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Zimbabweans edge closer to starvation as leaders argue
Ed Harris10.11.08
FEARS were growing today that hundreds of thousands of people could starve to death if Zimbabwe's political deadlock is not swiftly resolved.
Talks remain stalled after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected a plan for the home affairs ministry to be shared between his Movement for Democratic Change and president Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
Mr Tsvangirai has warned of impending starvation as Zimbabwe's inflation sits at 231million per cent and food and fuel shortages are widespread.
But after a summit of the Southern African Development Community in Johannesburg ended yesterday, he said: "This issue of co-sharing does not work. We have said so ourselves, we have rejected it, and that's the position. There is no agreement to co-sharing, to rotation, to swapping of ministries."
He claimed his dispute with Mr Mugabe was about more than who controls the home affairs ministry, which commands the police force.
"It is about giving the responsibility to the party that won an election and has compromised its position to share a government with a party that lost."
Mr Tsvangirai added that he remained committed to power-sharing but claimed the SADC leaders lacked the courage to tell Mr Mugabe that his position was wrong.
The pair signed a power-sharing deal on 15 September and have since been arguing over cabinet positions. South African president Kgalema Motlanthe said an agreement remains the only solution to Zimbabwe's problems.
