The Standard
By Caiphas Chimhete and Kholwani Nyathi
Sunday 8th February 2009
LEADERS of the country’s three main political parties will this week be forced to do a major balancing act when they come up with their line-ups for cabinet appointments amid simmering divisions in all the camps.
According to a Southern African Development Community (Sadc) time-line that crossed the major hurdle with the passing of Constitution Amendment No.19, the formation of a new government should be completed by Friday.
President Robert Mugabe, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara reportedly had a busy weekend consulting in their circles about the Cabinet appointments and the exercise had ruffled some feathers.
Analysts say Mugabe whose previous cabinet appointments had been guided by politics of tribal balancing and warding off factionalism had the most daunting task, as he will only be restricted to 15 ministers.
Already there were murmurs of disapproval of the 84-year-old President’s intentions for Matabeleland where the spectre of mass defections looms if the region is not adequately catered for following moves to revive Zapu.
“Mugabe has already made a blunder by failing to appoint a non-constituency Senator from Bulawayo,†said a Zanu PF politburo member.
“John Nkomo is from Bulawayo and Joseph Msika is from Chiweshe and we can not saying they will represent people from that side.
“PF Zapu people have also been left out of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic), which means that he doesn’t see them playing a serious role in the future government.â€
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Patrick Chinamasa, Oppah Muchinguri and Nicholas Goche, represent Zanu PF in Jomic, which is monitoring the implementation of the September 15 power- sharing agreement.
Mugabe, observers said, also had to reward people who engineered his violent re-election against all odds, a task that might not go down well with some Zanu PF factions.
Tsvangirai was also reportedly involved in a fire-fighting mission and had tasked his deputy president Thokozani Khupe to try and persuade his secretary-general Tendai Biti to take up a cabinet post in the inclusive government.
Biti has reportedly opted to remain out of government because he is opposed to the MDC-T’s decision to join Mugabe.
But Tsvangirai desperately needs him to co-chair the Ministry of Home Affairs with a Zanu PF appointee.
“It’s true Biti is threatening not to take a cabinet post and a similar stance has been taken by Chamisa (Nelson),†said a source.
“The reason they are giving is that they want to ensure that the party remains strong.
“Tsvangirai has already assigned Khupe to try and persuade them to re-think.â€
The MDC-T leader has already informed several parliamentarians in his party about his plans to include them in his team.
“He (Tsvangirai) knows that Biti is the only person who can stand the heat from Zanu PF. He is tough and knows the issues,†said one of the sources.
Efforts to get a comment from Khupe and Chamisa were fruitless.
Tsvangirai is also faced with a tough balancing act as he has to reward MPs and Senators from Matabeleland who stood by him when the party split in 2005.
An influential MDC-T MP from Bulawayo said Tsvangirai was playing his cards close to his chest and dismissed the reports of fresh divisions in the party.
But indications were that he would disappoint the feminists in his movement as he only had space for three women in his line-up.
Even Mutambara would have headaches coming up with a line-up with his party divided between MPs and Senators and senior officials who lost elections.
Welshman Ncube, David Coltart, Priscilla Misihairambwi and Moses Mzila were the only people assured of posts.
This leaves the MPs who went against the party’s decision to support Paul Themba Nyathi ‘s bid to become Speaker of Parliament out in the cold.
“Its payback time for the MPs and if they protest they face the real risk of losing their seats since the agreement seems to be now working,†said an MDC MP.