Zambian leader calls for support for Harare

Zambian President Rupiah Banda said the world must not isolate Zimbabwe following the power sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

"It is an obligation of every nation to support Zimbabwe rather than continue isolating it and making people suffer," Banda said during the official opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo. "Zimbabwe has found the ability to solve their own problems."

"I am glad that the political situation has been resolved amicably by all political players for the benefit not only of the Zimbabweans but the region as whole. Having experienced a decade of economic challenges. We as Africans have a duty to ensure that Africa develops and develops as a united front."

Tsvangirai, Mugabe, and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, the leaders of Zimbabwe’s three main political parties, agreed to form a unity government under a power-sharing deal brokered last year by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of the regional Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister last February to open a new chapter of cooperation with Mugabe who remained President.

The power-sharing government has promised to revive the once brilliant economy and to restore basic services such as health and education.

But the success of the Harare administration hinges on its ability to raise financial support from rich Western countries that have however said they will not immediately help until they are convinced Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with his former opposition foes.

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Thursday said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was setting up a trust fund to coordinate donor funds to try rescuing the shaky unity government.

But Biti said the IMF projected that Zimbabwe would require more than US$40 billion to stabilise the country and restore it to mid 1990s level when the country was the second largest economy in southern Africa after South Africa – money no one including the Fund is prepared to give