This is bad news. The MDC politicians who entered into the new arrangement have been saying that the situation has changed.  That is true - but only to a very small degree.  We still have a very long way to go. Mugabe has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that he is only interested in personal survival and not in saving the country or the people of Zimbabwe.
SADC has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that it is a toothless bulldog with neither the will nor the stomach to do anything to bring about equitable sharing of power in Zimbabwe. They are simply not prepared to force Mugabe to do anything he does not want to do.
It is therefore gratifying to see Arthur Mutambara now standing up to Mugabe's bully-boy tactics. He and Morgan Tsvangirai, earlier this week, confronted Mugabe about his unilateral appointments of Zanu (PF) permanent secretaries and governors, and the continued detention of MDC supporters and human rights activists.
We are delighted that they have made some headway. Tsvangirai has now been put in charge of identifying new permanent secretaries, and there has been agreement on the proportional representation of governors. This is what the GPA stipulated in the first place. The fact that so much time and effort has had to be expended in forcing Mugabe to stick to the terms of the document to which he appended his signature is deplorable.
If this government wants the world to take it seriously it has to reign in Mugabe somehow. Every time he opens his mouth he frightens potential investors with his rhetoric on land and his blatant disregard for the rule of law.
His demands at the weekend that all white farmers vacate their land immediately contradicted his minister of lands, Herbert Murerwa, who said on Monday that the farmers should stay on until they had reaped their crops.
Meanwhile Zanu (PF) supporters continue to invade farms at the instigation of the attorney general and other Zanu fatcats.
Mutambara and Tsvangirai have made an important step forward this week. We salute them and encourage them to stick to their guns.

WORD
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my saviour. The sovereign Lord is
my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. - Habakkuk 3:18-19