SELF IMPROVEMENT

Zimbabwe finance officials arrested
Zimbabwe state media said police have arrested five employees of the finance ministry, which is controlled by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party.

Independent rights groups have decried what they call harassment of Tsvangirai supporters by President Robert Mugabe's loyalists. The two sides have been joined in an uneasy coalition government following violent and inconclusive 2008 elections.

The state-controlled Sunday Mail said the five latest to be arrested were detained on Thursday and Friday on allegations of taking unauthorised trips and violating purchasing procedures.

Last month, hundreds of Mugabe supporters demonstrated at Finance Minister Tendai Biti's office, demanding increases in civil service salaries. Biti said the government could not afford raises.

Elections on the horizon
Meanwhile, government officials are working on tabling plans to hold elections at the end of next year.

Patrick Chinamasa, Mugabe's chief negotiator, told state media that party negotiators were set to agree on Wednesday on a timetable toward elections after months of dispute.

He said negotiators were scheduled to sign and submit a document with a proposed timing for polls to Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

Crisis Coalition, an alliance of civic groups, said a deal leaked to them by party officials proposes elections for August or September 2012. By then, a new constitution and electoral reforms demanded by regional mediators can be completed.