Earth Times
By Deutche Press Agenncy
18 December 2009
Harare – A new power-sharing government formed in early 2009 between Zimbabwe’s chief political protagonists helped the country drag itself out of economic disaster, but a renewal of President Robert Mugabe’s political terror was never far away. The year began with inflation at a world second-worst record (after Hungary) of 230 billion per cent. The Zimbabwe dollar, 10 trillion of which was worth 1 US dollar, had disappeared from the streets as the US dollar became the country’s informal currency.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won parliamentary elections and the first round of presidential elections but dropped out of the second round, leaving Mugabe as the only candidate in the race.
Tsvangirai was reluctant to enter into a power-sharing deal that observers said was clearly to Mugabe’s advantage.
But a raging cholera epidemic had claimed 3,500 lives, more than half the population was starving and shops were empty. Tsvangirai finally consented in early February, saying it was the only possible way out of the crisis.
He was sworn in as prime minister under Mugabe on February 11 to the tumultuous acclamation of his supporters, many believing that Mugabe’s autocracy would make way for democracy, rule of law and freedom of expression.
The ceremony became a farce as Mugabe prevailed on then South African president Thabo Mbeki, who had brokered the deal, to increase the size of the cabinet by 10 members to 41, in violation of the constitution. With deputy ministers, the number spiralled to 61, the most bloated cabinet since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain.
The bankrupt government issued the new ministers with Mercedes Benz limousines. Education Minister David Coltart was the only MDC minister to turn his down.
When he turned 85 on February 21, Mugabe became the world’s oldest nation leader and held a lavish birthday party. Reports said he used botox to disguise his age.
Shortly after being sworn in, the MDCs new finance minister, Tendai Biti abolished the worthless Zimbabwean currency and formally adopted a multi-currency system, and within a month civil servants, including the army and the police force, were being paid a uniform salary of 100 US dollars.
Tsvangirai’s popularity surged as people were able to use a stable currency for the first time in five years of hyperinflation.
Just three weeks after his swearing-in, Tsvangirai was involved in a car accident in which his wife, Susan, 50, was killed. The 57-year- old former national trade union leader appeared devastated with grief. But tragedy struck a month later when his youngest grandson, Sean, aged 4, drowned in the swimming pool at Tsvangirai’s home.
In June, Tsvangirai, to the bitter chagrin of Mugabe, embarked on an international tour that saw him welcomed by President Barack Obama at the White House, Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Britain and President Nicolas Sarkozy in France. German Chancellor Angela Merkel greeted Tsvangirai with full military guard of honour in Berlin. Back home, Mugabe’s generals refused to salute the prime minister.
Five months into the formation of the government of national unity, Zimbabwe’s schools were open for the first time in 18 months. Hospitals had begun to treat patients, shops were brimming with imported goods, electricity blackouts were less frequent and urban water supplies were slowly being restored.
But Mugabe showed no sign of yielding to demands for democratization in the political agreement. With the police, the army and the attorney general under his control, the lawless, violent seizure of white-owned farms continued, the attorney general pursued a long list of what Tsvangirai called malicious prosecutions of MDC members of parliament. Journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and civic workers found themselves under arrest on spurious charges and police ignored court orders.
Amnesty International chief, Irene Khan, on the first visit by a senior official of the organization in 30 years, witnessed scenes outside her hotel of police bludgeoning women democracy protesters.
At the same time, Mugabe fiercely blocked any progress on the wide range of obligations to reform the country’s despotic system, from ending vigorous state controls on the media to the removal of cronies he had appointed unilaterally, including the central bank governor and attorney general.
In September, Tsvangirai signalled his frustration by disengaging from the cabinet for three weeks, setting off alarm among neighbouring states that the coalition government would collapse, but was drawn back in after negotiations that involved South Africa, and signs that President Jacob Zuma was losing patience with Mugabe.
Ahead of his party’s five-yearly congress early this month, there were signs of unprecedented discontent with his leadership of the party, but at the end, Mugabe was endorsed as the only candidate for the party presidency, and its leader for another five years.