afrol News, 10 November - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected regional mediators' proposal to share control of disputed home affairs ministry, which also controls police, with ruling Zanu PF at a regional summit held in South Africa yesterday, local media has reported.

President Robert Mugabe signed a power sharing agreement with Movement for Democratic Change on 15 September to unravel a long dragging political impasse in economically battered southern African state.

Southern African Development Community summit in Johannesburg ruled that home affairs ministry, which also oversees police, to be jointly overseen by two ministers nominated by Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai as a compromise.

The summit ordered that unity government be formed, further saying necessary constitutional changes be enacted to facilitate its establishment.

However, Mr Tsvangirai said issue of co-sharing does not work. "There is no agreement to co-sharing, to rotation, to swapping of ministries," he charged.

He said his dispute with Mr Mugabe was about more than who controls home affairs ministry, which has police force under its command. "It is about giving responsibility to the party that won an election and has compromised its position to share a government with a party that lost," he said.

Mr Tsvangirai said he would turn to African Union for further help, though it had asked southern African regional bloc to take the lead in mediation.

Although Mr Tsvangirai proclaimed his commitment to power sharing deal, he said SADC had missed an opportunity to bring an end to Zimbabwe's crisis.

"We cannot afford to postpone the formation of an inclusive government because there is a dispute over who gets the Ministry of Home Affairs," said Tomaz A. Salomão, executive secretary of SADC.

While Zimbabwean political players and mediators are still approaching country's crisis cautionary diplomacy, others are backing Botswana's president's call for re-staging of elections that will separate the two political bulls through a clear ballot.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate, 231 million percent, following a land-redistribution campaign that begun in 2000. The programme, in which white-owned commercial farms were seized for redistribution to black farmers deprived of land during colonial rule, slashed agricultural output and led to shortages of basic commodities.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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