Hopes were high. Promises were made. There were even small clamors of joy found in the most dilapidated of homes. From the moment Morgan Tsvangirai was inaugurated as Zimbabwean prime minister, February 11, 2009, Zimbabwe has witnessed nothing but controversy and corruption, power struggle instead of power shared. President Robert Mugabe maintained the post he had held since independence from Britain in 1980, and because of this, change simply has not nor will not come to the former “breadbasket of Africa”.

Let us forgo the politically-based violence that haunted Bulawayo, Harare, and throughout rural areas of Zimbabwe during the elections and let us instead reference the new campaign of terror and violence, and the most recent debacles of government. 

The assault on innocence goes on. The New York Times has reported that senior officials in Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party including ministers and members of the Joint Operations Command of security agency chiefs have organized a campaign of violence and intimidation intended to pressure Tsvangirai and his MDC to agree to a blanket amnesty for past crimes by senior officials. 

The Times report went on to state that amnesty is particularly sought for the perpetrators of the aforementioned political violence last year, where some 200 people died. Mugabe’s top lieutenants are using abductions, detentions and torture to press for amnesty in connection with events going back to the Gukurahundi campaign against loyalists of Joshua Nkomo in Matabeleland in the 1980s.

Torture….for amnesty? 

With regard to government, a number of top ZANU-PF and security officials have formed a shadowy group called the Social Revolutionary Council whose purpose, say ZANU-PF sources, is to frustrate government aims and ultimately destabilize the unity government.

The SRC may be the only effective group in office; it has been reported that a showdown continues to loom between Robert Mugabe and his partners in the unity government and Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara of the two Movement for Democratic Change formations over Mugabe’s transfer of major portfolio powers from Communications Minister Nelson Chamisa of Tsvangirai’s MDC grouping to Transport Minister Nicholas Goche of Mr. Mugabe’s own ZANU-PF party. The portfolio assignments in question include oversight of state communications including state-owned fixed-line phone company TelOne and Mobile provider NetOne, and ZimPost. 

An outraged Nelson Chamisa told reporter Gibbs Dube of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the president’s move was illegal and violated the September 2008 power-sharing pact.

That the transfer was illegal goes without saying.The actions of the Zanu -PF and the Social Revolutionary Council are a clear and present symbol of Zimbabwean political malfunction. The Zanu-PF forces must simply disband and the SRC must be barred from meddling in government affairs if ever change should come to Zimbabwe.

For one interested in African investment but wanting to avoid political risk? Understand that though there are integration methods that may equate to benefit when dealing with a poverty-stricken nation, usually those of adapting to a society’s new needs before they become universally recognized, political governance plays a large role in corporate foreign policy and Zimbabwe, for now, would be an investment malfunction. The government is far too chaotic and the economy will not right itself out of hyper-inflation for a very long time. As we know, economic recovery is predicated on a substantial rescue package, but clearly Mugabe’s grip on the reins of power will deter many western governments that can afford to do so.

This in part is due to the fact that power in Zimbabwe hasn’t shifted and was never going to be shared in the first place. When Mr. Tsvangirai signed the agreement with Mr. Mugabe, he forgot an old adage that reflects why foreign investment simply won’t come to Zim-you can’t shake hands with a snake.