surprise is the inclusion of one of the bogeymen of the Mugabe administration, Happyton Bonyongwe, director of Zimbabwe’s feared CIO spy agency.

Currently the Patriotic Front leadership is assiduously courting Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition grouping in the country, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)

With the MDC on board, the Front would be unstoppable in any reasonably fair election. But Tsvangirai is reluctant to commit himself, arguing he should be the party leader and be guaranteed a top post in any new administration.

Meanwhile party members are busy drumming up support in the provinces, using the political structures put in place by Zanu-PF, and secretly canvassing provincial party chairmen and other officials. Sources claim they

have commitments from all provincial leaders except those in Mashonaland West and Midlands provinces.

Until today the Front's meetings have been held in secret, usually at farms owned by different leaders. Mugabe himself is known to be aware of the Front's plans, and one source says that he has summoned Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono to his holiday retreat in Malaysia, in order to plan how to frustrate the new party's bank dealings. Any such moves are likely to be ineffective, as Solomon Mujuru keeps most of his considerable fortune – made from trading in gold and diamonds - outside the country.

And as the news of the new Patriotic Front breaks, the fight for the country's future will now be out in the open.