The re-appointment of Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri to a new term of office ending 2014 has exposed what had been feared most: that Morgan Tsvangirai has become a lame duck Prime Minister.
Chihuri’s term of office expired on January 31 and on Wednesday Tsvangirai announced to the nation that he and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara had agreed with President Robert Mugabe that Chihuri would perform in an acting capacity.

But just a day later, Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba announced that Chihuri’s term had actually been extended to 2014. His revelation raises a number of questions: Did Mugabe lie to Tsvangirai during their meeting that Chihuri would be acting police chief or is Tsvangirai uninformed about goings-on in government?

While it is not possible to get answers to these two questions, what may be undisputed is that Mugabe unilaterally re-appointed Chihuri to a new term of office without consulting Tsvangirai.

While on paper Mugabe is supposed to be sharing power with Tsvangirai, he is in the habit of acting unilaterally on matters that should be jointly decided by the principals to the Global Political Agreement.

Mugabe has perfected the art of disregarding Tsvangirai on all key appointments. He kept in office Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono against the MDC formations’ demands and is now again extending the term of office of Chihuri and other service chiefs. In light of these unilateral appointments, Tsvangirai should be under no illusion that he is sharing power with Mugabe.

At best the MDC-T leader is a junior partner and at worst merely a “passenger” in the inclusive government.  The sooner Tsvangirai accepts this reality, the better.

Appealing to Sadc for intervention may be the easier route for Tsvangirai, but clearly that won’t stop Mugabe from flagrantly violating provisions of the GPA.

So the only viable option for Tsvangirai is to push for the conclusion of the constitution-making process and the subsequent holding of free and fair elections that will give Zimbabweans a chance to choose their leaders. Only that way can Mugabe be stopped.