Deadlock – what deadlock?

The signing of the power sharing agreement in Zimbabwe which was conducted with much fanfare and trumpeting more than three weeks ago seems to have been in vein as there has been no change on the ground since the event. If anything, the situation has deteriorated quite dramatically with the economy, officially at 230 million percent inflation, now virtually collapsed and millions of citizens facing imminent hunger.

In the circumstances one would well be justified to express pessimism with the future of the country. However I choose to be optimistic and see this is the necessary pain before true relief is visited to the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. I do not see the present situation as a deadlock; rather it is a delay to the inevitable surrender of power by Zanu-PF and Robert Mugabe. The agreement which Mugabe signed, notwithstanding its imperfections, has only one implication to him and that is the loosening and eventual total loss of power. He realises it and will try as best as he can to wiggle out but there is no way out for him. The gates are now solidly shut.

What Mugabe is doing by refusing to agree on the distribution of government ministries is simply delaying the inevitable. It is like trying to hold back a ragging river with a shovel. Let me explain further. The reason Mugabe went into the negotiation in the first place was his realisation that the status quo was doomed and could not hold for much longer. He had been rejected and “humiliated” (his words, not mine) by his people in the March 29 election and five weeks of fiddling with results had failed to sanitise the humiliation. He had not fared much better in his second attempt in June when the outcome was universally condemned even by his erstwhile comrades in the African Union.

The only way out for him was to negotiate to either be accommodated in the new power vortex and/ or to secure legitimacy to his obviously illegitimate rule. That position has not changed and will not change if the power sharing agreement fails. He needs this agreement to work as much as a junkie needs a fix. He also knows that the agreement is a very good deal for him and nothing substantially better is likely to come his way in a new round of negotiation.

The consensus out there is that the opposition compromised a lot and, with that experience, they are very unlikely to be more accommodating in future negotiations. They accepted to retain him and his deputies in the presidency and offered him amnesty against prosecution for his many human rights abuses. That is precisely why the opposition have not given in on the issue of sharing of the cabinet seats. They have already done all the giving in and are under no obligation whatsoever to continue to appease the ungrateful dictator.

But Mugabe is playing a dangerous brinksmanship game with them. He is hoping that somehow the opposition will blink and accept a junior role in government thus effectively leaving him in control. His generals and his party are cheering and urging him on but every one of them knows that this is not going to happen. It must be remembered that this whole issue is not about Zanu-PF or about the army generals not wanting to salute anyone other than Mugabe. They are all irrelevant and side issues. The real issue is about Mugabe and, more precisely, stripping him of power and showing him the door.

And that happened on September 15 when Mugabe signed the power sharing agreement in which he, among other things, committed to sharing governing authority with the opposition. Unhappy as they may be with the deal, the generals and Zanu-PF can do absolutely nothing to change the new dynamic. That brings me to the issue of the distribution of cabinet posts. There are four posts which the opposition should insist on controlling. The first is the ministry of finance. The adage that he who holds the purse strings calls the tune has never been truer than in the case which Zimbabwe faces and will confront in the new dispensation. Mugabe and Zanu-PF have destroyed the economy of the country and it will be sheer madness to allow them to continue holding the safe keys.

The second is the ministry of home affairs which controls the police. Everyone knows that under Mugabe the police failed miserably in discharging their duty of protecting the people of Zimbabwe and, if anything, engaged in brutal repression and human rights abuses. There is a crying need to speedily reform the police force in order to protect any gains of freedom which will be ushered by the new dispensation. Without control of the police by the opposition, Zanu-PF will continue to use the force to protect its criminal elements. Another and perhaps more subtle reason for the opposition to control home affairs is to allow the prime minister to be issued with his passport which he has been denied for many months – home affairs controls the office of the registrar general which is responsible for issuing passports.

The third is the ministry of information. There is no doubt that Mugabe’s hold on power has been prolonged by his iron grip on the levers of information. Opening up of the airwaves and unfettered freedom of expression are absolute sine qua non for success of the new dispensation. The press should be unshackled to allow it to both report fairly and accurately on what is happening in the country and, even more importantly, to investigate and expose any undesirable elements and activities. A free press will be the real guarantor of the people’s hard won rights.

The forth but by no means the last ministry which the opposition should control is that of justice. Mugabe and Zanu-PF have become synonymous with miscarriage of justice and selective application of justice. The judiciary has been severely undermined and compromised and requires urgent and concerted rehabilitation. There is need for a new justice system which is truly independent and does not pander to the whims of the executive and the ruling elite. The judiciary should once again be seen as the ultimate protectors of civil liberties and as impartial adjudicators, not as defenders of an unacceptable status quo as is the case at the moment. Zanu-PF cannot and should not be entrusted with this onerous responsibility.

There should really be no negotiation about the rest of the ministries. These can be tossed into a hat and drawn to each of the participating parties. Once this is done, the new cabinet should be sworn in and commissioned to proceed with speed to do what they are supposed to do – get the country back on its feet and relieve the suffering of the Zimbabwean people. The people have waited far too long for this to happen. They should not be asked to wait any longer.