Questions were concentrated on the current impasse on cabinet appointments and how it exacerbates the plight of ordinary folks in the country. It appears the signing of the power sharing agreement did not take the country forward as expected. It brought more talks and has exposed the lack of commitment and sincerity harboured by the political parties' principals.

From this, we learnt that some leaders from the opposition are quick to play the blame game even when they are self-serving. At least, they can afford to do just that, by riding on Zanu PF's wrongs; past and present. The people of Zimbabwe bear the heaviest brunt of all this self-serving and public posturing by these political leaders.

The GPA was meant to be a demonstration of a common vision to get Zimbabwe out of its socio-economic and political mire. Certainly, the document is peppered with all the 'right' words, the 'right' tones, and possibly positive projections that pledged to deliver us to the 'Promised Land'.

Indeed, it is not perfect, however, all the needed ingredients have been provided for.

When Professor Arthur Mutambara, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai signed the document, we believed it to be the necessary demonstration of their willingness to start afresh, to work as one and to be determined to walk in trust. At least to walk the nation from the shadows of an unenviable past, into a future where the citizens will find worth and value in themselves as a people.

Time, however, is exposing them as lacking in integrity. They talk left and walk right. Some have even on the brink of crossing from the radical left to the far right.

Given all the obtaining obduracy, women asked: "What is a key ministry, and who determines this?"

Another asked: "Who cares who gets the ministry of home affairs when people are dying around the country from starvation and lack of adequate medical care?

"Would these talks still be on-going if they were meeting in the locations, the high density areas of Harare where burst sewage pipes cause streams of sewage to flow into homes and drinking water sources?

"Are these leaders prepared to spend more than a day in the high-density suburbs where all the vagaries of poverty gape are at their starkest?"

Absurdly, they are meeting in a five star hotel; in the midst of unparalleled opulence. On behalf of the poor and victimised women and children, they eat good food and drink the finest wines which most Zimbabweans cannot access. In all this sumptuousness, we hear they are talking about the problems of the impoverished!

These are the issues that women grappled with all day long. Questions continued to be as far ranging and reaching as one can imagine given the level of suffering.

Is this deal really going to work? Are the political parties and their leaders focused on Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans?

It is certainly easy to hurl insults and condemnation at Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, that is what we are used to and that is the easy thing to do. Certainly he and his party deserve the strongest condemnation and bear the greatest responsibility for the state of the country: Economically, Politically and Socially.

However, in our deliberations as we went through the contents of the GPA, as we also engaged with the three chief negotiators who came to attend segments of our meeting; it became clear to us that what is being said in the media is not the real situation.

It clearly emerged that another new form of patriotism based on some people's unquestioning support of one opposition leader seems to have sprouted; one that says, 'hear no evil, see no evil and even dream no evil'. It is a kind of naïve realism that surrogates our mental faculties to the canonisation of opposition leaders even when they are self serving.

We also noticed that the concept of negotiating behind closed doors in secret has been abused as it has left the country without correct information on what is going on in the negotiations, except what the politicians tell us. And so, they all come out from the same meeting saying conflicting statements. While the other says they have a problem with ten the ministries, the others say they have agreed to nearly all of them except one or two. One is left wondering whether these people were in the same room in the first place.

Amid all this, once in a while we are treated to some media hype and generated stories of a deal that is so imminent, but like a mirage it remains elusive and the poor are left nursing their pains and licking their wounds; in their minds and hearts with hopes and aspirations dashed.

The politicians are now experts at politicking the progress, based on their partisan interests while the ordinary people are unfortunately left to make head or tail of those polarised views. The polarisation that has dogged the country has been totally entrenched.

Sadly, we all are viewing these developments with clearly elaborate frames and biases and this has become the way media is also reporting the Zimbabwean story. The government mouthpiece has been fabricating lies about the developments; sadly the so called 'independent' media continue to lie to the teeth in support of opposing views.

The three principals, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara, share responsibility for the drawn-out talks, the delays and consequently share responsibility for every life lost, pain experienced and suffering taking place since September 15, 2008.

The ripple effects of not having a government in place as of September 15, 2008, in my view, lie squarely on the shoulders of Tsvangirai and Mugabe. They have become the greatest enemies of our people and our country. They have lost sight of the issues, the people and the country. They are dancing to the tunes of their egos, the few people around them and for some of them, it is clear they have strings attached to other forces that are tugging at them when they get close to finalising the talks.

They are not committed to solving Zimbabwe’s problems and alleviating the plight of our suffering people. The show of that commitment would have been in realising that they have to compromise and give up some of their positions for the sake of bringing Zimbabweans together and allow for healing, feeding and building the country.

Women are tired of all these processes that give rise to promissory notes that never deliver the results. It would appear this is about the transfer of power from one group of men to another. It is about a few people at the helm of political processes protecting their own interests.

They are making decisions, supposedly representing 'the masses'. They do not consult the same masses. Instead, they have been blatantly misrepresenting the facts and the truth to whip up hate, intolerance and enrage people to take hard line positions.

While the leaders are chauffeured into air conditioned suites at the Rainbow Towers, ordinary people are relegated to queuing all day long for rations of their own money amid frustrations and the blazing hot sun. The consequences of delaying the implementation of the GPA are the hard lived realities of starvation, cholera, darkness with no electricity and humiliation as a people who are now appearing helpless and destituteness for those internally displaced citizens.

These politicians are certainly out of touch with reality. It seems the issues that are at the top of the agenda for the people of Zimbabwe -- food, clean water, electricity, accessing their hard earned cash from the banks -- are not the same priorities for those sitting around the negotiating table enjoying all the opulence. They are after power, getting a ministry that they will use to pull each other down, control, for glamour and self importance.

Unless we have a government in place where all the parties are committed to work together, the country's ills will not be fixed. Unless the three principals stop politicking, clean water will not run through the tapes and the burst sewers will remain flowing into the residential areas.

Everyone has to work together. The commitment was to establish a government of Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Morgan Tsvangirai is going to be a prime minister responsible for all the ministries including the fifteen that will be designated to Zanu PF and the three designated to the MDC led by Professor Mutambara. Mugabe is going to be President of all Zimbabweans not Zanu PF card holders alone. We all witnessed that event.

As one of the women observed in our meeting: “Who do they want to rule when we are dead and finished?'” It is time to rise up and be true leaders. The country cannot be held at ransom and be kept in distress because these few men are failing to sit through a process until they find a workable solution.

This call is for Mugabe to stop the deception and show that he is a responsible man and committed to the Zimbabwe he fought for and was jailed for by colonialists.

It is also a call for Tsvangirai, to stop the boycotts and stay-aways, and go into the meeting room and insist that no-one leaves until everything is agreed so that the change he has been fighting for can be realised for the people of Zimbabwe.
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