Police and soldiers beat and arrest commuter drivers over fares
The government sponsored price war against businesses has intensified in Harare . The main targets being transport operators. Scores of commuter drivers were arrested during a blitz that started Wednesday. Security forces are also accused of beating up the drivers and forcing operators to ground their fleets because of the price cuts.

Mugabe orders wage freeze as price reduction campaign flops
Private or public sectors cannot raise salaries, rents, service charges, prices and school fees without government approval for the next 6 months. The new measures were announced this week in a government gazette. All decisions related to salaries or fees will now be made by the National Incomes and Prices Commission, led by Mugabe himself.

China to withdraw support for Mugabe regime
Mugabe’s close ally, China , has announced they are dropping all assistance except humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe . The Chinese government has enjoyed lucrative business deals in Zimbabwe for years now as Mugabe pursued his “Look East” policy. But Friday’s UK Daily Telegraph said China has changed direction and British Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch Brown said that Chinese officials had confirmed this to him.

Health crisis feared as Bulawayo schools open without water
Schools open Tuesday and students will not only have a tough time securing transport, but they also face health risks due to severe water cuts. Without water to flush toilets and drinking water being stored in containers, there is a great risk of water borne diseases, particularly for students who attend boarding schools.

Rights activist Betty Makoni arrested again
We reported on Thursday that Betty Makoni, the Director of the Girl Child Network, and talk show host Rebecca Chisamba, were arrested on allegations of violating the Child Protection Act.

Tortured journalist Gift Phiri acquitted
On Thursday journalist Gift Phiri was acquitted of contravening a section of the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Magistrate Stanley Chimedza ruled that the section used to charge Phiri was inappropriate for the alleged offence cited.

Rights activist Betty Makoni & broadcaster Amai Chisamba arrested
Last week Betty Makoni was arrested for allegedly smuggling 2 US nationals into Zimbabwe to make a film about the country’s crisis without accreditation. On Thursday the Director of the Girl Child Network was back in detention, this time on charges of violating the Child Protection Act. Makoni was arrested together with talk show host Rebecca Chisamba of the popular Amai Chisamba Show.

Czech Republic closing Zim embassy over 'crazy' policies
The weekly Financial Gazette reports that the Czech Republic is closing its embassy in Zimbabwe because of what its foreign affairs minister described as ‘crazy’ policies by Robert Mugabe’s government. Karel Schwarzenberg is reported to have addressed members of the Czech chamber of deputies last Thursday disclosing that the government would also close embassies in Uruguay and Singapore .

Mugabe tells war vets he is going nowhere
Addressing a group of war veterans that had marched through the city streets to his party headquarters in Harare on Wednesday, Robert Mugabe declared he was not going anywhere and scoffed at the idea of an “exit package”. The march was organised by the Zimbabwe War Veterans' Association, a controversial group that spearheaded the government’s chaotic and violent farm invasions back in the year 2000.

Police join war veterans march in support of Mugabe
Harare residents say the atmosphere was tense in the capital Wednesday as thousands of members from the National Liberation War Veterans Association marched to show their support for Mugabe. Led by national chairman Jabulani Sibanda and the self-styled leader of farm invasions Joseph Chinotimba, they chanted slogans and held placards denouncing Mugabe’s critics and supporting his policies.

Freed political detainee suspended by employer
An MDC senior official who spent 174 daysin prison on trumped up charges of terrorism is facing another battle as a free man. Morgan Komichi was released on 9 th August but when he reported for work on the 15 th he was told that he had been suspended for absenteeism. This is despite his lawyers having written to his employer, the Zimbabwe Power Company, informing them about the arrest.

Mbare vendors beaten and forced to welcome Equatorial Guinea President at airport
The government forced people to go to the airport to welcome Nguema, Obiang Teodoro Nguema, the dictator from Equatorial Guinea who arrived on Tuesday to open the Agricultural show. We received reports that in order to have crowds of loyal supporters of Mugabe present as a welcoming party, three buses were sent to Mbare Msika to load a "rent-a-crowd". 

SA Home Affairs considers residence permits for Zim refugees
In a tacit admission that the Zimbabwean crisis has gone out of hand, South Africa ’s Home Affairs Minister broke new policy ground by saying they were considering issuing temporary residence permits for those who had fled the country. On Tuesday Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is reported to have said the government needed to adopt a new approach to deal with Zimbabwean citizens flocking into South Africa and that allowing them to work until the political problems had been resolved was a possibility.

COSATU slams SADC inaction over Zimbabwe crisis
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has criticised what it calls the lack of any progress at the just ended Southern African Development Community summit meeting in Zambia . The meeting was supposed to have discussed measures to help resolve Zimbabwe ’s crisis but COSATU took exception to the lack of transparency in the way heads of state discussed the issue.

MDC denies Tsvangirai in Australia lobbying for sanctions
Continuing the media campaign about non-existent sanctions on Zimbabwe , the state controlled media says that Morgan Tsvangirai is in Australia where he is ‘celebrating’ sanctions. The government has been promoting the notion that the deterioration of the country’s economy is due to sanctions, instead of taking responsibility for the failed policies, corruption and mismanagement by the Mugabe regime.

Zimbabweans in denial over mental effects of the crisis
A number of Zimbabweans are up in arms after it was reported that a survey by the World Health Organisation claimed that 40% suffer from “mental disorders.” The author of the study, Dickson Chibanda of the Ministry of Health, said his findings had been “distorted” as the survey was only carried out in the Mbare high-density suburb.

Parliamentary committee recommends closing youth militia camps
A parliamentary committee chaired by Zanu PF’s Gutu South MP Shuvai Mahofa, has recommended the closure of youth militia training centres because there is not enough food to feed recruits. A damning report presented to parliament last Thursday described conditions as appalling, with both the diet and living quarters not meeting standards suitable for human habitation. MDC MP for Mkoba, Amos Chibaya, was part of the committee on Youth, Gender and Women’s Affairs that went on a national tour of the centres.

Mbeki adopts Mugabe line on non-existent “sanctions” on Zim
There are no sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western nations or anyone else. There are targeted sanctions that affect the assets and travel of the ruling elite. Yet Mugabe has managed to create a media frenzy around non-existent sanctions which he blames for destroying Zimbabwe’s economy. Now South Africa’s President Mbeki is reported to have adopted this spin.

Power cuts and shortages force fertiliser firms close
The already ailing agricultural industry has taken a blow with the revelation that three major fertiliser manufacturers have closed due to power cuts and a lack of raw materials. The Herald newspaper reported Monday that the Chemplex Corporation, which manages the three fertiliser firms, has not been able to operate since last month. Eben Makonese, chief executive of Chemplex, said workers had been sent on forced leave and half pay because of operational challenges.

Opposition calls on Mugabe regime to allow Diaspora vote
A showdown is looming between the opposition and the ruling party on the issue of allowing Zimbabweans outside the country to vote. Nelson Chamisa the spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC said this is one of the minimum conditions of the opposition for free and fair elections. There are at least 4 million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. Chamisa said there is not going to be a free and fair election without the vote of those who have been forced to foreign lands because of circumstances back home.

Reserve Bank chief was denied UK visa
August will be a month to forget for Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono. Last week it was reported the Australian government gave his son Peter and twin daughters Praise and Pride, 5 days to leave the country after cancelling their student visa’s along with 5 other students whose parents are part of Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and government. Now it turns out that on the 17th August the British government denied the central bank chief a visa to travel to the United Kingdom.

WOZA activists briefly arrested during raids in Bulawayo
Six women and a baby from Women of Zimbabwe Arise were reportedly abducted during early morning raids by police in Bulawayo. WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams said the group received an alert around four in the morning from the children of the arrested women saying police officers were going door-to-door arresting the activists.

Indigenous Empowerment Bill guarantees more looting by Zanu PF
As Parliament opens more dramatic moments are expected when a new Bill introduced this week is debated. On Wednesday ZANU-PF tabled the Indigenous Economic Empowerment Bill, aimed at giving majority control of foreign-owned companies to locals.

Mbeki’s position as Zim mediator compromised
A leading MDC official in South Africa said President Thabo Mbeki will never succeed in his efforts to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis because he was taken care of by Zanu (PF), during the ANC struggle against apartheid. Solomon Chikohwero, the first MDC official to be charged under the terrorism act by the Mugabe regime in 2000, said during Mbeki’s stay in Zimbabwe in the 1980’s he was accommodated at a safe house in Hatfield, Harare .

Arrested Americans deported without access to lawyers
Two US filmmakers arrested Wednesday morning with the Girl Child Network director Betty Makoni, were deported on Thursday without having any legal recourse and access to lawyers. They had been summoned the day before to report to the police, which led to their subsequent arrest. Lawyer Dzimbabwe Chimbwa was granted an urgent High Court order to stop the deportation, but they were deported before he could serve the papers.

No improvement in supplies after govt backtrack on price controls Shelves are still empty in Zimbabwe ’s shops, despite the fact that government has increased the price of some basic commodities. Workers continue to struggle to get transport and long queues can still be seen when shops get a delivery. Some government officials are reportedly benefiting from the shortages of meat by raiding the Cold Storage Commission and selling the meat at inflated prices on the black market.

Democratic Alliance exposes SA government over Zim refugees
The opposition Democratic Alliance party in South Africa on Thursday released a damning dossier drawn up five years ago that proves the government had worked on plans to deal with refugees from Zimbabwe . The DA said the government was acting as if it never recognised there was a problem in Zimbabwe .

Rights campaigner Betty Makoni and two Americans arrested
The outspoken founder of the Girl Child Network, Betty Makoni, and two America women were arrested in Harare on Tuesday. The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said Makoni is being accused of allegedly “smuggling in foreigners to cover the country’s crisis without accreditation.” When we contacted the human rights campaigner late Wednesday she said she was not allowed to speak as she was at the police station. It was not clear why she was still being held.

SA opposition to exert pressure on Mbeki to ditch quiet diplomacy
The opposition Democratic Alliance party in South Africa has vowed to continue pushing President Thabo Mbeki to ditch his ‘quiet diplomacy’ on Zimbabwe , because it has failed. Mark Lowe, the Home Affairs spokesman for the DA, said there was enough evidence to prove Mbeki’s mediation efforts have been a total disaster. He said the reason why South Africa was now home to millions of Zimbabwean refugees is a clear example of Mbeki’s failure.

Glen Norah women protest after disabled child falls into raw sewage
The Combined Harare Residents Association reported that on Tuesday about 30 angry women in Glen Norah descended on the district offices after a disabled child fell into raw sewage and suffered serious injuries. The child was rushed to a local clinic but it was closed because health personnel are still on strike. In a similar action residents of Dzivarasekwa gathered at their district offices on Wednesday to protest the raw sewage flowing at their railway station and through the streets.

Parliament opens with heated debate
The Third Session of the Sixth Parliament opened on Tuesday with parliamentarians expected to make contributions responding to the speech made by Robert Mugabe last week about his vision for the coming session. The other order of business was to bring back motions that had not been concluded in the previous session so they can be put on what is known as the “order sheet”. In brief, there was not much excitement to speak of, but the fireworks are expected when ZANU-PF introduces two controversial Bills later this session.

15 pastors arrested in Chitungwiza
At least 15 church leaders were arrested Monday from their homes, after allegedly attending a prayer meeting in Chitungwiza. A statement from the Mutambara MDC said the pastors were initially picked up on Saturday at the venue of the service for allegedly attending an unsanctioned meeting and were subsequently released after paying fines of Z$40 000 each. The opposition party said they were picked up again Monday night from their homes and taken to Makoni police station where they were detained.

Zimbabwean government accused of using North Korean tactics
The opposition has accused the government of using North Korean tactics of starvation to control and weaken the population from uprising. MDC activist Ralph Black said this has been a policy that has been in place for many years where the Mugabe regime has been using food and food aid as a political weapon. A nother opposition official David Coltart is reported as saying starvation in Zimbabwe amounts to genocide.

Global outcry over SADC failure to pressure Mugabe
Leaders from the Southern African Development Community have received strong condemnation over their failure to pressure Mugabe to reform his policies and bring back the rule of law to Zimbabwe . The summit in Lusaka , Zambia ended Friday without any concrete plan to deal with the political and economic crisis that has gripped the country.

South African opposition calls on Mbeki to act on Zimbabwe
South Africa ’s opposition parties on Tuesday united to deliver a statement in parliament calling on President Thabo Mbeki to move rapidly to defuse the escalating political crisis in Zimbabwe . Mbeki’s parliamentary opponents in South Africa have on many occasions accused him of failing to publicly criticise Mugabe.

SADC failure to act kills hope for Zimbabweans
The excitement that preceded the meeting of leaders from the Southern African Development Community has died. It had been hoped that the regional grouping would finally take some decisive action on the crisis in Zimbabwe , as its impact on neighbouring countries is now weighing on them heavily. The pressure on South Africa ’s president Thabo Mbeki as the SADC appointed mediator had also raised hopes that something would finally happen.

New SADC chairman gets off on wrong foot
Observers say Zimbabwe is “doomed” if statements made by the new chair of SADC are a reflection of the general attitude of the regional leaders. Zambia ’s President Levy Mwanawasa began his chairmanship of SADC by saying the problems in Zimbabwe have been exaggerated. Businessman Mutumwa Mawere said there is a tendency in Africa to blame the problem in Zimbabwe solely on colonialism and not focus on what Mugabe has done to create the current situation.

MDC warns its supporters to be vigilant
The MDC has warned officials and supporters to be careful following a new wave of violence by Zanu (PF) youths. The opposition also warned it would not sit and watch its supporters being brutalised by rampaging Zanu (PF) youths, who recently embarked on a purge of opposition activists in Muzarabani. The youths recently unleashed an orgy of violence in the Mashonaland central district where a number of MDC officials were severely assaulted and left hospitalised.

Lack of water causes diarrhoea outbreaks in Harare
Water shortages have led to worsening outbreaks of diarrhoea, with health centres treating around 900 cases a day, the state controlled Herald reported on Monday. Harare city council’s Health director Prosper Chonzi said each of their 60 health centres is treating at least 15 cases a day, with some of the patients suffering from life-threatening dysentery.

Third death reported in Bulawayo sugar stampede
An injured victim of the stampede that developed on Wednesday when a huge crowd queued for sugar in Bulawayo is reported to have died in hospital. No name has been provided, but the police official attending to the case told our Bulawayo contact that the man sustained head injuries and had broken both legs when a crowd knocked over a brick wall at Entumbane Shopping Complex trying to buy some sugar that had been delivered last week.

Massive rigging unveiled as mobile voter registration ends
Zimbabwe is awash with reports that hundreds of thousands were denied the opportunity to register to vote in the mobile registration exercise that ended Friday. There is evidence that massive rigging took place during the exercise conducted by the Registrar-General & the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. It is reported some areas identified as opposition strongholds were not serviced. Residents of Masvingo urban said no registration teams visited them.

SADC pushes for round table talks between Zanu (PF) and MDC
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday told his counterparts from the Southern African Development Community that round table talks between Zanu-PF & the MDC are the next item of his slow moving mediation talks. However, the report on Zimbabwe which he presented in a closed door session Thursday might not be made public, according to South African Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad.

Australia to cancel student visas of Zanu PF kids
After months of pressure the Australian Government has decided to cancel the visas of 8 Zimbabwean students studying in that country because their parents are senior Zanu PF & government chefs. Privacy issues have prevented the government from releasing the names but Newsreel sources say Gideon Gono’s twin daughters Pride and Praise Gono have been included on the list. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer confirmed to journalists that he is set to revoke their visas.

15 year old schoolboy and guard die in sugar stampede
The shortages of basic food items created by the government’s ongoing price control exercise have cost two people their lives in Bulawayo . On Wednesday a huge crowd stampeded into a shopping complex where sugar had been delivered and in the chaos a 15year old boy and a 35year old security guard died.

Zimbabwe crisis takes centre stage at SADC summit
In Lusaka , Zambia South African President Thabo Mbeki is believed to have briefed his Southern African Development Community counterparts on the progress of his mediation talks between the Zanu (PF) and the opposition MDC . No statement was issued after the closed door session Thursday, although a SADC communiqué is expected to be issued at the close of the two day summit Friday.

Presidential scholarship scheme benefiting Mugabe relatives
A government sponsored Presidential Scholarship Scheme introduced in 1995 to benefit students from poor families is said to be benefiting relatives, friends and children of Zanu PF chefs. Over 7 million rand a year is being spent on the programme. An Economic History student at the University of Kwazulu Natal said most of the students are doing degrees which are already being offered in Zimbabwe .

Freed human rights activists harassed by security agents
60 Zimbabwean human rights activists who were deported from Zambia spoke of their harrowing time suffered at the hands of state security agents. Dzimbabwe Chimbwa, the legal representative of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, said a joint effort by Zambian immigration authorities and Zimbabwean authorities at Chirundu border post stopped their efforts to attend a conference running parallel to the SADC summit in Lusaka .

High Court grants Telecel provisional order to continue operating
Zimbabweans who use the Telecel mobile phone network can breathe a sigh of relief for now, after the company was granted temporary relief by the High Court in Harare on Wednesday. This means Telecel Zimbabwe, whose license was cancelled by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz) last week, can continue operating.

Zambia deports 60 Zimbabwe Human Rights Activists
Zambian immigration authorities on Tuesday night blocked 60 Zimbabwe Human Rights activists from travelling to Lusaka . They then deported them back into the hands of state security agents at Chirundu border post. The detained activists spent most of Wednesday being interrogated at Chirundu police station.

Human Rights Watch urges SADC to deploy team to Zimbabwe
The international human rights watchdog is urging African Heads of State to focus on the Zimbabwe humanitarian crisis, which continues to deteriorate. The group launched a report Tuesday that recommends the regional grouping deploy a team to assess the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe and report back.

Zim civil groups reject SA’s suggestions on constitutional reform
Zimbabwean civil organisations that met with a South African team of facilitators in Pretoria on Tuesday report that they strongly opposed the idea of using Zimbabwe ’s parliament to reform the constitution, ahead of the elections next year. The groups met with President Thabo Mbeki’s chief negotiator Sydney Mufamadi and Mbeki’s advisor on legal matters, Advocate Gumbi.

Banned Zimbabwean plays set the UK alight
The first play to be banned in independent Zimbabwe , Super Patriots and Morons, has resurfaced in the United Kingdom and is generating rave reviews, 3 years later. The play nominated for the Amnesty International 2007 freedom of expression award is running alongside another political satire, Pregnant with Emotions, both the work of renowned producer Daves Guzha.

MDC ups stakes and urges SADC to broaden mediation talks
The MDC on Tuesday appealed to the Southern African Development Community to broaden the Zimbabwe initiative and include other SADC Heads of State. Concerned at the slow pace of the mediation talks, the MDC made it clear the initiative by President Thabo Mbeki has failed to stop the country cascading further into chaos.

Civil society leaders meet SA mediation team
After months of intense lobbying civil society leaders from Zimbabwe finally got the chance to put forward their concerns to the SADC initiative aimed at solving the country’s crisis. On Tuesday key figures from a broad array of pressure groups had a 4-hour meeting with a delegation of South African government officials leading the mediation talks.

Humanitarian crisis may force SADC to act on Zimbabwe
It has been acknowledged by several regional analysts that the SADC does not have much power to act on the Zimbabwe crisis. Many Zimbabweans lost faith in the organisation as it failed over the last few years to adopt recommendations by its own Human Rights Commission. But the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated so much that the region is beginning to feel the effects.

Mugabe’s meddling into housing rentals slammed
Mugabe’s latest attempt at fanning his flagging popularity with the urban populace by controlling accommodation rentals was on Tuesday condemned by the opposition and ordinary members of the public. Addressing a rented crowd, most of them force marched by the army to the National Heroes Day commemorations in Harare on Monday, Mugabe fired a broadside at urban landlords for overcharging their lodgers.

Soldiers beat & force Kuwadzana residents to Heroes Day celebrations The holiday began with reports that soldiers continued to beat up vendors and residents of Kuwadzana high-density suburb in Harare . Gertrude Kuudzehwe of the Combined Harare Residents Association said the soldiers beat up vendors & residents, forcing them to walk to the Heroes celebrations. They also confiscated vegetables & other food items as vendors fled for safety.

Zimbabwe will top agenda at SADC summit
The serious deterioration in the political and economic situation will top the agenda of the Southern African Development Community summit in Lusaka , Zambia . Foreign, security and defence ministers from the SADC bloc will meet Wednesday on the eve of the Heads of State summit to discuss the Zimbabwe issue and that of Lesotho and the DRC .

Heroes Day commemoration just another Zanu PF showpiece
Twenty-seven years ago thousands of Zimbabweans had died fighting against the colonial regime led by Ian Smith, during a 7-year guerrilla war. Although Robert Mugabe and his ‘comrades’ who led that liberation now rule the country, hundreds of thousands are now perishing from a combination of hunger, violence and bad governance.

Badly tortured student leader finally released
After 3 days in police detention Clever Bere, president of the students union at NUST, appeared before the magistrates courts badly bruised. He was released on bail and is due back in court on 3 rd September. He faces charges of malicious damage to property and contempt of court after police claim he failed to appear in court with other arrested students.

Mugabe regime draws up list of blacklisted websites
The Zimbabwe Independent reports that Zanu PF is planning to blacklist several websites including CNN, ZW News, Zimbabwe Situation, New Zimbabwe.com and others. The paper said a printout of 41 websites was tabled at a heated meeting of the Politburo who were discussing the media.

Elias Mudzuri ready to stand again as Harare Mayor
Former Mayor of Harare , Engineer Elias Mudzuri said he is ready to stand again in next year’s local government elections if the MDC selects him as its candidate. He said he has a lot of unfinished business in Harare where he was elected by over a million people in the city.

Government cancels Telecel’s licence
The state run Herald reported that the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority had cancelled Telecel Zimbabwe ’s license, saying the companies shares were heavily skewed in favour of foreigners. James Makamba and Jane Mutasa reportedly gained control of the company after paying US$3,5 million to Telecel International for the disputed shares, but the license was cancelled regardless.

Police fail to take tortured Student leader to court
Clever Bere, the President of the students’ union at the National University of Science and Technology is still in police custody after police failed to take him to court on Thursday. The Zimbabwe National Students Union says the badly beaten student leader is being denied full access to his lawyer and medical treatment. Bere was arrested on Monday in Bulawayo .

16 WOZA activists released but two more arrested
More than a dozen activists from the Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise were finally released on Thursday after they were badly beaten in police custody. They were arrested while playing soccer and Netball at Macheke Stadium in Masvingo. The 16 WOZA activists spent two nights in the cold police cells in their sports uniform.

Forex scam at RBZ confirms illegal black market deals
Foreign currency dealers & economic experts have always claimed that the biggest buyer of foreign currency on the black market was the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe . Because there are no receipts, there has never been any real proof of the illegal forex deals. That is until this week when The Zimbabwean newspaper reported that RBZ Governor Gideon Gono last week suspended Mirirai Chiremba, head of the Financial Intelligence Division and a former CIO operative.

MDC to express voter registration concerns to Electoral Commission
The MDC has been granted a ‘groundbreaking’ meeting with the government controlled Electoral Supervisory Commission, where it is expected they will hand over a dossier of their concerns regarding the current voter registration exercise. Ian Makone, the MDC director of elections said they would be meeting a delegation from the ESC in Harare on Friday.

Mugabe’s sewage cost Makwavarara her job
It was a battle fought by Harare residents for years and even several court orders failed to move Local Government Minister Ingatius Chombo into flushing Sekesai Makwavarara out of her position as Chairperson of the Commission running Harare. But a burst sewage pipe at Mugabe’s state house last week did the job. According to online publication Talk Zimbabwe.com Mugabe ordered Chombo to fire her after it took council workers over 2 days to attend to the problem, resulting in sewage overflowing from State House into Borrowdale road. Mugabe took exception to the delay and its messy consequences.

NCA activist, student leader & WOZA members still in detention
Repression continues with no end in sight as pro-democrats continue to be arrested and brutalized with impunity, by state security agents. Just this week alone, a torture victim from the National Constitutional Assembly is missing in Mutare. He has been arrested three times since July 11 th. The NCA said Mannex Mawuya has not been seen since his release on the 24th.

Commuters waiting for days as transport crisis deepens
On Tuesday thousands of commuters around the country found themselves stranded. With many state-run and private buses out of service due to serious fuel shortages, the streets were crowded with people walking. The state media reported that many were waiting up to 4 days for transport ahead of the Heroes holiday next week.

Mugabe misled SADC about MDC terrorism charges
SADC heads of state gave Mugabe the benefit of the doubt when he claimed at a meeting his regime was cracking down on the opposition to stem a terrorism plot. The brutal assault on opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several other activists put Mugabe in the spotlight and he responded by getting the Home Affairs ministry to produce mountains of ‘evidence’ against the MDC . It has taken the dramatic collapse of the state case in court to prove that Mugabe misled his SADC peers.

Massive irregularities in voter registration exercise
There are reports that hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans could have failed to register with the mobile voter registration teams, after officials avoided areas associated with opposition supporters. MDC legislator Editor Matamisa said that the mobile registration teams did not bother to visit her constituency, which has close to 10 000 residents who want be added to the voters’ roll.

19 WOZA /MOZA activists arrested while playing sport in Masvingo
In the past members of the pressure group Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise have been arrested while praying, walking and marching in the streets, but on Tuesday, playing sport was added to the list of crimes for the group. WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams said 19 activists were arrested at a sports field in Masvingo while they were playing netball and mixed gender soccer.

Too much to monitor for snooping squads
Hardly four days after Mugabe signed the Interception of Communications Bill into law, unconfirmed reports say that out of 45 state security operatives trained by Chinese instructors, at least 10 have now been deployed at the Mazoe Earth Satellite station outside Harare . The station serves as the portal for Internet traffic in and out of Zimbabwe and is also the centre for telecommunications traffic.

Business leaders praise Mugabe for destructive price cuts
The Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa reports that despite the disastrous results of Robert Mugabe’s current price control exercise, business leaders are “tiptoeing” around him and “remain reluctant to openly criticise his policies.” The story said they went so far as to praise him for the June 26 order to cut prices by almost half and operate at a loss.

Applicant in Archbishop “adultery” case refuses to hand over evidence
The lawyer representing the man suing Archbishop Pius Ncube for allegedly having an affair with his wife, appears to be having problems providing information for this claim. Onesimus Sibanda's lawyer, Munyaradzi Nzarayapenga, has filed a notice of amendment of the original claim in the High Court.

Mugabe signs law to monitor phones and e-mails
Robert Mugabe has signed into law an intrusive piece of legislation that gives his regime the power to snoop on phones and e-mails. A government notice published on Friday confirmed Mugabe has approved the Interception of Communications Act, despite intense opposition from press freedom campaigners, media groups and others. The move has already heightened the fears of ordinary people over the privacy of their communications.

Gweru man killed over loaf of bread as food shortages intensify
The state controlled Herald reported Thursday that a man was killed in a scuffle over a loaf of bread on the outskirts of Gweru. He bought the loaf on credit from a woman running a small shop and when he failed to pay, her husband and 4 others confronted him. A scuffle broke out and the man was injured & later died. The government’s ongoing price control exercise has driven up prices drastically on the black market & is taking its toll on daily life. There are also many reports of intense in-fighting amongst the ruling party’s elite over the mess created by the price controls.

MDC activist refuses to pay fine over anti Mugabe song
Lloyd Mahute the provincial youth secretary for the Tsvangirai MDC is spending another night in police custody after he refused to pay an admission of guilt fine. The opposition party says Mahute and seven others were arrested Thursday for singing songs mocking Robert Mugabe. The party’s spokesperson for Manicaland province Pishai Muchauraya said the other seven were released late Thursday and charged with public nuisance. He said they were forced to buy their freedom by paying admission of guilt fines of Z$40 000 each but the provincial youth secretary refused to pay, preferring to get his day in court.

Senior army officers causing havoc on farms
The unbalanced wife of the army general, Jocelyn Chiwenga, on Wednesday revealed in an outburst what many in Mugabe’s regime are unwilling to admit publicly- the army is in charge. Remaining white commercial farmers are learning this the hard way, with official after official from the army abusing their position and harassing those who braved the chaos to remain on their farms. In Manicaland province, soldiers, allegedly taking orders from a brigadier-general who illegally grabbed a farm there in February, are defying an order from Vice President Joseph Msika to vacate a property. On another farm an army general has also decided to take the law into his own hands ordering the white farm owners out, and personally throwing out their furniture.

Bulawayo runs dry amid fears of disease outbreak
The former governor of Matebeleland north, Welshman Mabhena, has described the critical water situation in Bulawayo as ‘dangerous’ and potentially catastrophic. Some parts of Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, have been without water for the last five days. Authorities in the city on Thursday issued a warning of a serious potential outbreak of disease. Mabhena said ever since he was born 80 years ago he has never experienced such a serious water shortage as that currently sweeping through the city. In other areas of Bulawayo, residents are getting water for only seven hours, after every two days.

Collapse of unity talks forced former MP and 21 others to defect
Political defections in Zimbabwe’s muddied opposition waters continue to be one-way traffic. On Thursday Silas Mangono, a former opposition legislator for Masvingo, defected from the Mutambara MDC to rejoin the party led by founding President Morgan Tsvangirai. He becomes one of dozens who have jumped ship in the past 22 months. Mangono was the secretary for education in the Mutambara camp. Also defecting was Shaky Matake, the chairman of the party’s Masvingo Province, who took 20 other executive committee members with him.

Government spends trillions on new vehicles
While most Zimbabweans are walking miles to get to work due to fuel shortages caused by a lack of foreign currency in the country, it is reported that government has spent trillions of dollars on a new
state-of-the-art limousine for Robert Mugabe and Mercedes-Benz S class vehicles for the ministers.

Journalist assaulted by army commander’s wife
Jocelyn Chiwenga, wife of the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Force, assaulted photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi at Makro Wholesalers in Harare on Wednesday. Mukwazhi was attacked while covering a tour by MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was visiting different supermarkets to assess the impact of the government’s price controls wars. Mukwazhi said Mrs Chiwenga uttered obscene words towards the MDC delegation, including President Tsvangirai. She ordered security guards at Makro to close the doors so that she could ‘beat and arrest the delegation.’ Mukwazhi was left behind when people rushed out of the store. We spoke to Jocelyn Chiwenga, but it was hard to get much sense out of her.

8 MDC activists arrested for singing anti-Mugabe songs
Eight opposition activists were arrested in Mutare Thursday for allegedly singing political songs that denounced and denigrated Mugabe. Pishai Muchauraya, MDC spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC, said one of the activists, Lloyd Mahute, was severely beaten by a Chief Inspector Innocent Rigomeka of Chisamba Police Station. He is now being held at an unknown police station and the other seven activists are being held at Mutare Central police station. The detainees were part of a group of MDC members who had attended a remand hearing at the Mutare magistrate’s court when they were arrested.

Government crackdown on businesses continues countrywide
MDC legislator Editor Matamisa claimed on Thursday the government crackdown on businesses was possibly revenge for their perceived links with the opposition. The Kadoma central MP said the Zanu (PF) regime has in the last 7 years accused business leaders of funding the MDC. Lately the government has been accusing the entire business community of colluding with the MDC to sabotage the country’s economy. Amid this claim the regime has continued with its crackdown as more business managers were arrested countrywide in the last two days, on charges of overpricing. Even the manager of an old age home has been arrested.

SA home affairs in denial over Zimbabwean refugees
The growing number of Zimbabweans flooding into South Africa has clearly become a serious problem for the government of President Thabo Mbeki, yet officials there continue to deny there is a problem in Zimbabwe. SABC news reported Thursday that the department of home affairs has refused to classify Zimbabweans streaming into South Africa as refugees, saying they are not facing persecution in their home country. The report also said the UN High Commission for Refugees agrees with this, saying it is not yet critical. Their denial is reminiscent of the reluctance of the international community to state that genocide was taking place in Rwanda, because that would have meant they had to do something. MP Mark Lowe of South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance party said if the government of South Africa admits there is a problem then they will be admitting their policy of quiet diplomacy has failed.

National student body pledge support for Save Zimbabwe Campaign
Instead of celebrating the first anniversary of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign on the 29th July, Zimbabweans were rocked this week by the withdrawal of the Mutambara MDC from the platform. The party cited what they felt was bias for Morgan Tsvangirai and his party. As the dust settles on that episode the National Students Union (ZINASU) has moved to re-affirm its support for the coalition. Speaking on our Behind the Headlines programme, Promise Mkwananzi spoke of the need to unite all progressive forces ‘to mount a spirited campaign against the ills and misdeeds of an illegitimate and brutal Zanu PF government.’ He said students believe the Save Zimbabwe coalition is the only viable option for people to articulate their demands.

MDC file Z$504 billion lawsuit over disrupted rally
The MDC this week filed a Z$504 billion lawsuit against the police for disrupting a rally the party tried to hold in February this year. The Police Commissioner, Home Affairs Minister and five other senior police officers are cited in the notice filed at the Civil Division of the Attorney Generals Office. In a case likely to set a legal precedent. The MDC represented by Jessie Majome and Company is using the State Liabilities Act to seek compensation, following the defiance of a court order that allowed them to hold the rally.

S.A. protest march to deliver Zimbabwe petition to President Mbeki
There will be a protest march in Johannesburg on Thursday to demand better treatment for Zimbabwean refugees. The South Africa Women’s Institute for Migration Affairs, the Methodist Church & the Congress of South African NGOs drafted a petition with several demands that will be handed over to the premier of Gauteng Province, for delivery to President Thabo Mbeki. One of the speakers will be Bishop Paul Verryn, whose church shelters Zimbabwean refugees. The Bishop explained that the demands are fundamentally human rights that should be extended to everyone. They include an immediate stop to the arrests of Zimbabwean asylum seekers, the relaxation of visa requirements and free healthcare. The protest march begins at the Central Methodist Church near the High Court in Johannesburg Thursday morning.

Inaction by Mbeki govt on Zim forces border farmers to form vigilante groups
On Tuesday UK based Sky News showed S.A. border farmers acting as law-enforcement agents in an attempt to block the thousands crossing illegally from Zimbabwe. The refugees cut through farm fences and kill animals for food, creating an economic crisis for the farmers. The farmers said they had no choice but to become vigilantes, as the South African authorities are doing nothing to help. The farmers were captured on camera hunting down the impoverished Zimbabweans like animals and those who were captured had their hands bound and loaded on to trucks, to be handed to the local police for deportation. Journalist Geoff Hill said essentially the problem should be laid more on the door of the South African government that has done nothing to cater for this human tsunami, as it is being called.

WFP appeals for US$118 million to provide food aid to Zimbabwe
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday put out an appeal to donors to help provide humanitarian food aid to over 3 million Zimbabweans facing severe food shortages over the next eight months. Richard Lee, spokesman for WFP in Johannesburg told Newsreel the food situation in some parts of the country is already starting to become serious. As a result WFP called on donors to urgently contribute US$118 million towards the cost of its massively expanded aid operation. According to Lee, what they are concerned about now is what will happen later in the year particularly in the drought ravaged southern parts of the country where hundreds of thousands of people will start to run out of food in the coming months.

Zimbabwe diaspora urged to initiate global response to crisis
Daniel Molokela, chairman of the Zimbabwe Civic Society Forum in South Africa has urged the diaspora to initiate a global response to the crisis back home. Several weeks after the grouping secured concessions for Zimbabwean teachers & lawyers to register & work in South Africa, Molokela paid tribute to the work of several groups trying to better the lives of Zimbabweans. He said the latest victory showed how good organisational capacity within civic groups produces results. Molokela explained that people were willing to participate in protests & other activities, but as long as their immigration status remained unresolved, the numbers will continue to disappoint.