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GNU: A pie in the sky?
Zimbabwe in Pictures
February 12, 2010

Time flies when you are having fun, the saying goes. In Zimbabwe, time has flown yes but there has not been much fun since the 11 February 2009. This past week, the Government of National Unity turned One and was the subject of many a review and analyses both inside and outside Zimbabwe.

When the MDC-Tsvangirai, ZANU PF and MDC-Mutambara parties signed the Inter-Party Agreement - or the Global Political Agreement - on 15 September 2008, a great sense of optimism overwhelmed Zimbabwe. Before long, there was evidence pointing to a return of some semblance of normalcy to Zimbabwean life.

Our team at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) where this agreement was signed captured the euphoria of unity in purpose, of hope and of a nation well on a path to restoration. Suddenly - or so it seemed - shops were fully stocked, fuel was available, snaking queues disappeared, tensions were loosed on the faces of many people, to point out just a few of the developments. In a nutshell, Zimbabweans were experienced a great deal of relief.

But as some would point out early on, even when the excitement of having not to queue for bread was still fresh, availability of goods in shops did not quite mean accessibility. The newly-introduced US dollar currency proved hard to come by for the ordinary folk who had not only led their honest lives but also borne the brunt of a harsh economic and political climate.

In every struggle, you always need people who root for the underdog, the ordinary person who does not quite understand what is going on but is somehow always at the receiving of harsh below-the-belt blows. As things stand in Zimbabwe today, we cannot risk advancing intellectual condescension at the expense of capturing ordinary voices. Rather, there has to be a demand for robust debate over issues that seem to be stagnating progress.

ZANU-PF's reluctance to become an honest broker in the unity government and the MDC-T's failure to present a coherent strategy for a new Zimbabwe are just but some of the factors that have impoverished debate over the issues raised in the GPA in the past year. Despite this, however, various organisations and individuals have successfully managed to diagnose the challenges facing the GNU and articulate measure that may need to be taken to ensure complete restoration of Zimbabwe.

Yet as they continue do this, investor confidence is taking further battering in the face of indigenization laws that appear to have not been carefully thought out; journalists and activists are still targets for harassment as cited by Amnesty International this week; civil servants are demanding higher wages; the constitution-making process has stalled; some ministers are defying Supreme Court orders; the list of anomalies is endless.

This is not the spirit of the GPA. This is not the vision many associated with the unity government. This is a mockery of the hope and faith progressive Zimbabweans entrusted the unity government with!

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