Power

What I find particularly depressing is the news this week that some civil servants and heads of parastatals – those further down the food chain – are also obstructing the new arrangement. Officials at Hwange Colliery reportedly refused to allow the new minister for energy, Elias Mudzuri, to tour the giant mining complex where Zimbabwe’s thermal plant is situated. They claimed they had not been given the go ahead by the minister of mines, Obert Mpofu – a Zanu (PF) appointee. News also leaked this week of a major row in cabinet on Tuesday when Tendai Biti, minister of finance, introduced the subject of Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank, whom he said should be fired if the country was to get any financial support from the international community.

It is common knowledge that Gono was instrumental in accelerating the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy through his key position as the orchestrator of the Zanu (PF) patronage system. Gono is being seen increasingly by the international community, and even with SADC, as a problem. Mugabe’s insistence on keeping him is fast becoming a serious issue for the donor community. Basically the MDC ministers are desperately trying to do their jobs, while Mugabe loyalists are trying just as desperately to make sure that they fail. Mugabe’s plan is pitifully transparent. He has his eye firmly fixed on the next election – in two years’ time. What he wants is for the MDC to unlock the purse strings of the west, under the guise of power sharing, while maintaining a firm grip on the real power.

The Catch 22, of course, is that if the MDC is seen to fail to attract donor support, the desperate people of Zimbabwe could turn against them.