Why 'power sharing without the sharing' surprised no-one here
Updated on 27 January 2009
The feeling on the streets of Zimbabwe was that there was little hope of agreement being reached between the MDC and Zanu PF at the SADC summit in Pretoria, writes Helen.
None of the signs were looking good.
Despite the fact that the MDC won the popular vote in the 2008 March elections, their party continues to be criticised, blamed, insulted and condemned in almost every issue of the state controlled newspapers and on every radio and television news bulletin.
Over thirty MDC and civic society activists have been picked up by Secret Police and other security personnel in the past two months and have been held without charge or trial for weeks at a time.
The whereabouts of some are still unknown, weeks after they disappeared. Others have been tortured in custody and have been denied medical attention - even after high court rulings ordering immediate medical care.
Two days before the SADC Summit, Zanu PF were already closing the door and made their intentions quite clear.
Regardless of the September agreement to actually share the running of Zimbabwe, Mr Mugabe stormed ahead alone and appointed 10 Provincial Governors all of whom are ex-officio Senators thereby giving Zanu PF a majority in the Senate.
He appointed a new Attorney General, re-appointed the Reserve Bank Governor and allocated major ministries to Zanu PF - leaving only minor positions for the MDC. A number of MDC MPs have also recently found themselves being charged by Police leaving the MDC's House of Assembly majority in jeopardy.
Two days before the SADC Summit, Zanu PF were already closing the door and made their intentions quite clear. Accordint to Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu PF Chief negotiator, "Our position is that we will not meet any new demands made by the MDC."
One day before the talks a friend showed me his January pay advice and this barely legible piece of paper says it all. Six zeroes have been removed from the printed notice due to space constraints.
In January this middle manager earned 14 trillion dollars. 7.6 trillion dollars was taken by various government deductions leaving a nett monthly income of 6.7 trillion dollars.
On the day of the SADC summit in South Africa, a loaf of bread was selling for 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, or 1 US dollar - more than a middle managers entire monthly salary. 
A fallen electricity pole stopped Zimbabweans from following the news.
Another friend said he hadn't been able to follow the news of the SADC Summit because an electricity pole had fallen down and stayed on the road for 4 days. The state run electricity company said they had: no vehicle, no fuel and no pole.
14 hours of talks behind closed doors left SADC saying an agreement had been reached. Zanu PF said nothing. The MDC said they had not accepted the position given by SADC.
Zimbabweans aren't confused or surprised. We are tired, sick, hungry and broken, just as we were yesterday and in September 2008 and in March 2008.
