The Financial Gazette

None but ourselves can resolve our problems
National Agenda with Bornwell Chakaodza
OF late, the inclusive government has, as a result of its lackluster performance, elicited an interesting array of adjectives. It has been called shaky, wobbly, tottering, ailing, dysfunctional and even doomed — all terms that suggest only one thing — that it is far from being the panacea to the Zimbabwean crisis that we all hoped it would be.
What is becoming increasingly clear to every right thinking Zimbabwean is that much as this was a desperate measure to deal with a desperate crisis of governance and economic collapse that bedeviled Zimbabwe over the past decade, it has as much chance of succeeding as a snowball in hell.
Faced with a situation where the parties represented in the inclusive government continue to entrench their positions while making demands that neither can deliver, it is difficult to see how the present power-sharing arrangement can extricate the country from its present predicament.
It should now be crystal clear to everyone that ZANU-PF submitted to the formation of the unity government because they believed this would result in the removal of sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle. There is even a school of thought suggesting that once the sanctions were removed, ZANU-PF, whose behaviour appears to generally vindicate this notion, would have no further purpose for the “puppet” MDC in government and will move swiftly to hound the party out of existence.
On the other side, the two MDC factions led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, probably thou-ght that being part of the inclusive government would allow them a foot in the door from which their bid for power would have some altitude of incremental growth.
Many must now feel chea-ted and betra-yed that what they expected and hoped would happen remain a pipe-dream.
Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on the circumstances that led to the formation of the unity government.
A majority of Zimbabweans, desperately hungry and traumatised by an economic situation characterised by severe shortages of basic essentials, crippling hyper-inflation and declining social services, were left with no alternative but to be like the proverbial drowning man who grasps at straws in the hope that this offers a chance, no matter how slim, of survival.
Those that had the wherewithal escaped into the diaspora overseas, while others, in desperation, risked life and limb swimming in the crocodile-infested waters of the Limpopo to seek sustenance in neighbouring South Africa.
It is a sad indictment of the Zimbabwean government that nearly a third of its population is having to withstand life-threatening xenophobic attacks and humiliation from their South African neighbours because they feel it is still to their best advantage to remain in that country as unwelcome guests than return to their homeland.
Those who were skeptical about the legitimacy of the child born out of the treacherous and loveless marriage of convenience between ZANU-PF and the MDC must now feel vindicated by the turn of events. The same can be said of the multitudes of Zimbabweans seeking political asylum in the UK and other countries on the grounds that the situation back home has not changed despite the formation of the inclusive government.
On countless occasions, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has complained bitterly about his party being treated as a junior partner in the government contrary to the provisions of the GPA to which all the parties represented in the GNU appended their signatures.
Repeatedly, President Mugabe has continued to make unilateral decisions on matters which, in terms of the GPA, should be subject to consultation.
ZANU-PF has not made secret of its contempt of its GNU partners by continuing to hold a monopoly over State media and other instruments of governance. Indeed, the refusal by ZANU-PF to make any further concessions to its partners in the government until Western sanctions are lifted is a clear indication that it is prepared to hold fort in its dispute with the United States, Britain and the EU. These countries have made it clear they will not remove the sanctions until all the provisions of the GPA are fulfilled, while ZANU-PF insists sanctions must go first, before they make a move.
MDC, on the other hand, knows that although it does not have the power to force the countries which imposed sanctions to remove them, lifting the measures will at the same time obliterate the only incentive ZANU-PF has to comply with the GPA provisions.
Accusations and counter accusations about which party is being sincere in the inclusive government become pointless when there is no consensus on the fundamental question of national interest.
In letters to the editor published in various newspapers in the recent past, there is not escaping the anger and despair felt by many Zimbabweans at the lack of urgency among the politicians to resolve the crisis so that they can get on with their lives. Zimbabwe, as a nation endowed with abundant mineral wealth, a well educated labour force and a climate that is the envy of many nations around the world, has no excuse to be in the predicament it is today.
The clearest sign that our politicians see no urgency in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis is the fact that it is now two years since the power sharing agreement was signed but there is little to show for any determination to move the country forward. Like errant children who are constantly squabbling and seeking the intervention of the teacher, our leaders pathetically run to SADC its appointed mediator, Jacob Zuma to complain about each other.
The honest truth is that neither the SADC, Zuma, the African Union or even the UN can solve Zimbabwe's problems without Zimbabweans themselves showing a willingness to bury the hatchet and be instrumental in the process.
One does not need to be a rocket scientist, to borrow this overused cliché’, to realise that it is the unwillingness of our politicians to submit to democratic reform that has stalled any progress the inclusive government may have achieved in moving the country forward.
What must be appreciated is that we, as a nation, have just about exhausted the patience of those countries that have shown goodwill and a preparedness to assist in the country's economic recovery.

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