Kitsepile Nyathi
24 October 2008
Nairobi — Zimbabwe's parliament has been forced to adjourn until November 11, after running out of money to sustain its operations as delays in setting up an inclusive government continues to paralyse national institutions.
The assembly only started sitting early this month, six months after the March elections due to the political impasse blamed on President Robert Mugabe's controversial re-election.
The suspension of parliament was announced by the acting leader of the House, Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zanu PF, after the feuding parties came together to support a motion to declare the gripping food shortages in the country a national disaster.
"Because of the constraints relating to the non-existence of the inclusive government, the House will not be sitting for a while," he said.
"In the event measures are put in place, we may be able to call for the sitting of the House at a much earlier date."
Parliamentarians were told that the government had run out of money to pay for their accommodation and allowances during their sessions.
Critical phase
Talks to conclude the setting up of the power sharing agreement between the ruling party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party reach a critical phase on Monday when regional leaders visit Harare.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika on security will try to persuade Mr Mugabe and his rivals Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and Prof Arthur Mutambara to finalise the allocation of Cabinet posts.
The setting up of the inclusive government has been in the works since September 15, when the three leaders signed an historic power sharing pact to end Zimbabwe's decade old political and economic crisis.
Parliament is expected to approve a constitution amendment giving force to the power sharing arrangement and disruption of its settings might further delay the process.
Compared to other law makers in the region, Zimbabwean legislators are poorly paid, with their monthly salaries averaging less than $5 (Sh400).
They also complain that they had been informed that the government currently had no money to buy vehicles for the 210 House of Assembly members and 96 senators.
Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis and the threat of a major food crisis has injected urgency to the process of establishing a new government.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will attend a summit next week meant to rescue a stalled power-sharing deal and use it to lay out his grievances against President Robert Mugabe, the MDC said on Friday.
Mr Tsvangirai had threatened to boycott the talks, saying an election may be needed to break a deadlock in negotiations with Mugabe over control of cabinet seats in a new government.
He snubbed a similar meeting in Swaziland on Monday citing Harare's refusal to give him a new passport.
But the MDC said today he would attend the October 27 summit in Harare.
"Monday's platform presents us with a perfect opportunity to articulate our compelling case for equitable and sustainable power-sharing in a unity government. So we will be there...," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
The MDC says Mugabe is trying to seize important ministries and sideline the opposition and Chamisa cited a "litany" of Zanu-PF actions he said went against the spirit of a power-sharing deal signed more than a month ago.
"You have the issue of the passport, the hate language used by state media, threats by war veterans, all those things will be presented to SADC and in the process (we will) try to make Zanu-PF see the profit of working together," he said.
Zimbabwe's militant war veterans threatened this week to "take action" against Tsvangirai. The MDC has accused war veterans loyal to Mugabe of attacking its supporters.
Tsvangirai and Mugabe signed the power-sharing deal brokered by South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki on Sept 15 but it has since stalled over who should run which ministries.
Fruitless talks
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe earlier urged Tsvangirai not to boycott the summit and said only more dialogue would break an impasse over cabinet posts.
"When you seek a solution to a problem, you talk to those that you disagree with," Mothlanthe said on South Africa's public broadcaster SABC. "You can't make peace with your friends. You make peace with your enemies, your adversaries."
Fed up with weeks of fruitless talks, the MDC leader did not attend an emergency Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Swaziland this week that was to address the Zimbabwe deadlock.
It was rescheduled.
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Prem, "Mugabe will not satnd even 24 hrs should SA close the tap!". Birds of a feather fly together. Tsvangirai foolishly vomitted the same statement on both SABC and BBC as he campaigned for sanctions. The question that begs an answer from you all; Prem, Mancam_28, Buddhamate, Kjrs120, Makasa, Juhlman, Rmkooisra, Katz and many others who deny that MDC called for sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe is, When the tap is closed does it only affect President Mugabe and the 170 individuals in Govt?
We have been telling you all along that Tsvangirai called for sanctions and that him… [Read Full Text]
Aaaaaw! Takunya, Mr "Mugabe is the most democratic leader in africa..." Getting a little testy? Having to shout? Aaaaw poor thing.
I'm just disappointed I didnt make your list! Have I said something wrong? haha.
Good to see that you finally admit that the sanctions are only against the 4 companies and 170 members of the ZANU PF. I knew you would come around eventually.
So I'm glad we finally have it out in the open. There are no sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe. Good on you. Gold star coming your way mate :-)
Tsvangirai has never, not once,… [Read Full Text]
Cde Ndebvu - let me answer your question for you. When the tap is closed it will affect all Zimbabweans. No argument about that. However what you fail to recognise is that the overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans are already so impoverished by Robert Mugabe's mad lust for power that the affect on these people will be minimal. The people who will be affected will be the kleptocracy that has grown rich on the corruption and stench of zanu-pf mismanagement. And when they suffer, then Mugabe had best watch out.
You are naive and one-eyed in the extreme to believe that… [Read Full Text]
So-called Prem, you may need to reorganise your thinking, you really do not know who is causing all this suffering, it is Duche renyu iri Tsvangison, who mobilised the western world to put sanctions on Zimbabwe and not South African blacks or its leadership. Yes Mbeki & Mugabe are revolutionaries, they shared the same trenches during their respective liberation wars. And for them to have won their wars it was because they stood for the truth, true liberation of the blackman from the whiteman"s bondage. Zimbabwe is liberated, Tsvangirai comes in puting on the dislodged whiteman"s agenda of recolonising the… [Read Full Text]
Icho - you say "why is it that we have the best infrastructure and best human resource base in the whole of Sub Saharan Africa. Was that not achieved after independence in 1980 and was it not thru Mugabe"s leadership" . Even the proverbial blind freddy could see that you have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about. Continual power blackout, untreated water, pot holed roads, trains not running, collapsed health system and non-functioning schools all add up a catastrophically poor infrastructure and a mass of poorly trained and malnourished people whilst the skilled population has fled to… [Read Full Text]
Nelson Mandela and archbisschop Tutu called Mugabe "a tragic failure of leadership". These guys opinion tells enough about the situation in Zimbabwe. Or did they become CIA and MI5 agents too icho? So before you call Prem all kinds of things I tell you something. Blaming Morgan and the west for all the problems the country is having is nothing else than living in complete denial. Living in denial is a disease. Due to the glorious policy of the fistwaver "Hitler tenfold" it might be difficult for you to find a cure since healthcare does almost not exist anymore in… [Read Full Text]
Icho - who that is white would want to "re-colonize" Zimbabwe? Why would investors risk their money there when there are better opportunities for a return on investment almost anywhere else in the world?
Revolutionaries have their purposes perhaps, but SA has seen fit to give Mbeki a red card and the people of Zimbabwe are trying to give Mugabe his - he just won't show up to accept it. The time for revolutionaries who have no common sense other than continue to be "revolutionary" has passed, it is time (for too many - too late) for the so-called… [Read Full Text]
See all comments (12).
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe is only where he is because he is just filling a void.He has no muscle. It is Zuma who calls the tune.
SA is the vile culprit in the Zim saga. SA is at the root of all the sufferings Zimbos are experiencing just because SA has always defended and protected monster Mugabe.
Will Zuma be able to change the thinking of the SA establishment? Billions of Rands are in play!
Is it not time now for SA authorities to insure their future by gambling on Tsvangirai rather than clinging to Mugabe and thugs?
It… [Read Full Text]