Links ~ 14 September 2008

Zimbabwe power deal to scrap security ministry (Reuters)
Zimbabwe’s ministry of state security will be scrapped under a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, according to a list of government departments they agreed on Saturday. [...] The powerful ministry of state security was abolished, while the justice ministry was split into two, with a new prisons department, according to the list which was obtained by Reuters. Details of the ministries allocated to each party and individuals to head the ministries would be announced on Monday. The issue of who controls Zimbabwe’s powerful security apparatus is one of the most critical questions surrounding the power-sharing deal clinched on Thursday.

Security is first test of Zimbabwe deal (Sunday Times)
A CALL for British troops to return to Zimbabwe and train its army will provide a crucial early test of whether an agreement to be signed tomorrow by President Robert Mugabe and his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai is a power-sharing deal or merely a fig-leaf for continued despotic rule. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Tsvangirai, who will become prime minister under the agreement, will demand the return of the British military advisory and training team, which trained Zimbabwe’s security forces after independence. About 200 British troops were based in Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until they were withdrawn after the seizure of white farms began in 2000. Their presence would reassure the MDC, whose leaders are worried about the deal’s viability, particularly after Mugabe told tribal chiefs this weekend that putting his Zanu-PF together with the MDC was “like mixing fire and water”.

Zimbabwe parties agree on new Cabinet (AFP)
Zimbabwe’s political leaders have agreed on a new government of 31 ministries to be formed after the signing of a power-sharing deal on Monday, state media reported on Sunday.The Sunday Mail newspaper quoted justice minister and ruling ZANU-PF chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa as saying: “The three parties met today to discuss the nomenclature of the ministries.” “We are informed that they agreed on that (the new Cabinet).”

Zimbabwe central bank governor ‘must be sacked before aid can flow’ (The Telegraph)
The removal of Gideon Gono, 48, a key ally of President Robert Mugabe, is “one of the key indices” that western governments will use to judge whether the newly constituted government is genuinely reformed and a fit recipient for aid, the official said. As the controller of Zimbabwe’s finances since 2003, Mr Gono has played a key role in shoring up the edifice of the ruling Zanu-PF party and Mr Mugabe’s own position, printing ever more cash to meet the government’s needs. The policy has been one of the main drivers of the country’s hyperinflation, officially over 11.2 million per cent but estimated by independent analysts to be far higher.

Morgan Tsvangirai: ‘I will have to trust Mugabe’ (The Independent)
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, due to become Prime Minister under a compromise deal with his old adversary, Robert Mugabe, has defended the agreement. He says he has no choice but to trust the man who presided over the deaths and torture of hundreds of his supporters. Speaking exclusively to The Independent on Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai said: “When you negotiate, you ought to have faith and confidence in each other. Otherwise, there is no point in negotiating, because you are bound to fail. I am therefore giving him [Mr Mugabe] the benefit of the doubt.”

Tsvangirai needs to play his cards right (Independent.ie)
Mr Tsvangirai will be prime minister and his allies will probably have 13 places in a 31-member cabinet. [...] But Mr Mugabe will continue to chair the cabinet. Meanwhile, officials believe that Mr Tsvangirai will be in charge of a separate “council of ministers”. Which body proves to be the more powerful remains to be seen. In practice, however, the cabinet has never counted for much in Zimbabwe. Real power has rested with Mr Mugabe alone. When the first invasions of white-owned farms happened eight years ago, the full cabinet gathered while the president was away at a summit in Cuba. The ministers decided to stop the occupations and order the police to clear the squatters. Unsure of Mr Mugabe’s stance, the police simply ignored the ministers. As soon as the president returned, he countermanded the cabinet’s decision.

All sides rush to claim victory (FT.Com)
But all sides yesterday were rushing to claim that they had secured their basic conditions. Aides to Mr Mugabe insist he remains in charge as president, chairing a cabinet and a national security council. Zanu-PF supporters say confidently that he will be able to divide and rule the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which is split into two factions. However, some opposition figures believe that Mr Mugabe’s powers have been reduced for the first time since independence from Britain 28 years ago, and that in itself is no mean feat. David Coltart, a senator in a small breakaway faction of the MDC, described the proposed arrangement of a cabinet chaired by Mr Mugabe and a council of state chaired by Mr Tsvangirai as “slightly cumbersome”.

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