Zimbabwe's worsening cholera epidemic has killed more than 3,000 people, the United Nations said Wednesday, as the main opposition cast new doubts on a power-sharing deal. The cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has become the worst seen in the world in 14 years, with more than 57,000 infected and 3,028 killed, the World Health Organisation said in its latest update.
The latest death toll represents an increase of more than 1,000 deaths in just the past 15 days, a stark illustration of Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis that shows little sign of abating. South Africa on Tuesday had trumpeted the latest deal between Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, reached after marathon talks during a regional summit.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) told the feuding parties to install a unity government by mid-February, but Tsvangirai on Wednesday warned that the deal could be derailed by long-running disputes over the sharing of power.
Tsvangirai said negotiators would meet in Harare on Thursday to try to resolve the outstanding issues, including the allocation of key ministries, the naming of provincial governors, and the control of security agencies. "Everyone agrees that, subject to the clearing of all the issues that are outstanding, a coalition government can be formed," Tsvangirai told The Star newspaper.
The MDC's leadership then plans to meet Friday to decide whether to commit to the new timeline and form a unity government. One of the South African mediators, top presidential aide Frank Chikane, told journalists the outstanding issues around key cabinet appointments would be dealt with this week. He urged parties to form the government to tackle the cholera epidemic and to rein in a growing humanitarian crisis.
"The key thing is that the leadership must go back to their constituencies and report back and say this is what has come out of that process and for the sake of the people of Zimbabwe let us agree, form the government, because we can solve most problems when we are in government," said Chikane. "Everything ... was agreed upon on the basis of consensus," Chikane told reporters in Pretoria. "We have to meet these deadlines."
Chikane said no one at the summit got exactly what they wanted, and both Tsvangirai and Mugabe had "every right to say they did not get everything they asked for." The summit called for Tsvangirai to be sworn in as prime minister, with Mugabe as president, by February 11, and for the unity cabinet to take office by February 13.