IT IS 50 days since Zimbabwe's political rivals formed a unity government and nothing much has changed — ordinary people are still hungry and living in fear.

President Robert Mugabe may be 85, but he is not letting go of the instruments that have kept him in power for three decades. His most potent weapon — fear — remains as effective as ever.
Zimbabweans are afraid to complain about their terrible circumstances in case they are branded enemies of the unity government. No one has the guts to stand up to the charade of the power-sharing government.
Mugabe still calls the shots and now he has his former arch rival, prime minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, in a total bind.
Seven weeks on and none of the MDC demands which threatened to derail the formation of the unity government have been met.
The Southern African Development Community — the sponsor of the unity government — assured the MDC outstanding matters would be speedily resolved once it was on board. Instead, MDC activists remain behind bars, archaic and draconian media laws are firmly entrenched, and arbitrary land seizures and the systematic repression of unpatriotic businesses and people continues.
At the opening of a retreat for cabinet ministers in the resort town of Victoria Falls on Friday, Tsvangirai owned up to the problems besieging the unity government.
There are still outstanding issues that should have been resolved at the formation of this government, he said. We must acknowledge and address some of the elements that are obstructing the full implementation of the GPA (global political agreement).
The prime minister listed the matters which required urgent attention as follows: tackling fresh farm invasions and the reversal of Mugabe's arbitrary appointment of new provincial governors and other high-profile officials. These matters would be resolved this week, Tsvangirai said. So far, Mugabe has refused to get rid of his maverick central bank governor, Gideon Gono, largely blamed for Zimbabwe's inflation record of 231 million percent and the demise of its currency. It's unlikely he will agree to sack his new attorney-general, Johannes Tomana, central in new land invasions aimed at evicting Zimbabwe's remaining white commercial farmers.
All the talk about economic recovery and the restoration of individual rights has not amounted to much. The government has not changed its ways. Open dissent is still equated with treason. Independent journalists are still prevented from practising their craft. Often branded as terrorists, they are unfairly denied accreditation.
Patronage and corruption continue to thrive openly. Those connected to Mugabe and his Zanu(PF) party expect, and in most cases still get, whatever benefits the government might still be able to disperse. Judges, army officers and police bosses, reporters at state-owned media and other Mugabe-loyalists have been handsomely rewarded with free farms, equipment, fertiliser, seed and fuel. Some have even accepted plasma television sets as part of the bargain. New members of parliament — the majority from the prime minister's MDC — have been promised new vehicles once donor funding returns.
Meanwhile, cholera, which has killed more than 4000 people, remains a threat. High-density suburbs in the cities still have no running water. Regular power cuts have all but cut off communication with the outside world.
Though supermarkets have managed to stock up on food, their prices remain beyond the reach of many. With unemployment running at more than 90 percent, money is not easy to come by. The United Nations estimates that 7 million of the country's 9 million people are in dire need of food aid.
Hospitals and schools continue to operate on an ad hoc basis.
But Tsvangirai remains optimistic. On Friday, he outlined what he described as the unity government's achievements.
Together, we have overseen the opening of hospitals and schools, the taming of hyperinflation, the lowering of prices of basic commodities and the rationalisation of utility tariffs.
We have started paying civil servants a monthly allowance to allow the public sector to begin working again and to provide an essential stimulus to the economy, he said.
However, for government workers who have been reduced to earning just $100 (R914) a month, Tsvangirai's optimism provides cold comfort. All government workers earn the same salary because differentials are paid in worthless Zimbabwe dollars.
Undeterred by the lack of visible progress, Tsvangirai has tasked his expensive and expansive 71-member cabinet with creating a recovery plan to take effect in the next 100 days. But with no money in the kitty, Zimbabwe hopes its neighbours and sympathetic international donors will come to her rescue. Estimates of how much money is needed to revive the economy have varied from $2-billion (R18.2 billion) to $10-billion.
However, as Tsvangirai has noted, some things have to change before sceptical donors can be won over. Donor countries and multi- lateral institutions are looking at the restoration of the rule of law as a key benchmark that must be achieved before they will fully engage with this inclusive government, he said.
The problem is that the unity government has a life span of just two years. Time is of the essence. Within the next 16 months, a new constitution should be in place ahead of new elections.
Meanwhile, Mugabe, whose re- election last year was widely held as a fraud, enjoys a fresh mandate, cemented and legitimised by the MDC.
As for ordinary Zimbabweans, their fear of Mugabe has been re- inforced by his defiance of the West and his remarkable ability to get his former enemies to address him as your Excellency.
The old geezer is going nowhere, and no one can do anything about it.

Moses Mudzwiti, The Times (SA)