Tuesday, 15 September, marks the first anniversary of Zimbabwe's power sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. But there isn't much to celebrate, with both parties still divided on how to tackle Zimbabwe's continued economic and social problems.

This weekend, Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Mugabe of persecuting journalists and members of Tsvangirai’s MDC party, and of invasions of farms and farmland. He added that Mr Mugabe is continuing to "spread the language of hate".

Listen to a Newsline interview with political commentator John Gambanga:

EU talks
Mr Tsvangirai’s comments came only hours after President Mugabe finished talks with a EU delegation led by Swedish development minister Gunilla Carlsson and Belgian EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Karel de Gucht. The delegation asked Mr Mugabe to do more to make the power sharing deal work. Mr Mugabe responded by demanding that the EU lifts sanctions, which he says only hamper Zimbabwe’s economic development.

Lack of sincerity
Zimbabwean political commentator John Gambanga shares Mr Tsvangirai’s views on the unity government. “There’s been a genuine lack of sincerity from Zanu PF”, he says. “But the fact they’re still together is that there’s no going back. The only way out of Zimbabwe’s problems is to seek dialogue through this unity. If the MDC were to pull out now, what would be the alternative?”.

Both parties
Mr Gambanga adds that a good partnership depends on both parties, not just the Zanu PF. “Both parties have to be more serious to make this unity government work. Otherwise it all becomes just lip service. The politicians just talk and talk with nothing else. The people of Zimbabwe just want to see more action. Now they feel let down”.

Any hopes that fresh talks with the EU would bring quick change to Zimbabwe were dashed after President Mugabe held talks with the delegation. “He wants an end to the sanctions”, says Mr Gambanga. “But the EU is first demanding an end to the violence, to human rights violations and land invasions. So it’s up to Zanu PF and President Mugabe to sit down and reconsider their policies”.

Money
Although these talks – the first between Zimbabwe and the EU in seven years – may be a positive step towards restoring relationships between the two, it is clear that the people of Zimbabwe still have a long way to go. “They want to see more food on the shelves”, Mr Gambanga says.

“They want to see more jobs created. Pressure from the EU is not enough to achieve that. There should be more pressure from other quarters. What the country really needs is more money, so we’re also looking at the IMF or the World Bank. We can’t do without them, otherwise we’d be fooling ourselves”.