Robin Lustig takes a look at the situation in Zimbabwe with Morgan Tsvangirai currently trying to drum up support for aid to the impoverished country.
The problem though as Robin says is
Western governments aren't yet convinced that Mr Tsvangirai is really the man in charge. President Mugabe retains control of security, his cronies are still where they were - and crucially, the much-criticised governor of the central bank, Gideon Gono, is still in place.
Western governments want to make sure that if they do start handing over cash again, it won't be siphoned off into sundry off-shore bank accounts. It might be possible to transfer money directly to, for example, the Health Ministry, which is controlled by Mr Tsvangirai's MDC - but the risk is that that would free up other cash to be misused elsewhere.
The reaction of the Dutch Prime Mnister says it all.Jan Peter Balkenende. was confident Mr. Tsvangirai was doing his utmost to raise up Zimbabwe ,but that the Hague won't support the Harare government financially until it institutes reforms on a range of issues.
Currently in Washington he has the same problem persuading Barack Obama.State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the administration was looking for “ways to ease the suffering of the Zimbabwean people without bolstering those forces that are clinging to corruption and repression.”
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