This has sent shock waves within the opposition and many Zimbabweans. Mugabe assigned 30 of the 31 ministries – 15 for his Zanu PF party, 13 for Tsvangirai’s MDC and three for Mutambara’s MDC. Only the Finance portfolio remained unassigned.

The three gentlemen met Friday for about an hour and nothing was agreed. Mugabe, 84 then went ahead and gazette the ministry allocation with a deadlock still on.

In a government gazette, using his powers in terms of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 31D of the Constitution which says the President “shall appoint Ministers and may assign functions to such Ministers, including the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or department…”, Mugabe said there was still discussion over the Finance Ministry.

The copy has been published today. But according to MDC Tsvangirai spokesman Nelson, this is all but a mere wish list for Zanu PF.

"There is bitter disagreement on Finance, Home Affairs, Local Government, Foreign Affairs, Education, Media and Justice," he said.

So come Monday ousted Thabo Mbeki will again travel to Zimbabwe to help mediate in the country’s deadlock on power sharing.

Mbeki, who will be accompanied by three close aides, is to meet Zimbabwe’s political leaders with a mandate from the Southern African Development Community regional bloc.

These are the ministries gazetted by Mugabe, with a footnote that discussion is on-going over Finance:

MDC Tsvangirai: 13

1 Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs 2 Economic Planning and Investment Promotion 3 Energy and Power Development 4 Health and Child Welfare 5 Labour and Social Welfare 6 Water Resources Development and Management 7 Public Service 8 Sport, Arts and Culture 9 State Enterprise and Parastatals 10 Science and Technology Development 11 Information Communication Technology 12 Public Works 13 National Housing and Social Amenities

MDC Mutambara: 3

1 Regional Integration and International Cooperation 2 Education 3 Industry and Commerce

Zanu PF: 15

1 Defence 2 Home Affairs 3 Foreign Affairs 4 Transport 5 Local Government and Urban Development 6 Mines and Mining Development 7 Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement 8 Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism 9 Higher and Tertiary Education 10 Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development 11 Justice and Legal Affairs 12 Media, Information and Publicity 13 Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development 14 Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment 15 Finance

There is still a debate on the finance ministry