SOUTH AFRICAN President Jacob Zuma

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe has agreed during his two-day meetings with South African President Jacob Zuma to give back ministers from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party functions and responsibilities he had unilaterally stripped them of, a source close to the power-sharing talks told ZimOnline Thursday.

The source, who spoke on condition that he remained anonymous, said the amendments gazetted two weeks ago, which saw several MDC ministers being stripped of their powers will now be shelved.

“The amendments which were gazetted will now be shelved,” said the source. “There is also an agreement pertaining to the issue of (central bank governor Gideon) Gono, (Attorney General Johannes) Tomana and (Tsvangirai top aide Roy) Bennett and a decision will be announced,” said the source declining to disclose further details.

Gono and Tomana are at the centre of a dispute between Mugabe and Tsvangirai with the Prime Minister insisting that they must be fired because the President appointed them without consulting him.

But Mugabe has vowed never to fire the two men who are among his staunchest allies. Mugabe has refused to appoint MDC treasurer Bennett as deputy agriculture minister insisting that he must first be cleared of treason charges.

The source added: “The issue of the appointment of the provincial governors was also raised and it was agreed that their appointment should be finalised. “The main issue is that if the agreement is not adhered to, then the issue will be referred to the SADC troika. We hope now the focus will now be on the 25 and 26 to make sure there is implementation.”

Both MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa and ZANU PF's Rugare Gumbo were not immediately available for a comment on the matter.

The South African leader who yesterday wound up his visit to assess the year-old power-sharing government of Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara told reporters that he was “encouraged” by the “spirit” of cooperation shown by Zimbabwe’s political leadership in their efforts to fully implement their September 2008 power sharing agreement.

“I am very encouraged by the spirit of cooperation displayed by the leaders and all their parties,” Zuma said after meeting in Harare former long time rivals Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

“I have had fruitful discussions with all the signatories to the global political agreement (GPA), their negotiating teams, leading Zimbabwean personalities and other key stakeholders,” Zuma, the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s mediator in Zimbabwe.

The South African President met all the three Zimbabwean principals separately on Wednesday before meeting them together yesterday. Zuma also met Tomana, Gono and Bennett on Wednesday night.

“The parties have agreed to a package of measures to be implemented concurrently as per the decision of the SADC troika in Maputo,” said Zuma without disclosing any details. “I believe that the implementation of this package will take the process forward substantially.”

Zimbabwe’s unity government has stabilised Zimbabwe’s economy to improve the lives of ordinary citizens. But a dispute between Tsvangirai and Mugabe over how to share executive power, senior appointments and security sector reforms is holding back the administration and threatening to render it ineffective.

The unity government’s failure to win financial support from Western powers and multilateral institutions has also crippled its efforts to rebuild an economy shattered by a decade of political strife and acute recession. – ZimOnline