| |
|
|
| Previous
news stories |
Anti-senate faction dismisses plans to prosecute Tsvangirai in court
The deeply divided MDC is about to face another crisis. It’s reported that the pro-senate camp is planning to apply for a court order against Morgan Tsvangirai who they suspended this past weekend for allegedly violating the party’s constitution. |
UZ students petition EU to ban Vice Chancellor The suspended student leadership at the University of Zimbabwe has petitioned the European Union to impose a travel ban on the Vice Chancellor, Professor Levi Nyagura. |
| More prison officers deserting Prison officers in Zimbabwe, not happy with their salaries and tired of being used to carry out political assignments, are reported to be deserting the prison services and relocating secretly.... |
Deputy Information Minister booted off farm in Banket
The NewZimbabwe.com website reports that the deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga was booted off his Mupandaguta farm in Banket. The property is reported to be the 2nd one he had invaded in Mashonaland West in just over a month. |
Time up for Bvute and ChingokaOne of the most powerful figures in Zimbabwe Cricket, Max Ibrahim, believes there is so much standing against Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute that they are fighting a losing battle to hang on to their posts.... |
Australia's targeted sanctions list
Australia has added a further 127 names to a list of people in the Zimbabwe government barred from doing business with Australian firms. News agency reports said the Reserve Bank of Australia issued a revised list |
Zimbabwe wins housing award
It’s reported that Zimbabwe was on Tuesday named one of three Housing Rights Violators in 2005, for the forced evictions carried out during Operation Murambatsvina, which left more than 700 000 people homeless and affected a further 2.4 million people |
Gabriel Shumba torture case heard by African Union
A lawyer who was tortured in police cells, Gabriel Shumba, argued his case against the Zimbabwean government at the African Union on Wednesday. The Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is currently sitting in the Gambia to hear various cases from across Africa. |
NGOs urge African Commissioners
The 38th Session of The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is currently underway in Banjul in the Gambia, and many NGOs are there to lobby for a resolution on Zimbabwe. |
Massive rigging unearthed in MDC presidential election petition
The MDC legal team led by David Coltart has said that investigations for the controversial 2002 presidential election have exposed massive rigging by the Mugabe regime. |
| MDC structures in consultation Frantic consultations are currently taking place within Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change over the merits of splitting up. The party has been rocked by a rift within the top leadership over whether to participate in senate elections. |
Zimbabwe Cricketers to boycott
In an unprecedented move, professional cricketers in the country have vowed they will not represent the country in any future competitive match unless Zimbabwe Cricket President Peter Chingoka resigns from his post. |
Pro-senate Mzila Ndhlovu says Tsvangirai a fugitive
The pro-senate faction of the now split opposition has moved swiftly to take disciplinary action against the party president Morgan Tsvangirai. |
Tsvangirai suspension a joke
Nelson Chamisa described the suspension of the MDC President by the pro senate leadership as yet another political joke of the senatorial circus. |
MDC Disciplinary Committee biased
The composition of the MDC disciplinary committee which allegedly sat this weekend and decided to suspend the opposition leader has been criticised by a member of the Committee. |
White farmer killed and burnt
On Saturday evening, a 68 year old dairy and horticultural farmer in Norton, 30 km outside Harare, was strangled and then burnt to death. |
| Mugabe paid US$20 million for stopping Equatorial Guinea coup? |
London All night vigil described
as a sucess |
| 95% Zimbabweans say no to senate The results of a recent survey conducted by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition ... |
MDC pro-senate camp defiant over controversial poll The pro-senate camp on Friday held last minute door-to-door campaigns urging people to go out on Saturday and vote for MDC candidates. |
Operation Garikai criticised as Mugabe lip service Robert Mugabe was in Bulawayo on Thursday, and his paper ... |
| All night vigil in protest against senate elections in London UK based activists will stage an all night vigil outside.. |
Spouses and children added to U.S. sanctions list
If you are a spouse or a child of one of Mugabe’s cronies, chances are your name was added to a list of targeted sanctions that were extended by the Bush administration on Wednesday. |
| Commonwealth urged to create safer media environment In a statement released on Thursday, Reporters Without Borders urged the Commonwealth heads of government to prosecute people killing journalists so the Commonwealth could become "a true home of democracy and freedom." |
Confusion as South Africa & Zimbabwe differ on spy deal
South Africa and Zimbabwe this week put pen to paper on an agreement to increase co-operation on defence and security matters. |
| Zimbabwean NGOs call on AU
Zimbabwean NGOs have appealed to the African Union's human rights body to help the victims of “Operation Murambatsvina”. |
EU commission pledges support
Although the Zimbabwe crisis was not on the agenda at the two week long ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly, the situation in the country could not be ignored .... |
Tatenda Taibu resigns
Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has resigned, ending his international career with the country. The 22-year-old, who recently received several threatening phone calls... |
Spouses & children added to list
If you are a spouse or a child of one of Mugabe’s cronies, chances are your name was added to a list of targeted sanctions that were extended by the Bush administration on Wednesday. |
| Religious coalition calls for tolerance An interdenominational grouping of churches called Christians Together for Justice and Peace .... |
| NGOs urge Commonwealth to remain engaged with Zimbabwe Human rights activists from across the Commonwealth met in Valletta, Malta, for the second Commonwealth Human Rights Forum on November 20-21st.... |
| Chipinge flooded with maize days before senate poll With a few days to go before the senate poll, Zanu (PF) officials have gone on overdrive to entice voters to back their candidate. |
Hungry residents ignore government
Thousands of city residents are ignoring a government ban on the growing of crops in the cities. |
Coltart appeals for peace
The opposition official appealed for tolerance and believes this incident is an indictment, not just against the MDC but against pro-democracy groups in Zimbabwe. |
Maize deliveries to induce voters
in one of the most blatant manifestations of political corruption, Zanu (PF) on Wednesday delivered truckloads of maize to all the eight wards of Chipinge North. |
Sikhala speaks out... again
The rancour within the MDC reached new heights on Sunday, when leaders from the pro-senate camp launched a scathing attack on opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. |
Senate campaign
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and Women of Zimbabwe Arise have teamed up in a campaign intended to confirm what Zimbabweans really want, senators and hunger or no senate and a life with dignity. |
Mugabe on nuclear energy
A journalist with the UK based Guardian newspaper has described Mugabe’s speech on harnessing nuclear energy to generate electricity as nothing new. He made a similar speech in the early1990’s. |
| Airzim chefs fired as fuel shortages ground entire fleet The government controlled Herald newspaper reported that Air Zimbabwe had ground its entire fleet on Monday after running out of fuel. The board suspended chief executive Dr Tendai Mahachi and the divisional director for finance.. |
Mugabe's ministers loot scare maize
The Zim Online news site reports that senior government and ZANU-PF politicians have siphoned more than a million tonnes of scarce maize from the state's Grain Marketing Board since last November. |
Tsvangirai spokesman responds to personal attacks
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has described recent personal attacks directed on him by fellow party leaders as consistent with a Zanu PF strategy to demonize him. According to his spokesman William Bango, the Presidents office has no wish to dignify the allegations by responding to them in detail. |
SADC team to audit land reform
There are reports that a team of regional ministers from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was due in Zimbabwe Monday on an invitation by the government to audit the land reform programme........ |
The MDC's dirty laundry....
A rally by the pro-senate faction of the MDC in Bulawayo’s White City stadium and meant to drum up support for senate participation turned instead into an anti-Tsvangirai circus. Never in the history of the party has so much dirty linen been washed in public.... |
Z PF sets sights on urban councils
MDC MP for Chitungwiza Fidelis Mhashu has said the failed attempt by Zanu (PF) to dislodge the town Mayor from his post is part of a grand strategy by the regime to control all urban councils by 2008...... |
AU recommends security of tenure
The African Union organised a seminar in Kenya last week titled “African Commodities- Problems and Strategic Options”, to work out a plan as to how the continent should move forward in order to maximise its resources and achieve food security... |
Bloch slams corruption
Leading Zimbabwean economist Erich Bloch has singled out corruption in both the private and public sector as one of the biggest causes of the country’s economic problems.
|
Water crisis continues
The water crisis that has gripped the whole country has continued without any serious intervention by the government. And experts say urgent solutions are needed. |
Student leaders re-arrested
Riot police descended on the University of Zimbabwe on Thursday and re-arrested the entire student leadership. What had been planned as a routine meeting between the student body and the Vice Chancellor, Levi Nyagura ended up in dramatic scenes of brutality. |
SA criticised for defence deal
South Africa has been criticised for signing an intelligence deal with Zimbabwe despite its neighbour’s appalling human rights record.
In spite of growing international condemnation of Zimbabwe, the two countries signed an agreement to strengthen defence and intelligence ties. |
Bennett slams senate
The former member of parliament for Chimanimani and MDC national executive member Roy Bennett has spoke out against the senate elections and the idea of some sort of a government of national unity. |
WOZA women hit the streets
The Women of Zimbabwe Arise were on the streets of Harare and Bulawayo on Thursday demonstrating against the senate. |
| Supreme Court hears Tsvangirai’s presidential election petition The full bench of the Supreme Court sitting sat as a constitutional court on Thursday to hear an application by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is challenging Robert Mugabe’s victory in the disputed presidential election of March 2002. |
Sewage flows in Harare
The speed at which the capital city is deteriorating is very worrying. There are burst water pipes everywhere, broken street and traffic lights. Our Harare correspondent gave us the details. |
| Harare residents urged to withhold rates and other charges The Combined Harare Residents Association has responded to the extension of the Makwavarara Commission by calling for a boycott of all rates and charges. |
Over 50 billion in equipment stolen
Farmer and support group chairman Gerry Whitehead reports that it has been a bad week for the few remaining Chiredzi farmers and commercial business people. |
Human Rights of Zimbabweans in SA
Officials in the police service and immigration sections of the South African Department of Home Affairs have again .. |
SA-Zim intelligence ties
South Africa and Zimbabwe signed an agreement to strengthen defence and intelligence ties at a ceremony Thursday, further emphasizing .. |
Battle for offices and vehicles grinds MDC operations to a halt Zimbabwe’s opposition showed all the signs of a full scale divorce when the Secretary General, Welshman Ncube issued a directive for all party vehicles and stationery to be brought to the Bulawayo regional offices. |
IBA take case to African leaders
A coalition of human rights and civic organizations across Africa have issued a Joint Appeal on Zimbabwe. Mass letters were sent on Wednesday to Heads of State calling for African leaders and the African Union (AU) to address the human rights crisis. |
| Police steal more equipment from farmers in Chiredzi The Masvingo Farm Equipment Committee led by Assistant police commissioner Mrs. Ndanga has continued taking equipment illegally from farmers in the lowveld area. |
Mugabe to address UN information
Mugabe arrived in Tunis early Tuesday morning to join several other heads of state to address the World Summit on the Information Society which opened Wednesday. |
Families evicted
Otto Saki of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the people who were already sleeping rough in the Mbare grounds were rounded up by armed municipal police and hurled onto 8 truckloads believed to belong to the Harare Municipality. |
Management at National Railways
A worker at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) headquarters has confirmed reports that ZANU-PF thugs are torturing and intimidating management and staff suspected to be opposition sympathisers. |
Cricket captain speaks out
Tatenda Taibu has made startling revelations that players have not been paid their match fees for their Test and one-day cricket series against New Zealand and India. |
Hunger strikes in UK Detention
A fresh round of hunger strikes has been reported at Yarl's Wood detention centre in the UK where 7 Zimbabweans are currently being held. |
Violence breaks out in Bulawayo
The Ward Chairman for the MDC in Nkulumane, Samuel Musaka was brutally assaulted by pro-senate youths in Bulawayo on Friday losing all his front teeth. |
Sibanda and the Ndebele state
An article in the Daily Mirror alleging that MDC Vice President Gibson Sibanda called for a separate Ndebele state at a rally in Lupane has been dismissed as false. |
Byo students for senate boycott
Student representatives from four colleges in Bulawayo met at the local Polytechnic Thursday and resolved to campaign against the November 26 senate elections. |
Edinburgh University students
Students from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have begun the process of trying to strip Robert Mugabe of his honorary degree. |
Cricket captain gets deaths threats
Tatenda Taibu, the 22-year-old captain of the Zimbabwe team received death threats over his cellphone on Thursday night... |
ZCTU & NCA activists released
Police have released without charge all the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions demonstrators, who were arrested in Harare on Tuesday during a procession against poverty. |
Dysentery outbreak hits Harare
Hundreds of people have been hit by an outbreak of dysentery in Harare and Chitungwiza. Friday’s state run paper The Herald says more than 200 cases had been reported in Mbare and in Chitungwiza in the last few weeks. |
Farm evictions intensify as hunger grips
While starvation due to food shortages continues to grip the nation, Zimbabwe’s government officials and ruling party cronies have intensified farm evictions in the Karoi area. The Zimonline news site reports that 18 of the last remaining white farmers in this prime farming district have been ordered to leave. |
MDC president addresses diplomats
MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai addressed the diplomatic community in Harare on Thursday after a whirlwind tour of the Matabeleland North region over the weekend. Tsvangirai told the diplomats that the last few weeks had been a period of anxiety and uncertainty. |
Labour Union leaders still in police detention
Up to 160 Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions activists, including its two top leaders are still languishing in police cells two days after being arrested for staging protests against the country’s worsening economic situation. |
Student leaders arrested
The President of the Zimbabwe National Association of Students Unions (ZINASU), Washington Katema has accused the police of assaulting detained student leaders in custody. Katema and five student leaders from the University of Zimbabwe were arrested Wednesday
|
ZCTU and NCA activists and leaders still under detention ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and secretary-general Wellington Chibhebhe have now been transferred to a police holding cell in Chitungwiza while the NCA chairman has been placed in a cell in Mbare. |
US ambassador Dell
The U.S. ambassador in Harare was summoned to meet with Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi on Wednesday after Robert Mugabe told him to "go to hell" over his criticism of the economic and agricultural policies. |
Students run amok in Bulawayo
Close to 300 students at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo took to the streets in protest over meagre payouts and galloping inflation. The students clashed with commuter operators outside the campus and vented their frustrations at the fares. |
Government grossly intolerant
National Constitutional Assembly spokesperson Jessie Majome has accused the ruling Zanu (PF) regime of trying to instil fear in the hearts of its citizens by cracking down on any dissent. |
| ZCTU activists and leaders detained Police in Harare moved in swiftly to stop union demonstrators from protesting in the capital city, while in most areas of the country ZCTU leaders were arrested late on Monday night. |
MDC battle for Matabeleland
The tragic drama unfolding in what was once Zimbabwe’s only viable opposition continued Tuesday. After initially complaining that party leader Morgan Tsvangirai was using violence to intimidate his opponents the pro-senate camp are being accused of employing the same tactic. |
| Gibson Sibanda calls for independent Ndebele state In a speech aimed at shoring up support from the marginalised Southern parts of the country, Sibanda said ‘ Ndebeles can only exercise sovereignty through creating their state like Lesotho. |
Botswana opposition
The leader of Botswana’s main opposition party has called on Batswana to remember that Zimbabwean illegal immigrants in that country are not petty criminals... |
MDC bribe denied
MDC deputy secretary general Gift Chimanikire, who has aligned himself with the pro-senate faction of the MDC, was a guest on the programme The Hot Seat on Tuesday. Chimanikire defended the pro-senate position by reiterating that their faction did not want ZANU-PF to make inroads in the traditionally MDC strongholds of Matabeleland and in urban areas. |
ZCTU to go ahead with protests
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions will on Tuesday stage peaceful protests against worsening economic hardships. |
MDC National Council endorses senate boycott decision
On Saturday, 47 out of 83 MDC National Council members met in Harare and reversed a controversial decision to participate in the senate election. |
MDC Bulawayo province urge police to cancel Tsvangirai rally Secretary for the Bulawayo province in the MDC, Councillor Albert Mhlanga, has written a letter to the police asking... |
Joseph Chinotimba gets beating
Joseph Chinotimba is an ordinary person after all. The self-styled commander-in-chief of farm invasions ‘cried like a baby’ ... |
‘I am still in charge’ Shoko
Chitungwiza mayor Misheck Shoko has blasted the Local Government minister for meddling in the affairs of his council, describing his actions as contemptuous. |
Mugabe summons US ambassador
Robert Mugabe is to summon the US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell ... |
MDC crisis meeting: Decision on senate participation rescinded The National Council of the MDC met on Saturday 5 November as called for by MDC Party President Morgan Tsvangirai. 9 out of 12 Provinces attended. Those who did not were Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and Midlands South. It is not immediately clear as to their reason for not showing up. About 19 out of 31 members of the National Executive turned up. Notable absentees were .... |
| Mabvuku woman dies while scrambling for water An unidentified woman was tragically killed in Mabvuku, Harare on Friday morning when she was struck by a car while jostling to get water from a burst water pipe. |
High Court quashes suspension of student leaders Justice Ben Hlatshwayo on Friday quashed the suspension of student leaders from the University of Zimbabwe. Collen Chibango, Mfundo Mlilo, Wellington Mahohoma and Garikai Kajau were suspended by the Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura for allegedly inciting a student rebellion over attempts to have them pay Z$150,000 towards hostel refurbishments. |
SW’s Violet Gonda gets 1st prize for radio documentary A radio documentary about the plight of Zimbabwean women written and produced by our own Violet Gonda won an award as the best in the radio category at The International Association of Women in Radio and Television conference in America. Her piece is a compilation of interviews with women who were victimised by the Mugabe regime. |
| The emotional senate debate Zimbabweans have for weeks now been trapped in a very passionate debate regarding participation in the senate elections or boycotting them. The stakes were raised even higher and emotions increased when the issue split the opposition party in two after the MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai insisted they would not take part. |
Misheck Shoko survives coup plot After being given a 24-hour deadline to produce a strategic turnaround plan for the town, the cunning MDC Mayor of Chitungwiza Misheck Shoko outfoxed his adversaries and submitted it, in under two hours. This forcedChombo to put on hold any plans he had of dismissing the entire council.
|
| SA admits Zim is a crucial problem Aziz Pahad, the deputy foreign affairs minister in South Africa on Wednesday admitted he was alarmed at the increasing numbers of Zimbabweans coming into neighbouring countries to escape the economic crisis.
|
| Australia urges pressure on Zim Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer has said their country will continue to pressure the international community to take further action against Zimbabwe. He was responding to admissions by Zimbabwe’s Deputy Agriculture Minister, Sylvester Nguni that the country had no food because land was given to people without a passion for farming.
|
High Court dismisses NCA bid
An application by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) to force government to respond to its draft constitution was dismissed by the High Court on Wednesday. It came as no surprise when Justice Antonia Guvava declared that the civic group had no rights at law to demand a response from the government.
|
Standard Chartered bank accused
One of the country’s most respected banks, Standard Chartered, has been accused of propping up Robert Mugabe’s regime with an estimated US$80 million ‘offshore line of credit’. |
Govt planning to take over council
A government appointed commission could be in place by next week Monday to run the affairs of Chitungwiza town council. The MDC led council, headed by Mayor Misheck Shoko, has been at loggerheads with Local Government minister Ignatious Chombo. |
Murambatsvina victims left
Despite promises from government that victims of the clean up operation would be accommodated in less than six months, it is now clear the statement was meant to hoodwink the international community. Recently 3000 stands were made available in Cowdary Park, Bulawayo, but the beneficiaries are well-to -do residents of the city. |
Deputy Agriculture Minister
Addressing the Zimbabwe Farmers Union in Bulawayo, Sylvester Nguni said that farms had been given to people who did not have the faintest idea about farming. He said the recent land audits were being conducted by officials with no knowledge of agriculture and that the government was not telling the truth about the failure in agricultural production. |
Bodyguard Changara
A bizarre slanging match has developed in which Mugabe’s wife accused the former head of the Close Protection Unit of making advances towards her, followed by charges of indecent assault. Zimonline says Changara told a committee of senior police officers that trouble started when he threatened to tell Mugabe about the affairs his wife was having. |
UN secretary general
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday appealed to Zimbabwe’s government to allow the UN to provide humanitarian assistance. |
Zanu (PF) MP steals aid
Disgraced Zanu (PF) MP for Harare South Hubert Nyanhongo diverted humanitarian food aid meant for an HIV support group in his constituency. |
Government jamming
First it was SW Radio Africa but now, Voice of the People Radio a Zimbabwean radio station broadcasting on Shortwave via the Netherlands, has had to change frequencies because of persistent jamming by the authorities. |
Sikhala
Outspoken MP for St Mary’s, Job Sikhala, says opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has no power to suspend him. |
Judge dies in exile
Justice Sandra Mungwira, one of the few High Court judges who refused to be intimidated by the ruling Zanu (PF) party has died in Scotland. |
Brain drain
Zimbabwean professionals have been fleeing to greener pastures for years now and as the economic deterioration has continued, students are already making plans to leave the country. |