...Talks to encourage Mr Mugabe to implement fully the power-sharing agreement he signed 18 months ago under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a 15-country regional grouping, have foundered....
Since the unity government was set up a year ago, Mr Mugabe has treated Mr Tsvangirai and his party with contempt. The violation of human rights, the persecution of MDC campaigners, the invasion of white-owned farms and disregard for the rule of law—all supposed to have been dealt with under the pact—have continued unabated. Now, as if to underline Mr Tsvangirai’s impotence, Mr Mugabe has unilaterally stripped several MDC ministers of their powers, transferring them to ZANU-PF ministers.
Likewise, without consulting his prime minister, he has recently issued new “indigenisation” rules, requiring at least half of any company worth over $500,000 that is owned by whites or foreigners to be owned by black Zimbabweans. Whites are also to be banned from running certain smaller businesses, such as estate agents, hairdressers and advertising agencies. Violators face up to five years in jail. Though Mr Tsvangirai has pronounced the new law “null and void”, some legal people say there is little he can do to block it.
The Zimbabwe stock exchange, where shares had been rising fast in the past year, slumped on the news....The dirty little secret is that rhetoric against capitalism is easy, but if you want people to invest their money into the country, they have to be sure they won't lose it to corruption...
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