Amid the political uncertainty in Zimbabwe Christian Aid partner organisations are continuing to work.

Partners working on HIV and home based care have been least affected. But their work load has been substantially increased by the huge numbers of people fleeing to the cities from the rural areas.

Organisations which distribute food have been severely hampered by the government moratorium on their operations.

Agricultural recovery programmes aimed at alleviating the extreme weather conditions, especially in Matebeleland, have also been disrupted by the political insecurity in rural areas.

Years of community work by some partner organisations has resulted in lower levels of violence in areas where people clearly felt empowered and insisted on their rights.

One partner was one of the few organisations allowed to monitor the controversial presidential election on 27 June.

The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) has been very active in the civil society movement to ensure a transitional government.

It played a key role in the meeting of the churches of The Fellowship of Councils of Churches in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) which issued a statement insisting on a transitional authority rather than a government of national unity and that the presidential run-off did not 'reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people'.

The Heads of Christian Denominations echoed these sentiments in a statement released after the run-off election saying 'our conclusion is that the will of the people of Zimbabwe was not given authentic expression during these elections.'

Signatories to this statement include the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical fellowship of Zimbabwe; both are Christian Aid partners.

Meanwhile, as power-sharing talks between Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) continue in South Africa, the Anglican bishop of Harare, Sebastian Bakare, has warned the MDC leaders to be wary of the president's intentions.

Bishop Bakare met journalists at the 2008 Lambeth conference being held in Canterbury. He recalled that in 1987 Mr Mugabe had signed an agreement with the then opposition leader, Joshua Nkomo.

'It ended up with Mugabe swallowing up the other party and Mugabe is still in power today,' said the bishop. He went on to warn the MDC that 'Mugabe is not there just to hand in power.'