Mutambara with positions in the new cabinet.
It is understood that the Mutambara MDC secretary general, Ncube will
be allocated the Ministry of Trade and Industry, while Priscilla
Misihairambwi Mushonga will become the Minister of Communications and
Moses Mzila-Ndlovu will become the new Minister of National
Integration, S****t and Culture.
The Zimbabwe Times submitted questions to Mutambara asking him to
comment on these allegations. At the time of publi****ng he had not
responded.
Commenting on this development, a mainstream MDC spokesperson said this
development showed that the leader****p of the Mutambara faction of the
MDC was not interested in alleviating the suffering of the people but
were instead focused on lining their own pockets.
"You can predict what will happen when these people climb into bed with
the same people who have raped our county and who have no desire to
admit to, or address, the problems the people are facing" the
spokesperson said.
"While this deal will worsen the situation in the country it will serve
to strengthen the resolve of the people and the MDC to finding a
lasting solution to the Zimbabwe crisis", he added.
Millions of ordinary Zimbabweans are facing starvation as the new crop
planting season approaches against a backdrop of a serious shortage
seed, fertiliser and other farming inputs. The economy is in free fall
with the ZImbabwe currency now pegged at Z$1 000 000.00 to US$1.00 only
months after the government removed 10 zeroes from the currency.
Inflation now stands at almost 200 million percent.
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