Morgan Tsvangirai to return to Zimbabwe on Saturday

By Violet Gonda
15 January 2009

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has announced he will be returning to Zimbabwe on Saturday, after leaving on November 10th last year.

Speaking at a press conference in South Africa on Thursday, Tsvangirai said he remained committed to forming a new inclusive government but is lacking a ‘willing partner’. He also demanded the unconditional release of political detainees, before a power-sharing deal can be implemented with Robert Mugabe.

To many observers it seems highly unlikely that this power share can ever happen. Since signing the agreement in September Mugabe has called the MDC leader a ‘prostitute’ and has on several occasions threatened to form a government without Tsvangirai – who is the Prime Minister designate.
The regime also continues to arrest opposition and civic activists in contravention of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the political rivals.

Furthermore, while the MDC leader insists on the equitable distribution of cabinet posts, the appointment of government ministers is still unresolved and Mugabe continues to unilaterally make appointments without the other political ‘partners’ from the two MDCs .

Tsvangirai said the recent appointments of Gideon Gono as governor of the Reserve Bank and Johannes Tomana as the new Attorney General, were made in bad faith.

He said: “These appointments were done in contravention of the MOU and the GPA. Therefore as far as we are concerned they are null and void. In the letter and spirit of the GPA they should have been done in consultation with me.”

Critics of the deal say Zimbabweans have suffered enough and that it is now pointless to go into a power sharing deal with a ruthless dictator, who continues to kill and arrest opponents in order to get what he wants. Last month the United States echoed these sentiments and went further, saying they would not support a coalition that included Mugabe.

One observer said: “The country is dying and people cannot live under this regime anymore. They will die. And if the MDC climbs into bed with ZANU PF they will be eaten up. You just have to listen to Mugabe and his band of shameless acolytes to realise that. Or are we saying that we are a nation of such cowards that we will continue to live under such a corrupt mafia? Hitler Hunzvi once said Zimbabweans are like lambs to the slaughter. Shall we just lie down and die?”

We did try to get an interview with Mr Tsvangirai but his spokesperson George Sibotshiwe said he was ‘fully booked’.