Opposition gets finance ministry in unity government

ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday appointed Tendai Biti to be finance minister in a unity government with President Robert Mugabe.

Biti, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party’s secretary general, will be charged with rebuilding Zimbabwe’s ruined economy and winning the confidence of western donors and investors.

Tsvangirai, who agreed to form a coalition with Mugabe last week, will be sworn in as prime minister today under a power-sharing deal designed to end Zimbabwe’s political crisis and revive an economy in a state of collapse.

The joint cabinet will be sworn in Friday.

Analysts believe Mugabe and Tsvangirai, two old foes faced with the prospect of working together, will appoint political allies rather than technocrats and economists who might have better qualifications for rebuilding the ruined country.

Tsvangirai, 56, a former trade union leader, has emerged as the strongest challenger Mugabe has faced since he took power in 1980.

Western governments have viewed Tsvangirai as an antidote to decades of dictatorial rule in Zimbabwe. But, some wonder how the soft-spoken, easygoing Tsvangirai can share power with Mugabe, who has rarely blinked at using violence to get his way.

Appointing Biti, a lawyer and founding MDC member who fiercely opposed compromise with Mugabe, to the finance ministry could reinforce that view.

Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of southern Africa but hyperinflation means that prices now double every day and unemployment is over 90%.