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title: Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog Live From Harare, Zimbabwe

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Simba Makoni holds up the Finance Minister's Briefcase in 2002, just before presenting Zimbabwe's national budget for that year. Even back then, Makoni was reluctant to take the job and hesitated until Mugabe called him to say he could not wait announcing his cabinet any longer and that he would announce the cabinet without a Finance Minister if he did not get a response from Makoni by the end of that day.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 July 2010

Dr Simba Makoni paid what was dubbed a "courtesy call" on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week, amidst persistent reports from within the MDC-T that Morgan Tsvangirai has proposed him for the Finance Minister position in a bid to get rid of Tendai Biti, whom the Prime Minister is in a bitter fight with for control of the MDC-T.Sources in the Prime Minister's office say Tsvangirai proposed Makoni to Mugabe for the second time just last week, with the president refusing flat out to entertain the idea of the former Finance Minister bouncing back as a Tsvangirai nominee.Tsvangirai says it is his prerogative to decide who he appoints for the slots allocated to him in the Inclusive Government. He told reportedly told Mugabe that Makoni had resigned from the Finance Minister post in the earlier this decade because he did not agree with the policies of the then ZANU PF government but that he was sure the Interim President of Mavambo party would accept appointment now because Tsvangirai would guarantee him a free hand in trying to correct the economic ills besetting the country.Mugabe is said to have used the argument that Makoni was not MDC-T and could therefore, not take up any position reserved for the opposition in the coalition party.Some reports say the meeting between Makoni and Tsvangirai last week was for Makoni to tell Tsvangirai that he was not interested in the nomination or the post. Makoni, who is on good terms with Biti, would almost certainly not look kindly on being used to try and settle scores within the MDC-T.But Tsvangirai is in corner, unable to identify a suitable candidate who would be seen to be appointed on the basis of merit and not on the basis of "fixing" Biti.The MDC-T sources say that it would be a mistake to believe that Biti is now safe after the reshuffle, saying the Prime Minister is "determined" to see the back of his Secretary-General as Finance Minister of Zimbabwe."PM says Biti has grown too big for his boots, using the post he was given by Tsvangirai himself to position himself as the natural heir to the MDC-T presidency."They claim that Tsvangirai is continuing to look and even if Makoni remains adamant he will not join the Inclusive Government gravy train, the PM will source people from within the private sector itself to fill the post of Finance Minister.Tsvangirai wants to continue to push Mugabe on this and believes that, eventually, the President will have no option but to appoint a replacement if Tsvangirai identifies a replacement of quality.The Prime Minister says he will not, once that is done, hesitate to announce the suspension of "redeployment" of Biti back to the party and leave Mugabe in a quandary, with no Finance Minister to run this crucial ministry.The Finance Minister post in the Inclusive Government is not deputised, neither by a ZANU PF nor an MDC appointee, making Biti perhaps the only Minister in the coalition without a deputy.I remain doubtful that Tsvangirai will be able to convince Makoni to join the Inclusive Government, seeing as the former SADC Secretary - General and Presidential candidate is busy setting up structures of his own party.At the same time, sources in the PM's office say that Makoni also denied flat out to Tsvangirai that he had, as rumoured, met with the fired MDC-T ministers Fidelis Mhashu and Elias Mudzuri. Harare had been awash with talk that the former ministers were in discussions with Makoni, with a view to forming an alliance designed to presenting a united front against Tsvangirai at the next elections.Mudzuri is the Organising Secretary of the MDC-T, who was given the ultimatum by Tsvangirai to choose whether he chose to continue as Minister or to go back to the party and strengthen structures. He had told Tsvangirai that he could do both and thought the matter had been rested, only to get the shock of his life when he was told that he was being fired from government in order for him to go back and concentrate on party affairs.The talk about Tsvangirai offering Makoni the post of Finance Minister will almost certainly not abate until such time as Tsvangirai eventually finds a replacement.BACK TO FRONT PAGE FOR LATEST ZIMBABWE NEWS

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai chats with President Robert Mugabe at State House after the President had sworn in ministers nominated by the Prime Minister from his own party to replace those he had fired

Harare, Zimbabwe 18 July 2010

A source extremely close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai this last week described the fighting in Tsvangirai's party as "frightening" while claiming that the opposition party is so disorganised that "we will never take power from ZANU PF".The source, a confidant of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, blamed all the infighting on the Prime Minister, saying he was told "not to rock the boat" but went ahead anyway to reshuffle the cabinet on his side."The source also confirmed that Tendai Biti, the Finance Minister in Zimbabwe's coalition government and MDC-Tsvangirai's Secretary-General was saved from being reshuffled or fired by President Mugabe himself."The PM came back from a Monday meeting one day and said he thought that Biti was now more liked by Mugabe than he was. I asked why and PM said Mugabe had told him point-blank that he would refuse to swear in anyone nominated by Tsvangirai to replace Biti because the president said Biti was doing an excellent job."Also confirmed was the firing of James Maridadi, the Prime Minister's spokesman. Although the fact has not been made public, my source says that Maridadi is now the new Director of Protocol in the Prime Minister's office.Maridadi apparently wanted to resign when he was told of the reassignment, but Ian Makone, the PM's Permanent Secretary, convinced him to accept the post of Director of Protocol, to which Maridadi replied on Friday last week (16 July 2010) saying he would think about it.It also emerges that, apart from their government salaries, the people in the Prime Minister's Office also each get US$4 000 from Harvest House, the MDC-T Headquarters.But much more interesting are descriptions of the war of attrition between Tsvangirai and Biti.Tsvangirai, reportedly against all advice, first made the mistake of firing Eliphas Mukonoweshuro and effectively replacing him with Jamieson Timba, who is now the most powerful man in the Prime Minister's circle.My source says: "How can you fire Mukonoweshuro and replace him with Timba, a drunk who spends all his time at the Quill Club at Jamieson Hotel drinking whisky and boasting to journalists.Mukonoweshuro is the only man to have made a Cabinet Presentation which was accepted by Mugabe and cabinet without debate. After he made his presentation, Mugabe said to the cabinet, "This is the best presentation I have ever listened to in Cabinet since I started presiding over these meeting in 1980. I recommend that we have nothing further to add and must adopt this presentation without amendment".Tsvangirai was apparently told not to do the reshuffle by members of his office and party officials but he was determined to weed out all elements he considered to be part of a grand strategy by Tendai Biti to wrestle power from him and hand it over to Strive Masiyiwa at the next Congress.Tsvangirai told my source: "Cut the roots and the tree will wither." This is what is behind the wholesale massacre currently taking place at the MDC and at the Prime Minister's office.The whole secretariat at Party HQ has effectively been demolished, with Biti loyalists being fired.According to my source, Elias Mudzuri, the fired Minister of Energy, is also so bitter that he has vowed that he will see Tsvangirai depart before he himself leaves MDC-T. While Timba is telling people that there will be no Congress next year and that Tsvangirai will stay at the head of the MDC for twenty more years, Biti and other detractors are determined to see him go.The fight is principally about whether a Congress should be held next year, when it is due. Tsvangirai says there should be no Congress so that the party can concentrate on the elections, while Biti, Mudzuri and many others in his executive say the rules and Constitution of the party should not be broken that way because it will set a bad precedent for any future leaders of the party, who will feel they can ignore the constitution if they are popular enough to railroad the party's executive.Executives in the party are dismayed that the Prime Minister continues to display strategic blunders, such as his daily conference calls with Americans helping him run his office and the seconding of a British official to his Office in Harare.Tsvangirai still believes that he has enough popular appeal to get away with anything. He has openly said that he could declare himself Life President of the MDC-T and still win a national election to become Head of State in Zimbabwe.The majority of the executive in the MDC-T, however, believe that he is no longer fit to lead the party and this is what has led Tsvangirai to rely more and more on his so-called "Kitchen Cabinet."Meantime, the former Spokesman, James Maridadi, is threatening to spill the beans on the infighting and deficiencies of Morgan Tsvangirai in a book. He has told his confidants that he has volumes of meticulously-kept diaries. "I sat with PM during his meetings with Obama at the White House, I sat through his meetings with Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street. I have been at the side of the PM constantly since he became PM and I have mounds of information," he is reported as telling one.Even I can't wait to read the stuff!BACK TO FRONT PAGE FOR LATEST ZIMBABWE NEWS

Pic: Sunday Mail

President Mugabe is seen here wearing the flowing white robes of the Johane Marange Apostolic Faith Sect in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe this last week. The president, in the clearest indication yet that he will stand for office at the next elections, attended the sect's annual gathering. He wants their votes at the next elections.

President Robert Mugabe appeared on the front page of the Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe today putting on the white robes of the Johane Marange Apostolic Faith sect.The Zimbabwean president was attending the sect's customary retreat in the mountainous Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.The sect is becoming a powerful force in Zimbabwean politics, with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai also being seen there last year. The reason for the homage being paid by politicians is that the sect has hundreds of thousands of followers all over the country and they tend to follow the teachings of their leaders closely. There is little doubt that the sect is behind ZANU PF and President Mugabe. The president even has some "Mapostori" (as they are known) amongst his bodyguards and his late famed Political Commissar, Border Gezi was a member of the sect.Men who belong to the sect are known for wearing flowing white robes and keeping flowing beards (the longer and bushier the beard, the more devout the adherent is considered). They also shave their heads religiously.But, perhaps the most important message sent by Mugabe's attendance at the sect's gathering this last week is that he intends to stand again for President at the next elections. The sect's gathering is a well-known campaign stop for the major political leaders in Zimbabwe.The only reason for the president's attendance, therefore, is to identify himself as one of the sect's admirers, if not adherents, and therefore guarantee himself their votes at the next elections.His presence is also a clear indication that the president and his party mean business when they tell the country that there are going to be elections in 2011. We will now almost certainly see elections next year, despite the protests of some organisations in Zimbabwe and in South Africa that the country is not ready for polls.Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accepted that Mugabe will the elections regardless what he and the MDC-T think or wish.So, if proof was needed that we are on the path to new elections in 2011 in which Mugabe will stand for the office of President of The Republic yet again, then here it is.Interesting times ahead.Meantime, one of the allegedly most important tasks of the Inclusive Government, National Healing, remains an illusion, with no activities whatsoever to kick-start the process. The ministers who are supposed to be in charge of the process in the Inclusive Government appear to be doing nothing but draw salaries for doing absolutely jack.Elections will come to a traumatised nation that will be further traumatised without the National Healing Organ having done a single thing to help their wounds from the last 10 or years heal.BACK TO FRONT PAGE FOR LATEST ZIMBABWE NEWS

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Simba Makoni holds up the Finance Minister's Briefcase in 2002, just before presenting Zimbabwe's national budget for that year. Even back then, Makoni was reluctant to take the job and hesitated until Mugabe called him to say he could not wait announcing his cabinet any longer and that he would announce the cabinet without a Finance Minister if he did not get a response from Makoni by the end of that day.Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 July 2010

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai chats with President Robert Mugabe at State House after the President had sworn in ministers nominated by the Prime Minister from his own party to replace those he had firedHarare, Zimbabwe 18 July 2010

Pic: Sunday Mail

President Mugabe is seen here wearing the flowing white robes of the Johane Marange Apostolic Faith Sect in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe this last week. The president, in the clearest indication yet that he will stand for office at the next elections, attended the sect's annual gathering. He wants their votes at the next elections.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 July 2010

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