The three Principals in the power sharing government have given their negotiators until Monday to complete discussions around the outstanding issues plaguing the fragile coalition. One of the negotiators, Elton Mangoma from the MDC-T, confirmed to SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that they had been given a timeline to make sure all outstanding matters that need to be discussed are done by Monday next week.

Mangoma said the negotiators – Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche (Zanu-PF), Tendai Biti and Mangoma (MDC-T) and Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (MDC-M) – will be meeting from Friday. Ironically Chinamasa is quoted in the Herald newspaper dismissing reports that the negotiations were set to resume talks this Friday. He is quoted saying: “I am not aware of that. I do not know anything and I cannot comment on that.”

Mangoma said the talks broke up last week because of the ZANU PF congress and this week because both Ncube and Misihairabwi-Mushonga are out of the country.
When asked why there is so much travelling at a time when the group should be finalizing the discussions, Mangoma responded by saying: “I am sure the best people to answer that question would be those people who are travelling, because they know what it is they are giving priority to.”

We were not able to reach the negotiators from the MDC-M for comment. But late last month the MDC-T blasted their counterparts, accusing them of delaying the talks by constantly travelling – a charge that Welshman Ncube denied. He told SW Radio Africa at the time that the meetings which they travelled to were meetings which were predetermined long before the talks were agreed and before the timeframe was set by SADC.

Ncube retorted: “What the heck do I have an interest in avoiding the talks? What is it that I have to gain by avoiding the talks when in fact we were the party which was saying, before these talks were started and were called, that the parties need to sit down and talk? You look at each and every comment, every statement that we made prior to the SADC Ministerial visit, prior to the SADC Troika Summit in Maputo, President Mutambara consistently, consistently called upon MDC-T, called upon Zanu-PF to sit down and talk. We are the ones who called upon Morgan Tsvangirai to come back to the country so that this matter can be resolved by Zimbabweans across the table and if you look at our oral and written submissions to the SADC Ministerial Troika we recommended this dialogue and these talks, it is emphatically calling for the talks. Indeed more than any of the other parties we did that.”

But it has not been possible to find out why once again the MDC-M negotiators are not available for talks, and what meetings they have had to attend that are more important than the talks.
Meanwhile, it’s reported that most of the outstanding issues have been resolved, except for the perennial deadlock over the appointment of the Reserve Bank Governor, the Attorney General, Roy Bennett and some other issues. Furthermore, resolutions from the just ended ZANU PF congress revealed that the partners in the coalition government are still deeply divided over these.

At the ZANU PF Congress one of the resolutions was that the ZANU PF negotiators would not concede anything, if the MDC does not actively call for the removal of targeted sanctions.

But Mangoma responded to this by saying: “Its hot air. It’s grandstanding. People will recall that on September 10 last year that President Mugabe – talking to the chiefs – clearly stated that he will not go into any agreement with the MDC. But that evening, when he flew back to Harare he came and signed an agreement. So one does not have to listen to what he says, one has to be able to say what are the issues and how are we going to resolve them.”

Mangoma, who is also the Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, said what must be understood is that when the unity government agreement was signed, issues were agreed in principle and not necessarily on how they were going to be done. He said what they are now discussing is how they are actually going to do the things that they agreed upon. “For instance we all agreed that there must be a land audit but we didn’t agree on how the land audit would be carried out.”

The MDC-T negotiator said if there is no agreement then a deadlock would be declared and SADC would have to intervene – once again.

SW Radio Africa