World demands sweeping reforms

But as the Prime Minister prepared to meet with United States President Barack Obama and other leaders on the final leg of his tour, questions were abound whether the financial capitals of the world, especially London and Washington, would remove or waiver conditions slapped on Zimbabwe before they could inject funds into the country’s battered economy.
Judging by the tone of the statements from the Netherlands and Wash-ington, indications were that the premier would be unable to implore on European capitals and the US to lift the conditions, and give Zimbabwe a clean break with the past.
Pointing at the statements from Amsterdam and Washington on Tuesday, political analysts said while the sojourn by Tsvangirai showed the inclusive government’s willingness to re-engage  the West, the Prime Minister still has a long way to go to convince the European countries and the US to resume aid and loans to Zimbabwe without adopting a carrot and stick approach.
They said the outstanding issues arising from the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of September 15 2008 such as the release of all political prisoners and the appointments of key officials in the inclusive government will contribute to the hardening of the Western governments’ stance.
Without the resolution of these (outstanding) issues the inclusive government might eventually collapse, the analysts said.
Ernest Mudzengi, a political analyst, said the West was justified in insisting on political and economic reforms before committing anything substantial towards funding the inclusive government.
He said the outstanding issues would prove a hindrance to Tsvangirai’s tour despite him being a darling of the US and other Western countries.
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara recently wrote to the Southern African Development Community chairperson, South African President Jacob Zuma, complaining about the alleged arbitrary actions of President Robert Mugabe whom they accused of unilaterally appointing central bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana in violation of the GPA.
But President Mugabe has dug his heels in saying Gono and Tomana would not be going anywhere despite the demands of the two Movement for Dem-ocratic Change (MDC) formations.
Zuma, who has pledged to support Zim-babwe’s economic recovery after nearly a decade of stagnation, is still to respond to the MDC’s letter.
Mudzengi said, instead, Prime Minister Tsvangirai should effectively use the tour of Europe and US to clearly clarify to the world the issues affecting the GPA.
“The world needs to know what is really going on regarding the GPA,” he said. “If he (the Prime Minister) was sent by President Mugabe to re-engage the West, he should also be in a position to tell them that the same person who sent him is the one thwarting sweeping changes,” added Mudzengi.
“We still have ZANU-PF calling the shots. Human rights activists are still being arrested and journalists barred from covering demonstrations and the just ended Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit despite court orders. The West is justified in putting these conditions. We certainly need reforms especially in the media.”
Mudzengi said it would be folly for Zimbabweans to expect Europe and the US to pump money into Zimbabwe without any meaningful reforms.
The inclusive government urgently needs about US$8,5 billion to bankroll its operations.
Currently, it is collecting about US$50 million monthly from taxes, a far cry from the US$200 million it needs to pay its civil servants every month.
Last week, Cabinet approved an aid coordination policy, which would see donors pumping money into a World Bank controlled account.
The bank’s local office would in turn allocate the money to the Ministry of Finance as demanded by the provisions of the inclusive government’s Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme.
“In the first instance, those conditions and sanctions were put in place because there was closure of democratic space. This and other stumbling blocks to democracy must be removed. Zimbabwe is crying for sweeping reforms not piecemeal reforms in most areas,” he said.
Useni Sibanda, the coordinator of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, said the trip served as a good public relations exercise by the Prime Minister, but ruled out Tsvangirai coming back with “a bucket load of aid.”
“The Western governments want to hear from the horse’s mouth and then weigh their options” said Sibanda.
“But one thing which is clear from their statements is that aid can only come when they have been critical reforms. It does not augur well for the country to still have laws that curtail various freedoms such as of the media and association. We still have journalists being persecuted,” said Sibanda. His remark was in reference to the refusal by State security agents to allow four freelance journalists to cover the just-ended COMESA Summit in Victoria Falls on Monday despite a High Court Order to the contrary. Also on Friday police arrested two journalists covering a demonstration in Harare. Government sources have also indicated that the Prime Minister’s sojourn to Europe included a mission to specifically campaign for the removal of targeted sanctions slammed on President Mugabe and about 150 members of his former ruling ZANU-PF government. 
The West slammed the then ZANU-PF government with targeted sanctions citing the parliamentary and presidential elections won by President Mugabe and ZANU-PF in 2000 and 2005 which the MDC charged were mired by violence. 
On Sunday, the premier met officials from the Netherlands before visiting Britain, France, Sweden and Brussels, seat of the 27-nation European Union, later during the week. Although the Dutch government has promised the country US$14,7 million, it has stated to the Prime Minister that it would only release substantial aid to the inclusive government subject to Zimbabwe adopting economic, political and social reforms.
Tomorrow, Prime Minister Tsvangirai is due to hold discussions with President  Obama.