The Zimbabwe Times
- Strike forces postponement of Bennett trial By Our Correspondent HARARE – The trial of MDC treasurer-general Roy Bennett failed to resume as scheduled Monday due to the ongoing strike by civil servants. Both the state and the defence counsels turned up at the High Court on Monday morning but were turned away by the presiding judge Chinembiri Bhunu who said his staff was [...]
- Power-sharing negotiations to resume By Our Correspondent HARARE – Talks to fully implement a power-sharing agreement between Zimbabwe’s political parties will resume Monday. South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team was expected in Harare. Zuma’s team, comprising former cabinet ministers Charles Nqakula and Mac Maharaj and President Zuma’s international relations adviser, Lindiwe Zulu, is expected the unlock the deadlock in the global [...]
- Zimbabweans differ on sanctions BROADCAST: February 5, 2010 Violent Gonda of SW Radio Africa speaks to a number of Zimbabweans on the thorny issue of sanctions. Zanu-PF recently declared it would not make concessions in the ongoing negotiations on outstanding issues following the signing of a political agreement until the MDC ensured sanctions were lifted. VIOLET GONDA: Sanctions: Should they be [...]
- Hoey is right By Terry Chinhakwe I DO not agree with Jupiter Punungwe’s assertion that Kate Hoey, the British Labour MP, is too ignorant to be taken seriously. There’s nothing wrong with the article except that the writer happens to be a white British MP. I bet if this article had been written by a Shona or Ndebele-sounding name [...]
- GNU taking civil servants for granted PHEW! Thank God, I finally got my passport. I got it a couple of months back after a very long struggle with the bureaucracy, inefficiency and extortion by the very institution that is supposed to be safeguarding my rights – the government of Zimbabwe. My passport application saga is a long story that I will [...]
- Striking workers lay additional demands Public Service minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro (l) with Public Service Commission chairman Mariyawanda Nzuwa. By Owen Chikari MASVINGO – Civil servants, on an indefinite strike since Friday to press for better salaries and working conditions, have also demanded a reduction in service charges. In a statement, the civil servants said in addition to demands for salary increases, they wanted [...]
- Mining bosses on diamonds theft charges By Our Correspondent MUTARE –Police here have arrested two directors of Canadile Miners on charges of stealing diamonds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange. Canadile Miners, a South African firm, is one of the companies controversially awarded rights by the government to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa. Komilan Packirisamy, 37 and a Viyandrakumar, 42 were arrested last week [...]
- Directive on VPs undermines Tsvangirai – MDC BILL WATCH [6th February 2010] Prepared by Veritas Both the House of Assembly and the Senate will sit on February 9 Update on Inclusive Government Top Executive Meeting: The President, the Vice-Presidents, the Prime Minister and the two Deputy Prime Ministers met on Friday 5th February. Their discussions included the constitutional commissions [see below] and the circular from the [...]
- Civil servants go on indefinite strike Public Service minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro (l) with Public Service Commission chairman Mariyawanda Nzuwa. By Raymond Maingire HARARE – Zimbabwe ’s civil servants have gone on an indefinite strike to press for an increase in salaries and better working conditions. The resolution was reached Friday during a joint rally which was organized by various workers’ unions led by the [...]
- Gutu magistrate cleared of corruption By Owen Chikari MASVINGO- A four-member commission of enquiry set up to look into allegations of corruption and abuse of office by Gutu resident magistrate Musaiona Shortgame has cleared him of the charges. The commission, established by the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary affairs last year, has ordered his reinstatement. Shortgame was suspended last year pending investigations [...]
The Zimbabwe Telegraph
- Accusations of homosexual support against the Central Afr... ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has received the article published below from Philip Chidembo putting the case for the Nolbert Kunonga faction in the Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe. It reveals a heady mix of political interest, disputed court rulings and accusations of ‘homosexual’ support on the part of the Bishops of the Central African Province. In the interests [...]
- Zimbabwe civil servants strike Zimbabwe state workers went on strike on Friday to press for a five-fold wage hike, a move that could cripple public services and hamper the struggle by the fragile power-sharing government to fix the economy. State employees, who earn between $122 and $206 per month, last month gave the government of Robert Mugabe and arch-rival Morgan [...]
- Botswana recalls diplomats from Zimbabwe Botswana this week recalled two senior diplomats based in Zimbabwe as the diplomatic row over three Batswana rangers arrested for entering Zimbabwe illegally escalated. The government of Botswana said it would recall its defence and intelligence attaches by the end of the month and asked that Harare withdraw its defence and Central Intelligence Organization personnel from [...]
- Mugabe pays a fortune to keep CIO happy A recent report has revealed that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is so paranoid about his security during his foreign visits that he pays a special allowance of 5,000 dollars a day to his guards. Mugabe, who turns 86 this month, keeps a crack team of security officials from Zimbabwe’s secret service, the Central Intelligence Organisation [...]
- Private schools now the order of the day HARARE — “No disruption to learning” touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare. It’s a big selling point in a country where government schools lost an estimated 20,000 teachers in 2008, a year when students attended class only 50 days. [...]
- Sanctions not an MDC creation Chakwanda Mangelepa The much-touted removal of sanctions has taken a knock with stunning revelations that the common Zimbabwean is in-fact not hurt by the restrictions and precisely calls to have them removed are in the context of loosening the vice grip that has held Robert Mugabe’s cronies on manacles as they cannot travel anywhere in the [...]
- Raise the standard of your game As we progress in life we go through different levels of experiences. There are different levels of success, prosperity and health. On other spectrum, there are also levels differing; levels of failure, poverty and disease. There are levels varying from education, sport, politics and religion. Even lines of authority are rated in terms of rank. In [...]
- Tourism affecting the Southern Africa Property Market The Southern Africa region attracts a discerning profile of tourists throughout the year. The region has much to offer in the way of leisure activities including wild life, guided tours, site- seeing, surfing, deep sea fishing, mountaineering and more. Millions of visitors every year enjoy holidaying in the varied attractions ranging from wild parks, guided tours, [...]
- Why Ad Networks will define the future of Online Marketin... In Europe and the USA Ad Networks have reached their maturity levels and are heading towards a fate of extinction. The fate is the result of advertising exchanges that allow any publisher to allocate inventory to be traded at fair price. Google, Microsoft, AOL, Fox, Yahoo!, and many others are moving into the Advertising Exchange market [...]
- British diamond firm in Zimbabwe raided Harare – Eight men armed with AK47 rifles stormed the Zimbabwe offices of a British-based diamond company after midnight Tuesday, in an incident police have described as a robbery. A police spokesman on Wednesday confirmed the raid on the Zimbabwe headquarters of London-based African Consolidated Resources, and said investigations were in progress. The company is [...]
Guardian.co.uk : Zimbabwe
- Our vital contribution in Zimbabwe | Rowan Williams and J... The Anglican church in Zimbabwe has an uneven record. But now we are leading reconstructionAt the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Morgan Tsvangirai, former opposition leader, was one of those present to represent Zimbabwe – a reminder that the fragile power-sharing arrangement brokered just a year ago still survives. But it would be a brave person who took this as a sign that Zimbabwe was moving steadily towards anything like political normality or full economic recovery. Some urgent humanitarian matters have been addressed, especially in relation to the freedom of NGOs to deliver essential services. But education remains in chaos, and disease – including HIV rates and measles infection – is on the rise; last year's cholera epidemic is over, but this year's rains will bring new risks. The number of doctors in the country is tiny, with all routine health services seriously depleted.One sign of dysfunctionality and oppression is the continuing level of harassment of Anglican Christians in Harare and elsewhere. Some congregations were locked out of their churches at Christmas; church members are threatened, attacked and beaten. The election of several new bishops with a clear and courageous commitment to the welfare of their people is provoking the disgraced and ousted former church leadership to continue the tactics of violent intimidation that led to their alienation from the wider church and eventual removal. That violence is actively supported by the police, despite court judgments in favour of the new leadership. In one diocese, the former bishop and his small group of associates still have a stranglehold on property, so that no funds are available to pay stipends for the legitimate clergy.But in the middle of all this – with legal costs threatening to cripple their work – Anglicans in Zimbabwe have become vital contributors to sustaining and rebuilding the social fabric. A year ago, the archbishops of Canterbury and York launched their appeal for Zimbabwe. It has so far raised nearly half a million pounds from the Church of England. This money, administered through USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, has enabled the Anglican church in Zimbabwe to increase its already extensive development work – HIV care, rural clinics, training in sustainable farming practices, feeding programmes delivered through schools, often in close partnership with local government and NGOs. The Nets for Life programme, funded by the Episcopal church in America, is widespread in the country. No less importantly, various dioceses sponsor healing and reconciliation initiatives, with drama and music workshops for young people in both rural and urban settings.The church's record in Zimbabwe has been uneven, especially in the shameful period of uncritical support for Mugabe from leaders like the former bishop of Harare. But things have changed. Last year, the churches jointly offered a framework for confronting and dealing with the buried traumas of many decades in a country that has seen more than its share of violence and corruption. And in October 2009, the Roman Catholic bishops' conference of Zimbabwe published a pastoral letter on national healing which gave an impressively comprehensive analysis of the country's ills and spelled out what the churches could provide. Anglican churches in particular have been at the forefront of establishing counselling centres where people can speak about their sufferings, and education programmes that open new possibilities.Unless government adopts something like this framework, Zimbabwe is doomed to another round of trauma and destitution. There are still those who say – as some of the discussion about aid for Haiti has shown – that churches are not the best vehicle for delivering aid, because they have an "agenda" to advance. This is nonsense – and dangerously unrealistic nonsense. In societies where the main civil society networks are closely bound to the life of the churches, it is self-defeatingly foolish to bypass their systems. The "agenda" of the churches in contexts like this is simply the restoration of human dignity and stability in a deeply damaged society. No one else is there to do it.A year on from the launch of the archbishops' appeal and a year on from the power-sharing agreement, Zimbabwe still suffers acutely. We in the UK need to be clear about the urgency of supporting those working for basic human dignities and struggling to build social capital for the future through their work in counselling and reconciliation.• This article was amended on 8 February 2010. The original referred to the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. This has been corrected. ZimbabweDevelopmentAnglicanismMorgan TsvangiraiCatholicismReligionRowan WilliamsJohn Sentamuguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Whitewashing Zimbabwe's history | Blessing-Miles Tendi The film Mugabe and the White African puts a heroic gloss on the colonial attitudes that endure in independent ZimbabweThe documentary Mugabe and the White African, directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, received a four-star review in the Guardian. It is an account of Michael Campbell, one of the few white farmers left in Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF began a violent land seizure programme in 2000. It portrays the 75-year-old Campbell's struggle to resist the unlawful seizure of his Mt Carmel Farm by Nathan Shamuyarira, a senior Zanu-PF politician.In 2008 Campbell, assisted by his son-in-law Ben Freeth, successfully challenged Mugabe before the South African Development Community international court, charging his government with human rights violations and racial discrimination. The documentary is an emotionally charged depiction of the court case, and does not spare the viewer bloody footage and violence. "It resonates internationally because it is about big issues of human rights. It is about humanity and you do not have to understand Africa to get it", Bailey has explained.But it is precisely Bailey's belief that "you do not have to understand Africa", from which the documentary's main shortcomings emanate. Zimbabwe is not Africa, and Africa is not Zimbabwe. The documentary lacks historical and political context. Land and race are important themes, but not once is the Lancaster House independence agreement of 1979, which perpetuated racially biased land distribution in independent Zimbabwe, mentioned. We are exposed to the emotional anguish of Ben's British parents in Kent as they agonise over their son's safety – but Britain's role in Zimbabwe's land problem is never mentioned. The documentary shows us that Mugabe implemented a racist land reform programme in 2000, but we are not told why, and how he gradually became racist. The documentary should have at least mentioned the challenging nature of racial reconciliation since independence – because it is the unravelling of reconciliation that informs the anti-white behaviour it depicts.Bailey and Thompson go out of their way to demonise Mugabe. When the documentary's title first appears on screen it is all in white. Then the word Mugabe begins to drip with what appears to be blood and slowly turns red, in the style of a horror movie. Mugabe's statement that if redistributing land from whites to blacks makes him a Hitler in western eyes then let it be – often quoted out of context – follows soon afterwards. We are even shown a newspaper headline that reads "we are like Jews in Nazi Germany" – words presumably uttered by a besieged white farmer. Mugabe and Zanu-PF are guilty of horrendous human rights violations, but they are not Hitlers, and nor is Zimbabwe remotely like Nazi Germany.The voice of someone spewing anti-white rhetoric reverberates in the background at opportune moments. The voice is unmistakably Mugabe's. In contrast, the Campbell and Freeth families are presented as God-fearing, forgiving and compassionate. Mugabe is a failed leader, guilty of misgovernance; but crude juxtapositions with the "good" white farmer inhibit nuanced popular debate.Black farm workers are constantly in the background. When they do come to the fore they are mute. "If I lose (the farm) we all suffer. We are in this together", Ben remarks to a black farm worker who mostly nods his head and smiles. "Pray for me. I will bring you blankets", Ben tells a group of black farm workers before he leaves for the SADC court in Namibia. Again the black farm workers do not speak. They smile, nod their heads and walk away under the rising Zimbabwean sun. Whenever black farm workers and white landowners are filmed together in moments of compassion there is a palpable unease between them, a contrived empathy, and the fact that power relations are skewed in favour of whites is apparent.Mugabe and the White African Male would be a more appropriate title for this documentary, because the voices of women are secondary. They have no agency. This is a documentary about white male courage in the face of Zanu-PF's violent black males. For instance, there is little on the contributions of Angela, wife to Michael, and her daughter Laura, wife to Ben, to the resistance. And yet women are heroines too because when the brave men are away in Namibia fighting court battles with Mugabe's lawyers, Laura and Angela courageously hold the fort against Shamuyarira's pugnacious and ever-lurking farm invaders. As for black female farm workers, these do not even nod their heads and smile – they are simply invisible.In the documentary Ben asks why, if you can be white and American or white and Australian, you cannot be white and African? Part of establishing white American and white Australian identities in America and Australia involved nearly exterminating the non-white Native Americans and Aborigines respectively; it meant claiming indigenous peoples' land and forging white identity over many generations by subjugating and writing non-whites out of the history of those countries. America and Australia are the worst examples Ben could have cited.Becoming "African" is not about economic integration alone – something many white Zimbabweans never grasped. It is also about social, residential and political integration, and about learning local languages. In the documentary the Freeth and Campbell families are distinctly white Europeans in Africa who claim to be white Africans based on their right to own land. Never are they shown speaking any of the local languages. They speak English only – even to the black farm workers. We are not shown inter-group marriages by their family members or by the neighbouring white farmers who appear in the documentary.In a separate documentary by Hopewell Chinono called A Violent Response, which is about violence in Zimbabwe's 2008 elections, Michael Campbell comments on the Mt Carmel Farm violence: "My faith in the African as a ruler in Africa has been shaken. I do not believe that any of them are capable of ruling themselves. Democracy is a joke". Angela nods her head as he opines. Did Bailey and Thompson fall for Michael's "I am a white African" pretensions, or did they choose to omit the unpalatable reality that colonial attitudes endured in independent Zimbabwe? What makes Mugabe and the White African dangerous is not so much its content, but Bailey and Thompson's belief that they are actually "helping" the people of Zimbabwe by having made the documentary.ZimbabweRobert MugabeHuman rightsRace issuesBlessing-Miles Tendiguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- A brave bishop defies Mugabe | Andrew Brown The 11:30 service in Harare this Sunday will be an expression of humble courage in the face of thuggeryWe're fairly often rude about the cowardice of Anglican bishops here, but one man is going to be admirably brave this Sunday: Chad Gandiya, the bishop of Harare, has invited Robert Mugabe to the 11.30 service there. The snag is that it will be held outside the cathedral, since the building itself, along with all its assets, has been seized by one of Mugabe's most vociferous supporters, Nolbert Kunonga, formerly the Anglican bishop there, now head of his own outfit, calling itself the Province of Zimbabwe. In his Anglican days, Kunonga was cleared of a wide variety of charges, including incitement to murder and intimidation after his trial collapsed when witnesses could not be heard by video link, whither they had prudently retired. Later, he cancelled all services across the country one Sunday as a celebration of his wedding anniversary; clergy and congregations were instructed to send gifts and food to the party he threw to celebrate his wife. He was formally excommunicated in May 2008 and announced that he would form his own province, since the rest of the Anglican Communion was soft on gays. Kunonga himself physically assaulted the bishop elected to replace him, Sebastian Bakare, when he tried to enter the cathedral. His faction have seized the churches, offices, and assets of the Anglican church all over Zimbabwe. But the congregations have stayed away. The original faithful have been threatened with teargas and worse by the police, but continue to worship outside their old churches. And this Sunday, all of the 20 or 30 Anglican congregations in Harare will gather outside the cathedral to a service to which Bishop Gandiya has invited President Mugabe himself." We had not received any response when I left." Bishop Gandiya told me from Canterbury, where he is attending a conference for new bishops from all over the communion. "We have been given permission to hold this service in the park, although we don't need permission from the police."They wanted to know whether the president was definitely coming or not so that they can arrange not to disturb us. We have received word that Dr Kunonga is planning to disrupt our service. So [we have] made the security departments of the government aware. What they do with the knowledge is their business."Presumably, if the president is not coming, the police may feel differently about disturbing the service, but Bishop Gandiya is not daunted. "If he doesn't come we will still go ahead with our service, and it is incumbent on me to encourage our people. I feel responsible in terms of encouraging them and giving them a sense of hope even though the situation may seem hopeless."ReligionZimbabweChristianityAnglicanismRobert MugabeAndrew Brownguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Susan Olden My mother, Susan Olden, who has died of lung cancer aged 71, was a promising actress who gave up a burgeoning stage and screen career (under her maiden name, Susan Burnet) to raise her family.Four weeks after graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda) in 1957, she won a leading role alongside Sir Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson in a West End play, Flowering Cherry. "In physical allure," noted one reviewer, "Miss Burnet reminds one of Brigitte Bardot and from a thankless role she draws more than it intrinsically contains."The play, which ran for over 400 performances at the Haymarket theatre, and later transferred to Broadway, also starred my father Andrew Ray (whose family name was Olden). Romance between the pair flourished, and a marriage proposal followed. But there was one problem, as the newspapers at the time revealed in some detail: Andrew's father, the comedian Ted Ray, at first wouldn't give his consent, believing the couple to be too young to wed (Andrew was then 19, and Susan 20).The success of Flowering Cherry led to regular stage and television work for Susan, as well as film roles, including playing Cliff Richard's sister in Expresso Bongo (1959) and Tommy Steele's love interest in Light Up the Sky! (1960). But after the birth of her first child, my sister Madeleine, Andrew had an epiphany inspiring him to abandon materialism and return to nature. The family packed up and moved to Suffolk. Susan now embraced a life of apple-picking and digging vegetables. Her brief life in the public eye was over. She didn't mind.She was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her grandfather had arrived there in 1896 as the first war against white-settler rule raged. After she contracted polio as a child, she became especially close to him, spending time in Bulawayo, where he lived. At 15, her family sailed from Cape Town to England for a holiday, and, imbued with a love of theatre and literature by her mother, Susan was accepted at Lamda and offered a scholarship.Later, when her marriage to Andrew began to founder, she returned with her children to Rhodesia, where civil war was raging. Growing up, she had been largely oblivious to the racial inequities the country was built upon – but this was no longer the case. She protested against government policies, and when she was introduced to the rebel prime minister Ian Smith, refused to shake his hand, instead reminding him – to his obvious discomfort – of the affair her grandmother had apparently had with his father. The joy she felt when she attended Zimbabwe's independence celebrations at Rufaro Stadium in Harare in 1980 was matched by her sadness at her homeland's subsequent turmoil.In 1986 she returned to England, and for years worked as a BT operator (once telling a surprised John Pilger how much she admired his work when the veteran reporter was trying to get through from some far-flung hotspot).She and Andrew never divorced, saw each other virtually every day and remained best friends. She missed him desperately after his death in 2003. Susan was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and given between six months and a year to live. She never complained and, having outlived her initial prognosis by nine months, completed the Guardian crossword and Sudoku hours before she died.Susan is survived by Madeleine and myself, her sister, Libby, four beloved grandchildren and a great-grandson.Zimbabweguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Response: Even latter-day Livingstones can help relieve p... Tourism can be a vital and sustainable source of income for the continentJulian Glover seems to draw conclusions about tourism to the whole of Africa after visiting just one national park (Africa needs more than latter-day Livingstones, 4 January). Commenting that "something shaming often happens when you … enter any of Africa's famous national parks … Almost all those outside are black and very poor. Most of those inside, at least the tourists, are white and rich," simply makes travellers to the continent feel bad about going there.In fact, many have the right to feel good; tourism is a crucial earner for lots of sub-Saharan countries, and for some it's the ultimate truly sustainable business. Of course, as Glover suggests, "a better balance has to be found": there's always room for improvement. But by only acknowledging the positives in passing, his analysis lacks balance.Glover applies his observations in one small national park, Liwonde in Malawi, to the entire continent. Liwonde is far from typical of Africa's parks. Has Glover been to Namibia, where the government has promoted community-based tourism enterprises and enshrined them in the legal system? Or seen the education and development in rural Botswana, where tourist money swells the country's coffers, thus benefiting the whole population, not just those few communities close to the parks?Surely he can't have sat with the paramount chief in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, and heard just how important tourism is to the communities there?The tide is turning: increasingly African people and governments are seeing tourism as a solution, not a problem. Glover admits that such work "should be celebrated" – but sadly doesn't celebrate it. Instead he questions whether it can last "with Africa's population set to double in the next 50 years and its people – as they should – wanting wealth and jobs?"Done well, tourism is sustainable. It uses up no resources, which remain for the next visitor. So yes, it can last – certainly longer than the proposed soda-extraction plant at Lake Natron, of which Glover says "who can blame a poor country for turning its eyes towards obvious sources of wealth".I also take issue with his contention that "brochures … awash with nostalgia for a colonial dream world" are the norm. You won't find this mentality in Expert Africa's brochures – or in those of most of the better UK tour operators to Africa. But even if a few visitors do arrive "imagining they are visiting an empty continent in the guise of a latter-day Livingstone or Stanley", so what? Surely they're better coming with outdated views and valuable foreign exchange than not coming at all.I spent the first three years of my working life in Zimbabwe, teaching in a remote school for VSO. I've now spent over 13 years running a specialist tour operator and writing guidebooks on southern Africa.I chose tourism because I believe that responsible travellers can have positive impacts on the countries they visit. Thankfully, they can also discover the realities there.AfricaConservationMalawiMalawiNamibiaBotswanaBotswanaNamibiaZambiaZambiaZimbabweZimbabweChris McIntyreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Mugabe and the White African | Film review This gripping documentary, shot covertly in Zimbawe, follows the travails of the farmer Mike Campbell, his wife, daughter and son-in-law who had the temerity to bring an action against President Robert Mugabe in the Southern African Development Community's international court in Namibia, claiming he had no legal right to confiscate land legitimately acquired from the Zimbabwe government. They won the action, lost the farm and nearly lost their lives enduring a Hitlerian nightmare. The most chilling encounter is that between Campbell and the relative of a government minister who turns up in one of his luxury cars to take over the farm.DocumentaryZimbabwePhilip Frenchguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Film review: Mugabe and the White African A documentary about the last stand of Michael Campbell and an unmissable portrait of courage under fire, says Peter BradshawThis heart-wrenching, enraging documentary by Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey is about the last stand of Michael Campbell, a 75-year-old white Zimbabwean farmer who dared to stand up to the racist bullying of President Robert Mugabe. The Mugabe government's "land reform" meant evicting white farmers from their properties, using a crescendo of threats and beatings. As his horrendous mismanagement of the country got worse, Mugabe cynically encouraged his desperate people to focus their anxieties on the supposed white villain as a diversionary tactic. He also, cunningly and repeatedly, denounces the quaint bogeyman of "British colonialism" to keep neighbouring African states loyally silent, to keep world opinion and US opinion off-balance and uncertain, and thus to make sure that there is no appetite for regime change. When it comes to ethnic cleansing and racial injustice, western liberals have traditionally reserved their outrage for the Palestinians, or the Kosovar Albanians, or the Iraqi Kurds – but this documentary makes a strong, clear case for recognising the white Zimbabweans as neglected underdogs, and for "white African" to be a respectable concept, like white American and white Australian. Campbell himself is a tough customer, who has contested the evictions in a tribunal convened by the Southern African Development Community in Namibia, a sensational attempt to bring the Mugabe government to book in an international legal arena. The Zimbabwean regime and its lawyers are shown stalling and, all the while, the invasions and intimidations continue. Campbell is effectively under siege, and despite the notionally happy ending of his legal action, the documentary makes it clear that this is a tragedy for Campbell, his family and for the country generally. This film is an unmissable portrait of courage under fire.Rating: 4/5DocumentaryZimbabweRobert MugabePeter Bradshawguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- The world's most likely trouble spots in 2010 From Iran to Yemen, and from Zimbabwe to Italy, we look at the prospects for conflict and include the Guardian's Troublespotometer rating1 IranIran's claim to the number one position on the Guardian's 2010 Troublespotometer is overwhelming. It currently exhibits all the characteristics of a state hell-bent on self-destruction.First, its repressive government is widely seen by its own people as illegitimate, after June's "stolen" elections. Simmering political and social unrest exploded again in December and could yet become uncontainable.Second, the country's economy is in a frightful mess, with youth unemployment high and opportunity and investment low. This is all the more unforgivable, given Iran's vast oil and gas riches.Third, its top leaders, Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are zealous Islamic purists to whom the idea of compromise, with domestic or foreign foes, is wholly alien.Fourth, Iran continues to work hard to make itself a pariah state, flouting the UN security council, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty in pursuit of its "nuclear rights" (ie alleged atom bombs).Fifth, Iran's backing for violent, hardline groups in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen is increasingly seen by Arab neighbours such as Saudi Arabia, and their western allies, as a direct security threat.Finally, Ahmadinejad's repeated suggestions that the world would be a happier place without the "Zionist entity" has convinced Israel that Iran poses an existential threat that may have to be dealt with by force, possibly as soon as this spring.By all these measures and more, Iran is 2010's runaway number one international headache.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 80%2 Pakistan-AfghanistanAfghanistan was the focus of frenzied international attention in 2009, due to the belated realisation in western capitals that the US and Nato were losing their war against the Taliban.But Pakistan will capture more of the spotlight in 2010. One reason is that its president, Asif Ali Zardari, never an impressive figure, is being progressively stripped of his powers.The beneficiary of the civilian government's weakness is, as ever, Pakistan's army and the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency ‑ the people who brought you the Afghan Taliban.It might not matter so much, except for the fact that the military, backed by public opinion, is increasingly resisting US attempts to extend the Afghan war into Pakistan.This sounds wholly sensible. But the Americans won't be denied. If necessary, they'll take matters into their own hands. That potentially means drone attacks and cross-border incursions.2010 may be the year when the Afghan war definitively spreads into ill-governed, unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan. And why stop there? After that, there's Kashmir and India itself.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 65%3 Israel-PalestineThe failure of Barack Obama's 2009 attempt to jump-start negotiations between Binyamin Netanyahu's government and a divided Palestinian leadership has raised fears of a violent backlash in 2010.With Fatah and Hamas still at odds, with the ruins of Gaza unrepaired, with an unbending Israel focused on Iran rather than Palestinian peace, with the "moderate" Arab states discouraged, and with Obama distracted by a dozen other pressing issues, the possibility that the vacuum will be exploited by extremists is clear.In 2010, the choice seems to be between smouldering, self-defeating mutual hostility or, if something is done accidentally-on-purpose to trigger it, a third intifada.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 50%4 YemenYemen is the new "in-place" for al-Qaida renegades and associated jihadis fed up with drone attacks in Af-Pak and unimpressed by Somalia's limited facilities. Its ungoverned spaces make an ideal hiding place and training base. Plus, there's a south-north, Sunni-Shia civil war going on, which has drawn in Saudi Arabia and Iran on opposing sides.The failed attempt by al-Qaida in Yemen to bomb a US airliner on Christmas Day, following US and Yemeni government air raids on two of its alleged desert camps, demonstrated Yemen's potential for causing global mayhem.Now that Obama has vowed to track down the perpetrators, the US military will certainly be paying Yemen increased attention in 2010. It will get worse before it gets better.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 45%5 SudanNeglected, ostracised, conflict-riven and impoverished, Sudan is often described as a timebomb waiting to happen. 2010 may be the year it finally explodes. Scheduled national elections are one potential flashpoint, ethnic and tribal tensions are another. Darfur remains unresolved. North-south disputes over oil and resources may ignite at any time.Friction with neighbours like Chad is part of this combustible mix. So, too, is the west's ostracism of President Omar al-Bashir after his indictment by the international criminal court. Like some international banks, Sudan is supposed to be "too big to fail". But it could all the same.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 40%6 ZimbabweWith ageing President Robert Mugabe apparently determined to hold on to power until he dies (or even longer), hopes of a new start for Zimbabwe faded in 2009.That makes 2010 a potentially difficult, even explosive year. How long can prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai pretend power-sharing is working? How long can South African President Jacob Zuma prop up Captain Bob?Widespread instability in Zimbabwe, including a repeat spillover of refugees, could have serious implications for the football World Cup, due to be hosted by South Africa in June.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating 30%7 Xinjiang and TibetTensions between majority Han Chinese and predominantly Muslim Uighurs in north-west China, which erupted into lethal rioting in 2009, will provide further flashpoints in 2010.Much the same is true of pro-independence Tibetans, opposed to the influx of Chinese migrants into their conquered country, whose concerns are routinely ignored or mocked by Beijing.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 25%8 The CaucasusWhen its comes to trouble spots, the names of Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Ngorno-Karabakh, Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia just roll off the tongue.Even if everywhere else in the world is quiet in 2010, there's sure to be trouble in the Caucasus. The question is: how bad will it be?Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 20%9 BelgiumVictory for David Cameron's Eurosceptic Tories in Britain's 2010 general election would take the battle for (or against) Europe to the Brussels doorstep of newly-installed EU chief commissar, Herman Von Rompuy. Like the chocolates, the former Belgian prime minister is said to have a hard exterior and a soft centre. Now we'll see what he's made of.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 10%10 ItalyOne-man walking trouble spot and Vesuvius-sized national disgrace, Silvio Berlusconi, is a dead cert to cause more bother in 2010. After suffering a monumental loss of face in Milan, Italians fear the dodgy duce may fast-forward plans for unenlightened dictatorship.Guardian Troublespotometer Rating: 99%IranPakistanAfghanistanIsraelPalestinian territoriesYemenSudanZimbabweXinjiangTibetGeorgiaChechnyaBelgiumItalySimon Tisdallguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- MDC minister accused of treason says Mugabe will never br... Roy Bennett insists that his trial will not deter him from fighting for justice in ZimbabweBarefoot at his front door, wearing faded shorts and a T-shirt, Roy Bennett looks tired. As well he might. Next week, instead of kicking off the new year discharging a brief as deputy agriculture minister in Zimbabwe's power-sharing government, Bennett will be back in Harare's high court, enduring a further instalment of a trial in which he faces life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the president, Robert Mugabe.Under the draconian Public Order and Security Act, the former commercial farmer is accused of buying £3,000 worth of arms in 2006 to carry out acts of insurgency, sabotage, banditry or terrorism. The prosecution claims to have email evidence, along with a confession from Mike Hitschmann, a gun dealer and alleged conspirator, that Bennett bought the weapons to be used as part of an anti-government plot. "It's complete nonsense," he told the Observer at his home in the capital where he is currently on bail. "I had seen Mike Hitschmann at political rallies, but I never bought a single gun from him."The court experience is a total nightmare. Sitting in that court every day, listening to people lying, is like one of those dreams where someone is trying to murder you but you can't defend yourself because your gun won't work." Amid no-shows by witnesses and chaos in the paperwork, no one knows when the trial will end.Bennett, who is also treasurer-general of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested in February, on the day he was due to be sworn in to the "inclusive" government that the MDC had finally agreed to join following disputed elections. He is the tenth person to face treason charges since Mugabe came to power in 1980. But the fact that he is white, his political track record and the timing have given this trial a special significance.Last month, at the Zanu-PF party congress in Harare, Mugabe took his latest swipe at the "settler's son" who is held up by the veteran president as evidence that the MDC is a white-led – or British – conspiracy to dispossess all black Zimbabweans. "Open your eyes," said Mugabe. "This is your country and not for whites. Not the Bennetts. They are settlers. Even if they were born here they are offspring of settlers."Lawyers say the country's legal system – flawed as it is – should clear Bennett. Dubious witnesses, cobbled-together exhibits and the mysterious disappearance of evidence have marred the prosecution's case. But if he is found guilty, the MDC could find itself at a dangerous crossroads. The secretive nature of the current round of talks between Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, and the 85-year-old Mugabe has led to a growing restiveness among MDC supporters. A touchy-feely joint press conference just before Christmas left Zimbabweans feeling Tsvangirai was in danger of giving too much ground to his old foe. Diplomats are worried, too. "We are getting very few clear signals from the talks, and we are worried that some MDC ministers are being co-opted by Zanu-PF," said a European ambassador.It is in that political context that Bennett's trial gives an insight into the workings of power in Zimbabwe. "The outcome of the trial is on the table of the political talks. Mugabe is dangling the danger of Bennett's conviction in front of the MDC as a threat. Mugabe has calculated that, if Bennett goes to jail, Tsvangirai will be considerably weakened in people's eyes," said John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe.The grandson of an Ulsterman who arrived in the 1880s to work as an assayer in the mines, Bennett was a policeman before going to agriculture college in 1978. "I served five years as a regular in the British South Africa Police," he said. "The liberation war was on. I attended many murders. The so-called liberation fighters would go into communal areas and kill black government employees. That was their way of forcing people to support them. Seeing the repression, and how the people were getting a hammering from both sides, gave me a strong affinity with them."Bennett, who currently lives in Harare with his half-Scots wife Heather, 47, built up his booming 300-hectare fair-trade coffee farm at Chimanimani in the east of the country from scratch. Before May 2000, when it was invaded under Mugabe's ruinous land resettlement campaign, the farm was a hub of empowerment, known throughout the area. Bennett, a fluent speaker of the local language, Shona, had ploughed a share of his profits into building bridges, roads, schools and clinics for the community.So popular was Bennett that when Mugabe's "war veterans" occupied his farm his employees and local people resisted. Later they sent a witch-doctor to protect the farmhouse and curse the invaders. The farm, he says, is now derelict; he has fought successive court battles but has not been able to return, even for a visit, since 2004. He has now started a panel-beating business in Harare.Bennett describes himself as a "native through generations of history that was no choice of my own, in the same way as most black Zimbabweans have roots throughout the region". His brand of politics is based on parleys under trees: "I did not want to go into politics. But before the 2000 elections the people came and asked me to get involved. I turned to Zanu-PF, but they would not have me as a candidate. One day the elders and I travelled up to Harare to see what Morgan Tsvangirai had to say for himself. We decided on the MDC. "In 2000 he became one of four whites to win parliamentary seats for the MDC. His Manicaland constituency – a former heartland of the war against white rule – had been staunchly Zanu-PF for 20 years. For the seat to have gone to a white farmer was an insult to Mugabe. He quickly became a priority target for the ruling party. In 2004 the justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, announced in parliament that Bennett's Charleswood estate was to be resettled. Bennett marched across the floor and wrestled Chinamasa to the ground. He also took a swing at the anti-corruption minister before being ejected and jailed for 15 months.The treason trial is based mainly on a controversial "confession" from Hitschmann, 49. Until 2006, when he was arrested, the former volunteer police officer held a formidable armoury on behalf of farmers who had fled the land invasions. He has been subpoenaed as a prosecution witness in Bennett's trial, despite emerging only in July 2009 from two years in jail after being convicted of illegal possession of firearms. The confession that incriminates Bennett was ruled invalid in Hitschmann's own trial because it was obtained under torture.Hitschmann told the Observer he will reveal the full extent of his mistreatment when he appears in court this month. "The confession naming Bennett is one of five they made me write after I was handcuffed, leg-ironed, beaten over the head and told that my wife and son were in custody. They kicked me in the genitals and burnt my buttocks with cigarettes, and then I was made to write five different confessions."One covered a plan I was supposed to have hatched to derail Mugabe's motorcade. The second was the alleged MDC plot involving Bennett. A third had me destabilising the country on the orders of two provincial Zanu-PF officials, and a fourth involved me in economic sabotage of Zanu-PF assets on the orders of a party official. The fifth said [defence minister] Emmerson Mnangagwa and 'unnamed' generals had involved me in a plot to organise resistance to unseat Mugabe.''As he prepares to face the prosecutors again, Bennett admits he is exhausted. He terribly regrets having "ruined" his family's life. "It has been awful for them. My son Charles, who is 24, had his room raided by strangers when he was 10 and he has not had a permanent home since then. They want to break you, and they get close. But I am not a politician. I cannot be corrupted or intimidated."I got into this to help people who now have hung their hats on the fact that I am committed to represent them honestly and fairly. If it was not for those people, I would have walked away from this thing long ago.''ZimbabweRobert MugabeMorgan TsvangiraiAlex Duval Smithguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Why 2010 could be an own goal for the Rainbow Nation | Jo... The ANC is failing poor black South Africans, and next year's World Cup will only intensify scrutiny of Zuma's regimeWith the World Cup nearing, 2010 will be South Africa's year. The self-proclaimed Rainbow Nation will receive a rainbow crowd of visitors, the largest and most diverse group of tourists in its history. The spotlight on the country's progress since apartheid will be more intense than ever.The World Cup host, President Jacob Zuma, will bring Britain his message of success with a state visit here in March. Eight months in office, he has surprised his critics. He is more accessible to ordinary South Africans than his aloof predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. He is more willing to listen to colleagues than Nelson Mandela who, according to former ministers, could be brutal in cabinet, shutting speakers up by saying he had already taken his decision.Zuma accepts advice, including on matters where his past behaviour suggests he has different instincts. His recent speech calling for increased HIV/Aids awareness and a new funding for anti-retroviral drugs was a sharp correction to Mbeki's denialist line. But can Zuma make a difference on South Africa's social and economic problems?Mandela and Mbeki presided over the longest economic boom in the country's history. Zuma was unlucky to come to power just after the onset of the global economic crisis. Growth in 2010 is projected to fall by 2.6% at a time when western economies are already reviving.Zuma was also unlucky to arrive in Pretoria's Union Buildings, the seat of government, at "payback time". While the end of apartheid removed a vicious system of political inequality, the post-apartheid years have produced a widening of income disparities, leaving South Africa more unequal than its neighbours, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At 25% of the labour force, unemployment is massive. As the riots in several townships demonstrated a few months ago, black South Africans are increasingly angry.They have good cause. Private poverty and public lack of resources are visible everywhere. Visiting a school in a township not far from Johannesburg, we found that dozens of pupils have to walk over two hours from the shacks where they live each day. Class sizes average 50, and the cramped school has no assembly hall or gym. At least the pupils get a meal, and food parcels to tide them over the Christmas holiday, but even this vital help is not financed by the government. It comes from private donors.The good news is that jobless people's rage is no longer directed at immigrants. The xenophobic attacks on workers from Zimbabwe and other African countries in May 2008 have not been repeated. Instead of scapegoating the innocent, poor people are aiming their criticism at officials of the ruling party, the African National Congress, and demanding delivery of long-promised improvements. The bad news is that the government and the media seem unwilling to engage in serious debate, let alone action, on how to supply people with what they need.South Africa's press and blog sites are dominated by rightwing thinking. They regularly headline claims that the government is "lurching to the left" and that the Communist party and trade union allies are getting the upper hand. But Cosatu (the Congress of South African Trade Unions) and two other union federations supported the recent medium-term budget statement of the finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, even though he followed the ANC government's neoliberal trickle-down line of relying on foreign investment and exports to produce growth. He announced some grants for small businesses to retain workers rather than lay them off, but no large-scale public works or any serious redistribution of wealth through the tax system. South Africa's simplistic economic debate does not even recognise Keynesianism as a legitimate alternative to the failed ANC strategy of the last decade and a half.Bad too is the anti-intellectual tone of much of the ANC's discourse. When Kader Asmal – one of the movement's stalwarts and a former education minister – criticised plans to rename South Africa's police a "force" rather than a "service", Fikile Mbalula, the deputy police minister, exploded, saying Asmal's "vitriolic, coarse and vulgar antics smack of duplicity, deceit and double standards". Mbalula is a close friend of the loud-mouthed Julius Malema, the head of the ANC's youth league whom Zuma recently endorsed as a future leader of South Africa. Mbalula supports new instructions given to the police to kill suspects thought to be carrying arms ("Yes, shoot the bastards", he wrote in a recent column).Ironically, just as during apartheid South Africa's courts occasionally thwarted the state, they have become a key motor for reform today. The country's path-breaking constitution enshrines numerous social rights, including the "right to have access to adequate housing"; and in their search for better service delivery people are turning to judges rather than politicians. They recently won a major victory when the constitutional court struck down the KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act, which had allowed municipalities not only to evict squatters from public land but to force private landlords to kick their squatters out too.Shackdwellers (who consist of as many as 10% of South Africa's population) are increasingly organising themselves, independently of the ANC, the Communist party and the trade unions. They also see little hope in the Congress of the People, which broke from the ANC a year ago. It got 7% in last April's elections, but thanks to internal squabbles and resignations has crashed to 2%.With their new government-licensed permission to turn easily to violence, the police seem to have condoned, and perhaps instigated, an appalling machete attack in Durban against Abahlali baseMjondolo, the biggest of the new shackdwellers' movements. The attack left two people dead and the shackdwellers' leader in hiding, but Zuma's government refuses to establish an inquiry. South Africa has made huge strides since its first democratic government in 1994. But slippage is accelerating and Zuma needs to reverse it soon.South AfricaJacob ZumaWorld Cup 2010Thabo MbekiNelson MandelaZambiaZimbabwePovertyHIV infectionAids and HIVJonathan Steeleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
New Zimbabwe
- West must lift Zim sanctions: SADC WESTERN countries must lift “all forms of sanctions” against Zimbabwe, regional leaders said in a communiqué made available on Friday following a summit held in Mozambique on Thursday. Leaders of Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia – whose countries form the 15-member Southern African Development Community’s organ on security, politics and defence -- commended Zimbabwe’s power sharing government for “notable achievements” including restoring peace and stability in the country as well as “positive progress on economic recovery” since February. But the SADC leaders also called on Zimbabwe’s leaders to “fully comply with the spirit and letter” of a power sharing agreement signed in September last year. “The parties should not allow the situation to deteriorate any further,” the communiqué said. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced on Thursday he was ending his party’s two-week long boycott of the power sharing government over disagreements with President Robert Mugabe and his “dishonest” Zanu PF party. Tsvangirai said he was giving Mugabe 30 days to implement “outstanding issues” to their agreement, including government appointments and a cessation of what his MDC party says is police harassment of its officials. But Mugabe’s party has accused the MDC of failing to meet its end of the bargain, including persuading its supporters based in western capitals to end propaganda radio broadcasts into Zimbabwe, and to campaign for the removal of sanctions which MDC leaders previously supported. The SADC leaders also called on the “international community to lift all forms of sanctions on Zimbabwe”. The United States and the European have sanctions targeting individuals in President Robert Mugabe's government as well as institutions linked to Zanu PF. Those countries also suspended direct financial aid to the Zimbabwe government, and in the case of the United States, the Zimbabwe Democracy and the Recovery Act directs US citizens working for international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF to oppose and vote against "any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or (2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution." SADC tasked South African President Jacob Zuma to “remain seized with the developments on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement [power sharing pact].” Zanu PF, Tsvangirai’s MDC and the MDC faction led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara “should engage in dialogue with immediate effect within 15 days, and not beyond thirty days”, SADC said. South African President Jacob Zuma, whose country is the facilitator, his predecessor Thabo Mbeki and Democratic Republic of Congo President and current SADC chairman Joseph Kabila also attended the summit.
- Battle rejoined as premiership resumes IT’S battle rejoined in the Premier Soccer League this weekend with leaders Dynamos taking on old enemy Highlanders in Bulawayo, and the chasing duo of Gunners and CAPS United also in action. The league was suspended for three weeks due to the COSAFA Senior Challenge which Zimbabwe hosted. Dynamos, with 50 points from 26 matches, are separated by a point from Gunners while form team United are a distant third on 42 points. Dynamos will win the league if they win their final four matches, but they have their work cut out on Sunday when they take on a Highlanders side fighting for lost pride. New Highlanders coach Mohammed Fathy has said his target is a top five finish, and to achieve that they need to start winning matches – including Sunday’s encounter with their fiercest rivals. The last time the two teams met, the Dynamos camp was in turmoil and coach David Mandigora had just been sacked to be replaced by the current man Elvis Chuchu Chiweshe. Under that turmoil, Dynamos seemed to thrive and they hammered Highlanders 4-0 at Rufaro. As they prepare for Sunday’s clash, instability is once again rocking the Harare club. Players boycotted training for three days last week over non-payment of bonuses, and chairman Partson Moyo briefly quit before a change of mine. Chiweshe has not been far from the eye of the storm as he faced accusations of being part of a plot to oust Moyo. Chiweshe had five players in the Zimbabwe team that won the COSAFA Cup -- leading scorer Cuthbert Malajila, strikers Phillip Marufu and Evans Gwekwerere, winger Benjamin Marere and defender George Magariro. "It is not going to be an easy game but we do not want to drop points at this stage. We need to win all the remaining matches to win the title and it should continue this weekend,” Chiweshe said on Friday. “Playing Highlanders has never been easy, but we are ready for the match.” His team managed to play a friendly match against TP Mazembe of the DRC during the break. Highlanders have been inactive during the break and only had Zephaniah Ngodzo in the national team. The defender played a few minutes in the opener against Mauritius which Zimbabwe won 3-0. Fathy said: “We don’t need to focus on what Dynamos have been doing, but our own preparations and how we will play. We are playing for a good result and I believe we will get that good result.” Highlanders’ last home match before the break was a 3-0 victory over former champions Monomotapa at Luveve. Highlanders return to their favoured Barbourfields Stadium which had been closed for the COSAFA. Moses Chunga’s Gunners have a fairly easy task on Sunday when they take on relegation-threatened Highway at Gwanzura. One man who will be on a mission is their leading striker Norman Maroto who was overlooked for the national team despite scoring 17 goals this season – just three less than leading scorer, Nyasha Mushekwi, of CAPS United. United’s form will be tested when they meet Lengthens at Rufaro on Sunday. Meanwhile relegation-threatened Underhill travel to Kwekwe to face basement club Black Rhinos knowing victory would lift them out of relegation if results go their way elsewhere. On Saturday, Monomotapa take on Shooting Stars while Motor Action face Njube Sundowns in the capital. Premier Soccer League Fixtures Saturday: Motor Action v Njube Sundowns (Motor Action Sports Club); Monomotapa v Shooting Stars (Rufaro) Sunday: Black Rhinos v Underhill (Baghdad); Lengthens v CAPS United (Rufaro); Highlanders v Dynamos (Barbourfields); Gunners v Highway (Gwanzura) Wednesday: Highway v Eagles (Sakubva), Highlanders v Hwange (Barbourfields) Premier Soccer League: Friday, November 06, 2009 TEAM Played Won Drew Lost G/F G/A Points 1 Dynamos 26 15 5 6 38 15 50 2 Gunners 26 14 7 5 39 24 49 3 CAPS United 25 11 9 5 33 22 42 4 Lengthens 26 11 8 7 25 18 41 5 Shooting Stars 26 9 10 6 28 22 37 6 Hwange 26 10 7 9 29 28 37 7 Highlanders 25 9 9 7 23 18 36 8 Monomotapa 26 9 8 9 35 36 35 9 Kiglon 27 8 10 9 30 28 34 10 Eagles 26 7 13 6 20 24 34 11 Bantu Rovers 26 7 8 11 22 26 29 12 Highway 25 6 9 10 23 29 27 13(P) Motor Action 26 4 15 7 20 25 27 14 Njube Sundowns 25 6 8 11 26 37 26 15 Underhill 25 6 7 12 22 35 25 16 Black Rhinos 26 4 7 15 18 42 19 Premier League Top Scorers TEAM GOALS Nyasha Mushekwi CAPS United 20 Norman Maroto Gunners 17 Cuthberth Malajila Dynamos 15 Ramson Zhuwawo Gunners 10 Tongai Mangwendere Hwange 9 Elliot Matsika Shooting Stars 9 Tawanda Nyamandwe Monomotapa 9 Evans Chikwaikwai Njube Sundowns 7 Charles Chiutsa Monomotapa 7 Tafadzwa Rusike CAPS United 6 Nqobile Mpala Highlanders 6 Protasho Kabwe Highlanders 5 Daryl Nyandoro Monomotapa 5 Bhekimpilo Ncube Motor Action 5 Dylan Chivandire Njube Sundowns 5 Francis Mandiwanzira Lengthens 5 David Boriwondo Hwange 5 Southern Region Division One League Pool A Results Mpumalanga 2-0 Quelaton; Zimbabwe Saints 2-1 Sao Paulo (abandoned); Makokoba City Warriors 2-1 Chicken Inn; Railstars 5-1 CMED; FC Windermere 1-1 New West; Vic Falls 0-1 Kujatana Pool A Table: (If final weekend results are upheld, Zimbabwe Saints will play winners of Pool B Shabanie Mine. The winners of that clash will be promoted into the PSL while the losers will play in the play-offs with second finishers in the Eastern Region, Northern Region and the team that finishes 13th in the PSL) TEAM Played Won Drew Lost GF GA Points 1 (C) Zimbabwe Saints 22 14 4 4 35 18 46 2 Quelaton 22 14 2 6 36 16 44 3 Chicken Inn 22 10 9 3 40 23 39 4 FC Windermere 22 10 8 4 25 12 38 5 Railstars 22 10 7 5 32 22 37 6 Kujatana 22 11 3 8 28 22 36 7 Sao Paulo 22 5 10 7 20 23 25 8 CMED 22 5 9 8 20 30 24 9 Mpumalanga United 22 6 4 11 24 32 22 10 Makokoba City Warriors 22 3 6 13 14 40 15 11 New West City 22 5 5 12 22 33 14 12 Victoria Falls United 22 3 4 15 18 43 13 Southern Region Division One League Results Zimalloys 0-3 Silo; Super Dynamo 1-1 Mimosa; Chrome Stars 1-0 Gweru Pirates; Tongogara v Ziscosteel (match not played), Shabanie Mine 1-1 BVM; Eagles 0-3 Chapungu; Mateta 3-0 Border Strikers; Ziscosteel 3-0 Eagles; Super Dynamo 3-0 Tongogara Pool B Table: (Shabanie Mine will play the winners of Pool A, and the winning team will be promoted into the PSL while the losers will play in the play-offs with second finishers in the Eastern Region, Northern Region and the team that finishes 13th in the PSL) TEAM Played Won Drew Lost GF GA Points 1 (C) Shabanie Mine 26 19 5 2 64 15 62 2 Border Strikers 26 17 3 6 40 15 54 3 Chapungu 26 14 9 3 46 12 51 4 Mimosa 26 14 9 3 41 15 51 5 Mateta 26 16 3 7 55 26 50 6 Eagles 26 13 0 13 40 46 39 7 Ziscosteel 25 11 5 9 31 18 38 8 Super Dynamo 26 11 5 10 37 24 38 9 BVM 26 11 3 12 28 35 36 10 Silo United 26 6 10 10 24 40 28 11 Tongogara 25 8 2 15 31 51 26 12 Chrome Stars 26 6 6 14 21 43 24 13 Gweru Pirates 26 2 4 20 10 63 10 14 ZimAlloys 26 1 0 25 10 76 3 Eastern Region Division One League Results Hippo 2-2 Mwenezana, United Lions 0-1 Mutare Farm Supply, Triangle 4-0 Mkwasine, Mutare United 4-0 Blue Swallows, FC Victoria 0-3 Masvingo, Jets 3-0 Golden Stars (walkover), Chiredzi 3-0 Grain Master (walkover), Nzuma 0-1 Buffaloes, Mutoko 3-0 Maningi (walkover) Eastern Region Table: TEAM Played Won Drew Lost GF GA Points 1 FC Victoria 29 21 1 7 67 31 64 2 (P) Masvingo United 29 19 7 3 61 15 64 3 Jets 29 18 7 4 52 23 61 4 Chiredzi United 27 15 7 5 47 19 52 5 Buffaloes 27 16 4 7 38 23 52 6 Mutare United 27 14 6 7 46 28 48 7 Mwenezana 27 11 7 9 55 50 40 8 Hippo Valley 27 11 7 9 31 29 40 9 Mutare Farm Supply 27 11 5 11 39 39 38 10 Nzuma Bar 27 10 6 11 31 36 36 11 Golden Stars 27 10 4 13 30 49 34 12 Triangle 27 9 6 12 37 36 33 13 Mutoko Pirates 27 9 6 12 28 37 33 14 Blue Swallows 27 9 2 16 35 44 29 15 Maningi 27 5 6 16 27 51 24 16 Grain Masters 27 3 7 17 23 33 19 17 United Lions 27 3 9 15 27 55 18 18 Mukwasine 26 1 7 19 21 60 10 Northern Region Division One League Northern Region Table: (Simba Stars are promoted into the Premier Soccer League, Douglas Warriors to play in the play-offs) TEAM Played Won Drew Lost GF GA Points 1 (C) Simba Stars 22 15 5 2 45 11 50 2 (P) Douglas Warriors 22 14 8 0 45 15 50
- Mdhara Chimowa’s tears for fifty dollars I LIKE to think that I have observed enough in my time to know that few politicians truly believe things that they say or promise; that when they make references to ‘the people’, that is no more than a veil for expressions of self-interest. You have to hope, however, that in their pursuit of self-interest, there will be some collateral benefit that accumulates to the ordinary men and women. You hope that there is a ‘core of good’ in every man and woman which can be persuaded, nurtured and harnessed for the good of those in lower stations of the political and social hierarchy. But my profound belief in the inherent goodness of humankind has often deceived me. All too often, I am disappointed. I wish the politicians could think more and more about the plight of the ordinary men that they purport to serve; the ones that they claim to be saving from strange forces out to colonise them. That is why, at the height of the political negotiations last year, I was moved to ask the question: Why don’t they negotiate in Mukumbadzetse Street? I was referring of course, to that lengthy street in the high-density suburb of Mufakose – itself a symbol of a location where politicians could possibly observe and feel the trials and tribulations of the ordinary people on whose behalf they always claim to be fighting. There is a song which inspires me most whenever I think of the lamentations of the ordinary folks, so often used but overlooked by the politicians when it matters most. In that song, the Master of Song Simon Chimbetu speaks the language of the ordinary person – “Kana moenda mukoma, muchinopinda mumisangano, muitaure yehupfu hwevana vangu” (When you attend those big meetings, my brother, please do not forget to tell them about the plight of my children). He goes further, “Vanochema vana vaye, Vanoyaura vana vaye, Chavanoda kuSurvivor” (They are suffering, the kids. All they ask for is survival). The beautiful song played in my mind over and over again as I digested the plight of Mdhara Chimowa, whose story I narrate today. It is a story that caused me a lot of pain and reduced my confidence in humankind. I hope in doing so, I fulfil part of Chimbetu’s call – remind the big men of the plight of those they purport to fight for. Mdhara Chimowa (Elder Chimowa) is a man I have known since I was a toddler. He is a decent man. He works hard. He always has. I remember him and his wife moulding bricks in the village. Those who know the manual exertions required in the trade of manufacturing bricks the traditional way (kukanya zvidhinha/ukutshaya izitina) appreciate that it is hard work of an extreme kind. For just two people, man and woman, no words can capture the industry required and the energy expended in the process. Yet, this man and his wife put everything into it. They wanted their children to go to school - to drink from the calabash of knowledge and responsibility as Ngugi wa Thing’o put it in that beautiful book, The River Between. Mdhara Chimowa always worked hard to give his kids what he had not been afforded in his youth. He has been in the village all his life. He is part of the fabric of the community. He is always there, ready to give a hand; always present to do his bit for the community. He is the man you can count on at most times. He is the character who arrives at the funeral and gets on with the hard chores of that occasion – digging the graves, fetching firewood, ensuring that people are well fed. He has a way of speaking which makes him very endearing. Those of us who know him remember and often talk about him fondly. He is a good man. So when I heard the story, my heart broke. It is a simple story of the fifty US dollar bill. Mdhara Chimowa’s mother, who is in the autumn of her life, sold her goat a few weeks ago because she wanted to travel. She has always had goats. It is her wealth, nurtured and grown over many years. She sold one of them. Mdhara Chimowa also wanted to travel, with his wife. They wanted to visit their daughter who had recently married. But between them, there was only one fifty dollar bill, part of which had come from the sale of the goat. So in order to facilitate the two different journeys, the fifty dollar bill had to be spilt. They had to find some change. So Mdhara Chimowa went to the nearest township, about a mile away from the village. Munyoro is the name. We used to visit Munyoro often as kids, to play games and listen to the big radios that played very loud music. Sometimes we would dance. I’m told it has become a fairly busy place recently on account of the new surfaced road that took the better part of thirty years to reach our part of the world from nearby Wedza town. Tara yakaunza business (the tarred road has brought some business to the otherwise sleepy township). It is to this township where Mdhara Chimowa went to look for change. He hoped one of the shopkeepers would help him. But the shops did not have change for fifty dollars. It is big money in this part of the world where some do not even know what it looks like. He went to every shop but they said they did not have change. He was stuck. But he had to find the change if the trips planned for the following day were to materialise. So he approached one of the commuter omnibus operators who ply the route. I am told they are many now that the road has been surfaced – almost 30 years from the time plans were first laid down by those who lead the nation. He approached one driver and asked for change. The driver was generous enough to help and Mdhara Chimowa was happy as he left their brief meeting after the completion of the transaction. The driver did not spend a second longer, as he departed on his trip towards Harare. Mdhara Chimowa’s happiness at getting the change he needed was to be short-lived. He told his colleagues that he had finally managed to get the change. He showed them. At that point, an eagle-eyed colleague who boasts of better financial literacy in the community noticed that something was not quite right. Mdhara Chimowa had been given four separate notes – three that he thought were 10 dollar bills and one that he had taken as a 20 dollar note. The more literate fellow pointed out that he had in fact been given just $5 worth of notes (three $1 bills and one $2 note). The driver of the omnibus had advised him that this was his change and trusting the goodness of mankind, Mdhara Chimowa had walked away a happy man. But not for long, as he soon discovered. I cannot even attempt to put in words what must have gone though the old man’s mind. No one can ever know the conflict that raged in his heart as he realised that he had lost the better part of his mother’s goat. He cried. This is a man brought up to believe that grown men do not cry. But he wept. He had lost his mother’s goat. The driver of the omnibus had left him in the lurch. He wandered aimlessly as he contemplated what to report home. How would he explain it to his elderly mother? How would he explain it to his wife? Would they believe it? He tried to borrow, so that at least he could go home with something for the journeys the next day. But no one had the money. It is not easy to get the US dollar in these parts, just as Champion explained in the story told in these pages a few months ago. When the story was told, I became emotional. I like Mdhara Chimowa. He is a strong man who works hard for his keep and to imagine him in a helpless state was painful. I had spoken to him a few weeks ago, when he was among those who had gathered for a ceremony in the village. It was a pleasure talking to the old folks, including him on the cellphone. He calls me sekuru, on account of some complex relationship which I cannot even begin to explain here. He had jokingly asked for a bit yehwahwa (for a drink). We had laughed hard as he insisted he preferred only opaque beer. I promised that he would get it. It brought back many memories. He also asked why I have never written about him, too. I said one day I would. Little did we know then, that I would soon be writing about this circumstance of limited fortune. But this is not just a story about Mdhara Chimowa. It is the story of the plight of the ordinary man and woman whilst some well-fed men and women in Harare refuse to obey the dictates of common-sense. But that’s not surprising. After all, fifty dollars is spare change for them. They have access to the beautiful stones of Marange; they have generous benefactors who make sure they eat well and sleep well. It is an on obscene world – a world in which their children live, study and party in foreign lands paid for by proceeds of the labour of men like Mdhara Chimowa – a grown man who had to weep for fifty dollars. It is not that Mdhara Chimowa lost money to an unscrupulous commuter omnibus driver; it is that he and many of his type, the ordinary type, have for years lost the fruits of their labour to a few men and women who masquerade as politicians fighting for the greater good. I do not know if the driver of the omnibus will read this. Perhaps, he will. I do not know if his friends will read this. Perhaps they will. And if they do, perhaps they will tell him. I do not know if he will care at all; indeed, if his conscience will say anything to him. But if he does, I hope the next time he passes through Munyoro Township, he will look for Mdhara Chimowa and do the right thing. It will not happen of course, but this is me being naïve, again. I do not know if Zimbabwe’s political leaders will read this. Perhaps, they will. I hope they spare a thought for Mdhara Chimowa and those of his ilk whose dignity has been subtracted in large measure due to the bizarre and tragic politics in Zimbabwe; politics that they can, if they are willing and capable, get right. I hope the next time they find themselves close to ‘the people’ they talk of so often; I hope they will look at them and do the right thing. But as Chimbetu said in that song, vanokanwana ava (they forget, too easily). Alex Magaisa is a Zimbabwean lawyer based at the Kent Law School. He can be contacted on e-mail: wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk * Author’s Note: For Christmas, Mdhara Chimowa will get $45
- Perhaps history does repeat A STORY is currently doing the rounds, with pronounced biblical shades. Can it have foundations in truth, with history repeating itself? It goes like this: In the year 2009, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in Zimbabwe, and said: "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me, for such wickedness cannot, and shall not, continue. Therefore, Noah, thou shalt build another Ark, and save two of every living thing, be it bird or beast, along with a few good humans." He gave Noah the plans, saying: "You have six months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for forty days and forty nights. Make thee an ark of Zimbabwean timber; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its breadth shall be fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Build the ark with haste, for you have only six months before I shall release the flood and obliterate earth’s evil." Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah in his yard, in very great distress, weeping intensely with great tears pouring from his eyes, but the Lord could not see an ark. "Noah!", he roared, "I’m about to start the rain. Where is the Ark?" ‘Forgive me, Lord’, begged Noah, ‘but things have changed. I could not begin to construct the Ark without a building permit. I’ve been arguing with the inspectorate about the need for a sprinkler system in the Ark. ‘Further, my neighbours claim that I’ve violated the neighbourhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard, and exceeding the height limitations. I had to go to the city council, and to the Local Government ministry for a decision, and the weeks and weeks went by, despite the absolute urgency of the matter. ‘Then Zesa demanded a deposit, far beyond my means, for its future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told Zesa that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it. ‘Getting the wood was another problem. There’s a ban on cutting local trees, without governmental consent, because the Environment ministry says that it will upset the balance of Zimbabwe’s ecological system. Although I very promptly made the necessary application, in triplicate, and paid the massive application fees, in United States dollars, and have repeatedly enquired of the ministry, I still await the wood cutting permit. I have tried to convince the ministry that I need the wood to save us all from extinction — but no go! ‘When I started getting the animals, the SPCA prosecuted me. The Zimbabwe Republic Police insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued that the accommodation is too restrictive, and that it is cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. ‘And then the Transport ministry said that it would take six months after completion of the Ark to plan a route to the sea. I told them that that was not necessary, for the sea would be coming to my back yard. They threatened to have me committed! ‘Then the Environment department intervened yet again, ruling that I couldn’t build the Ark until I had arranged and conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. ‘I am also still trying to resolve a complaint and demand of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment ministry on how many affirmative action persons must be included in the Ark building crew. ‘And the Home Affairs ministry insists that I provide a list of the people who want to work on the Ark, so that it can be verified that they are not from non-designated groups. ‘Moreover, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), and the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), in a rare instance of collaboration, are insisting that I hire only union workers with Ark-building experience, paying them wages based upon the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), even though I don’t have sufficient funds to pay such wages. ‘To make matters worse, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has seized all my assets, claiming that I am trying to leave the country illegally, with the national wealth of endangered species, and without tax clearance. And the CIO and the Zanu PF Politburo claim that your instructions to me are naught but a diabolical scheme to bring about regime change, a plan to dispossess Zimbabweans of their lands and their rights, and to recolonise Zimbabwe, so they have raised endless obstacles to my constructing the Ark. ‘So, please, please forgive me, Lord, but it will take at least ten years for me to finish the Ark that you want me to build, and with the never-ending hurdles constructed by the authorities, the inordinately great bureaucracy and red-tape, and intensely great governmental authoritorism, it might take very much longer.’ Suddenly, the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a magnificent rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and amazement, and then he asked: ‘You mean that you are not going to destroy the world?’ "No," said the Lord. "The Zimbabwe government has beaten me to it." Eric Bloch is a columnist for the Zimbabwe Independent
- The Truth About: Suku 'Oluhle' Ncube After Lovemore Majaivana, Busi Ncube, Solomon Skuza and Ndux Malax, Ndebele music has been in terminal decline. That appears to be changing, however, with fresh young artists entering the fray and seeking recognition. One such artist is the UK-based Sukoluhle Ncube (stage name Oluhle), who has recorded two singles released to acclaim by two South African DJs. Her first, Fugama Unamate, was a collaboration with DJ Qness and was released last year. Last week, her latest single Zvinosiririsa – a collaboration with Mzee -- got worldwide release on the producer’s new double CD, Tamanini. Later this month, Oluhle will be the supporting act for Oliver Mtukudzi and Malaika who perform at London’s Stratford Rex (INFO). And she travels to South Africa in January to record her first album, aiming to be potentially the biggest star to emerge from Matabeleland over the last decade. This is The Truth About: Oluhle Born: June 1983 Home Town: Grew up in Waterford, Bulawayo Marital Status & Children: Single, no children You are not exactly a child star. How come we never heard of you much earlier? I spent a few years doing rap music with a UK producer. I was known then as Easy D. But rap is a huge industry and the competition is massive, so my producer John Robinson suggested that I should consider singing instead and I went for vocal lessons. Initially I thought ‘no, I can’t do this’, but he was very persistent. I’m glad he succeeded. Do you write your own songs? Yes I do. It’s quite natural. I find the easiest way to write a song is to have the beat first, but I have a lot of other songs written without an instrumental which are going to be on my first album. Much of my ability at song-writing comes from my school days when I used to write scripts for the drama group, and most of those were inevitably musical. Your latest single, Zvinosiririsa, talks of innocent children dying and rivers of blood. Is there a particular incident that inspired you to write those lyrics? The song title wasn’t my idea. The producer Mzee has a Zimbabwean guitarist and I understand he’s the one who suggested it. When he passed the idea to me, I thought of the world in general, everyday on our TV screens there are children starving, people dying and you think: ‘That’s sad.’ The world is at war with itself, wherever you look. Why do you think Ndebele music has been on a decline? It’s a difficult question and I’m not sure if I can answer that adequately. The simple answer I guess is that no-one has come up that stands out. For sure there are a lot of talented Ndebele singers sitting on a lot of material out there and until it’s put out in the public domain, we’ll never get to hear that talent. There is also the obvious fact that because of language, most Ndebeles listen to South African music. Whatever Ndebele artists produce has to be judged against what’s coming out of South Africa and I think it’s this competition that has scared off a lot of our artists. The challenge now for Ndebele artists is to match the South Africans, or do better than them. We don’t have many good producers as well, so inevitably most of us must turn to South African producers which has the advantage of adding a South African flavour to the music while retaining a very Zimbabwean identity because you can distinguish between Zulu and Ndebele. That should be an advantage, shifting your music in both South Africa and Zimbabwe but it certainly has to be top quality. There’s no use people complaining that Zimbabweans don’t support Ndebele music when what they are putting out there is not good enough. I’ve had my fair share of songs which I know were crap, and artists need to be self-critical and understand that if the music is good and relevant, people will appreciate it and if not, it will bomb. It’s a fact of life for all artists, young and old. What were you like at school? I was very popular (laughs)! I was in the entertainment committee [George Silundika Secondary School], responsible for organising movie nights, discos and modelling shows. If you have been to boarding school, you know what a vital service the entertainment committee provides and it’s a sure way to make friends. What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to be doctor. I loved the idea of helping people and being in the hospital. I thought doctors did a wonderful job. Then in later years in school I wanted to be an actress. I developed a passion for writing plays for the drama group … and I wanted the wider public to see my scripts transformed into theatrical performances. Promise ... Bulawayo-born singer Sukoluhle Ncube Who is your inspiration and why? I’ve got a lot of people who motivate me, particularly the young generation that are pioneering and developing new sounds. They are showing that it’s not about age but about talent. Whenever I’m in low spirits, I also remember a guy I met in Leeds sometime in 2006. I was a supporting act to Malaika and went on stage first. Someone threw a bottle on stage demanding that Malaika come on instead. I was just starting then and I tearfully exited the stage, thoroughly disheartened. This guy came to me and said ‘don’t mind them, just concentrate on what you do’. I don’t know his name but I will never forget him, he said ‘in two years’ time, the same people will be paying attention to you.’ His words have been a great help in what is a very tough industry. What do you know for sure about life? I know that it’s unpredictable. Today you are nothing, tomorrow you are something; and today you can be something and tomorrow be nothing. What is the least favourite thing about yourself? My memory. I am very forgetful. Sometimes I tear my hair out trying to remember where I put my keys, phone and other little items. What’s your favourite movie and why? Poetic Justice. There are a lot of life lessons in the movie. What are you most afraid of? Frogs. Do you believe in UFOs? I don’t, maybe until I see one. Can you describe yourself in three words? Unique, simple and different. Which song holds special memories for you? You And I by Medina. I always listen to it when I’m stressed out, it brings my energy back. It makes me believe I can be stronger, I can overcome. What was the last book you read? A Project Chick by Nikki Turner. What is your definition of hell? When you start to think nothing can ever go right for you, when you have given up hope on everything. What is your most valuable possession? My MP3 player, can’t go anywhere without it. What is the greatest song ever recorded? I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Qness feat Oluhle: Fugama Unamate Mzee feat Oluhle: Zvinosiririsa (Live Performance) Oluhle: Thandiwe (Unreleased)
- Bangladesh win ODI series 4-1 ALL-ROUNDER Naeem Islam held his nerve to score an unbeaten 73 from 90 balls and lead Bangladesh to a one-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the fifth One-Day International on Thursday. The hosts won the five-match series 4-1. Naeem's maiden One-Day International half-century took his team to 222 for nine from 49 overs after Zimbabwe had scored 221 for nine from their 50 overs. Brendon Taylor compiled an unbeaten 118, his first One-day century. The right-hander struck medium-pacer Justice Chibhabha for three sixes off consecutive deliveries in the 48th over after Bangladesh had lost their ninth wicket for 187 runs. Nazmul Hossain then scored just one run in a last wicket partnership of 35 with Naeem. Zimbabwe had looked set for a consolation victory after Taylor's lone battle against the Bangladesh spinners. Scorecard Zimbabwe: S. Masakadza c Zunaed b Razzak 10 M. Vermuelen c Zunaed b Razzak 7 B. Taylor not out 118 E. Chigumbura c Rahim b Mahmud 38 M. Waller b Mahmud 0 S. Matsikenyeri st Rahim b Mahmud 8 F. Mutizwa c & b Shakib 5 J. Chibhabha c Zunaed b Shakib 0 G. Cremer b Shakib 10 R. Price lbw b Razzak 13 C. Mpofu not out 0 Extras: (lb-1 w-11) 12 Total: (nine wickets, 50 overs) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-18, 3-80, 4-80, 5-104, 6-113, 7-113, 8-145, 9-199. Bowling: Nazmul 10-2-27-0, Razzak 10-0-56-3, Shakib 10-1-29-3, Enamul 10-0-41-0, Mahmud 9-0-52-3, Naeem 1-0-15-0 Bangladesh: T. Iqbal run out 2 Z. Siddique c Waller b Mpofu 19 M. Ashraful run out 5 R. Hassan st Taylor b Cremer 31 S. Hasan st Taylor b Matsikenyeri 20 M. Ashraful c Cremer b Matsikenyeri 23 M. Ullah run out 33 N. Islam not out 73 A. Razzak c Mutizwa b Chibhabha 0 E. Haque lbw b Chibhabha 0 N. Hossain not out 1 Extras: (lb-6 w-8 nb-1) 15 Total: (nine wickets, 49 overs) 222 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-42, 3-75, 4-102, 5-105, 6-174, 7-179, 8-179, 9-187. Bowling: Mpofu 10-1-38-1 (w-3), Price 10-2-33-0 (w-2), Chigumbura 7-0-31-0 (w-1 nb-1), Chibhabha 7-1-52-2, Cremer 10-0-37-1, Matsikenyeri 5-0-25-2 (w-2).
- Killer spared noose by illiteracy A KILLER has been spared the death penalty because, a judge ruled, he is ILLITERATE and has a RURAL BACKGROUND. Michael Moyo, 47, delivered several blows on shopkeer Precious Ncube, 47, with a knobkerrie, killing him instantly following a misunderstanding over R5 change. Bulawayo High Court judge Nicholas Ndou, on circuit in Hwange, heard Moyo and friends Sithini Zondo and Sandileni Nkomo – all from the Mdlangombe Dip Tank Village in Tsholotsho -- had been drinking at the at Mdanyazana General Dealer and Bottle Store on July 10 this year. At about 7.30pm, Ncube closed the shop and all three men left. Moyo, the court heard, remembered that he had forgotten his change of R5 and went back. Prosecutor Whisper Mabaudi said Moyo found Ncube in his private room at the back of the store. In lieu of his change, Moyo demanded a beer leading to an altercation which took the men outside the building. Moyo, the court heard, then struck Ncube several times with a knobkerrie killing him instantly. He then dragged the body from outside and left it lying next to the bed. Ncube’s lifeless body was found the following day by early-morning shoppers. Post mortem results showed Ncube suffered haemorrhagic pulmonary, multiple bruises and head trauma. Moyo was convicted of murder with constructive intent, but the judge found extenuating circumstances in that Moyo had been threatened, is illiterate and has a strong rural background. Those factors taken cumulatively, and together with the fact that he had been convicted of murder with constructive intent, Justice Ndou ruled, amounted to extenuating circumstances. Moyo will serve a life sentence.
- Army faces DRC war missing payout THE Zimbabwe National Army is being sued by the wife of a soldier who disappeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) war and is feared dead. Angirai Nyarai was deployed to the DRC in April 1999 as part of Zimbabwe’s military effort to shore up the government of President Laurent Kabila which was in danger of being overrun by Rwandan-backed rebels. Nyarai disappeared on the mission and was feared killed by the rebels. He was declared dead in terms of the Missing Persons Act. In papers filed with the Supreme Court on Friday, the soldier’s widow Francisca Marima is demanding US$26,040 plus interest which she says was due to the missing trooper between the time he was deployed and the date he was declared officially dead. Marima, who is represented by Harare lawyer Raphael Tsivama, said the army’s decision to deny widows of soldiers missing from the DRC campaign was against statutory instrument 172 of 1989 of the Defence Forces Regulations. “It is respectfully submitted that the Command Element’s decision not to pay the allowances to serving members who went missing in action is ultra vires Statutory 172/189 and therefore unlawful,” argued Marima. The test case could force the army to make payouts to dozens of families of missing servicemen. The army has never made public the number of casualties from the DRC war.
- The Truth About: Shingisai Suluma Shingisai Suluma, now one of Zimbabwe's top gospel singers, admits it all may never have happened without the persistance of her parents. On a tour of the United Kingdom, her first trip to the country after 14 years, the star speaks to New Zimbabwe.com about her reluctant rise to stardom. This is The Truth About: Shingisai Suluma (Shingisai is performing in Dunstable on Saturday, November 7. Venue: Dunstable Leisure Centre, Dunstable, LU5 4JD Tickets: £15.00 (advance) £20.00 (door) Time: 5PM – MIDNIGHT Info: http://www.shingisai.com/uk Phone: 07946260963) Born: February 28, 1971 Home Town: Born in Gweru but from Mutasa, Manicaland Marital Status & Children: Married to Stephen Suluma with two children Tashinga, 11 and Tiara, 5 It has been said that you are a born performer. What got you hooked on music so early on in your life? My parents were musically-inclined, they both sang in church. My sister and I would find ourselves also being made to sing. When you are from a musical family, they want you to follow that and we found ourselves doing hours and hours of rehearsals at home, and singing in church on Sunday whether we liked it or not. I was around six or seven years when I would get up and sing in church. Now, seeing what music has done for me, I am thankful and appreciative of my parents’ persistence. Did it cross your mind back then that you would grow to become the superstar gospel singer you are today? I never imagined it! The idea of recording music really never crossed my mind until I arrived in England in 1991 for my university studies [Art and Design BA Hons]. It was through the encouragement and insistence of friends that I recorded my first album Zvanaka in 1995. Your husband is your current producer. When did you start working with him? He did not come on until the second album. He worked with me on the second CD Huyai Ishe Jesu, and we have gone on to record seven albums in total, including the latest Ndewake which we are launching on the UK tour. You are currently based in the United States. What took you there? I left Zimbabwe in September last year because I had projects in China where I taught English for three months. My husband had organised further studies [Masters in Divinity] in the United States so when I finished in China I joined him. I’m also beginning studies for a Masters in Marriage and Family Counselling next year. How much song writing do you do? My husband and I do the song writing, individually or jointly. Sometimes I come up with the tune, but I must say he does most of the writing, he has the biggest talent. It’s easy for him because he plays the instruments. What’s your favourite musical instrument? I have tried the guitar but found it very difficult, not least because I love my nails and so pulling strings presents problems. I have recently been playing mbira – which also tests my nails but I’m better at it. We want to add mbira to give our music a traditional Zimbabwean flavour for our American audience. Which Zimbabwean musicians to you look up to? It’s got to be strictly a woman! Before I started singing, I used to look up to Mai Wutawunashe, and I also admired Olivia Charamba and wanted to be at her level. I have also learnt some things from Fungisai [Zvakavapano]. Do you remember your first show? It was on the first week I arrived back in Zimbabwe in 1996. I was invited by the late Brian Sibalo who had got a copy of my first album and wanted me to come on as a support act at the Sheraton Hotel [now Rainbow Towers]. It went well although I was nervous to sing for the first time before a big audience. It was overwhelming. What’s the nicest thing ever said to you by a fan? I get a lot of people saying my music has uplifted them to be better Christians, and God has been speaking to them through our music. We use the word of God to write our music, so if through the music we help others to be better Christians, then we have done our job. Have you ever been bitten by an animal? Never, but I exercise caution around dogs. I try to like them which probably has spared me a biting. What are you most afraid of? Mosquitoes! I hate mosquito bites. I think I have been stung by mosquitoes more than any other person I know. I don’t know why they come after me, I wish someone can tell me. I seem to be a favourite of mosquitoes. My father suggested I must swallow mhiripiri (chilli) but that’s an unproven theory I suspect. What was your worst job ever? When I was a student in England I worked at an old people’s home. I was on a scholarship but I was required to pay may way around in living costs and that was about the only job I could do without a qualification. That’s got to be the worst. You worked as a teacher when you returned to Zimbabwe from England? Yes, I taught art and design at three different schools in the late 90s and after 2000 -- Oriel Girls High, Alan Wilson Boys High and Eaglesville Secondary School. The salaries were ok then, but things were changing until they finally became unbearable with the economic and political developments. What’s the scariest thing you have ever done? Rowing in a small boat on Lake Chivero. I can swim but I was extremely frightened … there was something just dangerous about it. If President Robert Mugabe was to ask for a single piece of advice from you, what would you tell him? I would tell him that if you love the Lord, and if you serve the Lord, then you will have eternal life. What was the last book you read? This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. How do you start your week? I go on my Facebook and e-mail to respond to e-mails. I also plan rehearsals with my group and as a mother and wife, I have to do some house work and prepare the kids for school. It’s hectic. Who would you most like to meet – dead or alive? Cece Winans and Shirley Caesar -- two musicians that really inspired me. In your opinion, what’s the best song ever recorded? Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror, but then he did a lot of amazing songs. Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You comes close, I want my voice to be like hers! Which song from your eight albums do you like the most? I would say Nanhasi and Mirira Mangwanani were well received by the public and you somehow find yourself leaning towards saying there must be something special there. Personally, Ndopaanouya and Zvaachakuitira (Tatenda Taona) are both songs that speak directly to my heart. I would have to pick those two as my favourites. Shingisai Suluma: Maitiro Enyu Shingisai Suluma: Nanhasi
- Woman to pay child maintenance A BULAWAYO woman has been ordered to pay MAINTENANCE after leaving her matrimonial home to escape an “abusive” husband. Dayasi Tembo left her husband to care for their five children who are all below the age of 18. In an unusual move on Thursday, magistrate Sibonginkosi Nkomo-Mkandla sitting at the Bulawayo Maintenance Court ordered Tembo – who said she earns US$100 per month -- to contribute US$50 for the upkeep of her children until they turn 18 or become self supporting, whichever comes first. The woman’s husband, Dominica Tembo, filed for maintenance after she left their matrimonial home. The court papers do not state where the couple lived. Dayasi had told the magistrate she was prepared to pay US$40 for maintenance, but that was upped to US$50 in the final order. Meanwhile, in counter move, Dayasi has filed papers at the Juvenile Court seeking the custody of all the children.
Telegraph.co.uk : Zimbabwe
- Rumours of child abuse at South African refugee church For thousands of Zimbabweans who have fled their troubled country, the Methodist church in downtown Johannesburg is the only home they know. Now their priest has been suspended.
- Secret airstrip built at Zimbabwe diamond field A secret airstrip is being built in a diamond field illegally seized by the Zimbabwean army 14 months ago which would enable clandestine weapons shipments.
BigNews Network : Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwean mines minister in trouble over diamond mine pa... Harare - Controversy deepened Monday over the Zimbabwean government's handling of the Chiadzwa diamond field in the eastern Zimbabwe, with revelations of serious irregularities by the mines minister a...
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay By Nelson Banya Harare - The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees. Court officia...
- 2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe Commissions Tsvangirai Says Early Elections Could Solve Zimbabwe's Political Problems Two widely respected Zimbabaweans have been appointed to head up the new human-rights commission and the electoral commission....
- 2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe Commissions Tsvangirai Says Early Elections Could Solve Zimbabwe's Political Problems Two widely respected Zimbabaweans have been appointed to head up the new human-rights commission and the electoral commission....
- Why is the US, EU and Britain interested in Zimbabwe opinion Today we see Zimbabwe being attacked by United States (US) and British media terrorism. Their attack is under the guise of bringing "democracy" to Zimbabwe, led by US imperialist fronts like,...
- U.S. Delegation to Review Govt Power-Sharing Deal A US Congressional delegation will visit Zimbabwe this month to review the power- sharing deal, the embassy confirmed last week. The delegation will also review US humanitarian work in Zimbabwe. The...
- Zimbabwe Open Gets Sunshine Lustre FOUR of Sunshine Tour's big five Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken, JBE Kruger and James Kamte have signed up for the revived Zimbabwe Open to be held in April. The once prestigious tournament went off ...
- Sombre Birthday for Ailing GNU ZIMBABWE'S unity government will mark its first anniversary this week but there is will be no popping of champagne corks. On February 11 last year then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn i...
- Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on ranger dispute Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday...
- Rayner heads to Zimbabwe for Twenty20 Rayner didn't feature in the Sussex side as they won the 2009 English Twenty20 Cup which secured them a place in the Champions League, but with Rory Hamilton-Brown's departure to Surrey there will be ...
Talk Zimbabwe
- Zuma is my dad, claims Zimbabwean man A ZIMBAWEAN man is claiming to be the love child of South African President Jacob Zuma.
- Miliband comments: no diplomatic gaffe, but MDC snub IT is naive for anyone to think that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made a diplomatic blunder when he mentioned that the MDC-T party controlled some sanctions and that Britain was waiting to take the cue from that party on whether to lift sanctions or not.
- Botswana recalls senior diplomats from Zimbabwe BOTSWANA says it is recalling two senior diplomats based in Harare in protest against the detention of three 'wildlife officers' in Zimbabwe.
- MDC-T phone service cut off over unpaid bill TEL-One last week cut services to MDC-T's Manicaland provincial offices in Darlington medium-density suburb of Mutare over an unpaid bill, which is almost US$10,000, as accusations of financial embezzlement and corruption continue to swell in the party's Manicaland executive.
- Parly forced to adjourn after sanctions uproar THE House of Assembly was yesterday forced to adjourn prematurely after rowdy MDC-T legislators disrupted a Zanu PF motion calling for the removal of illegal and ruinous economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain, United States and their allies in the West.
- 13 Zimbabweans persih in SA accident THIRTEEN Zimbabweans — among them a two-year-old girl — died while at least 18 people were injured in a traffic pile-up involving a commuter omnibus, a lorry, a private car and a bus 15km outside Polokwane in South Africa’s Limpopo Province early on Tuesday morning.
- Blow for Bennett as emails are admissible DEFENCE lawyers for MDC-T financier Roy Bennett have failed to stop e-mail evidence from being used against him at his terror trial in Zimbabwe.
- IMF to decide soon on ZIm voting rights: Biti THE International Monetary Fund will decide later this month on whether to restore Zimbabwe's voting rights in the fund, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday.
- Zim woman left stateless after British passport scam A ZIMBABWEAN woman living in Belfast has been left stateless after losing a judicial review against a decision to confiscate her British passport.
- Sanctions will stay, says Britain BRITAIN has declared that it will not be pressured into lifting the illegal ruinous sanctions it imposed on Zimbabwe until the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) is implemented in full.
Yahoo News : Zimbabwe
- Minister: Zimbabwe can't afford demands of striking worke... Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said Monday that his government had no money to pay tens of thousands of striking civil servants the salary increases they were demanding. On Friday, the Zimbabwe Public Service ...
- Why is the US, EU and Britain interested in Zimbabwe (All... Zimbabwe is endowed with Uranium, Platinum, Chrome, Gold, Diamonds, Methane Gas, Coal, asbestos, copper, nickel, iron ore, tobacco, and cotton. US imperialism sees Tsvangarai's MDC as the weapon to stop the people of Zimbabwe's advance on these valuable resources.
- Zimbabwe : U.S. Delegation to Review Govt Power-Sharing D... A US Congressional delegation will visit Zimbabwe this month to review the power- sharing deal, the embassy confirmed last week. The delegation will also review US humanitarian work in Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabwe Open Gets Sunshine Lustre (AllAfrica.com) FOUR of Sunshine Tour's big five Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken, JBE Kruger and James Kamte have signed up for the revived Zimbabwe Open to be held in April.
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay (Independent O... The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees.
- Zimbabwe : Sombre Birthday for Ailing GNU (AllAfrica.com) ZIMBABWE'S unity government will mark its first anniversary this week but there is will be no popping of champagne corks.
- Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on ranger dispute (AFP via ... Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday.
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay (Mail and Guar... The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees.
- Rayner heads to Zimbabwe for Twenty20 (CricInfo) Ollie Rayner, the Sussex offspinner, has joined the Zimbabwe domestic side Mid West Rhinos for their Twenty20 competition
- Zimbabwe Consumer Council says cost of basic foodstuffs r... Washington - The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said Friday that the cost of essential food items needed by low-income families rose more than 7 percent in January. CCZ Executive Director Rosemary Siyachitema told VOA that retailers have boosted prices in expectation of higher pay for state employees.
Nehanda Radio
- COSATU, the President and Shilowa The Congress of South African Trade Unions has called on all South Africans to accept the unconditional apology by President Jacob Zuma, which he issued on Saturday 6 February 2010. He has humbly admitted that he erred and asked for our forgiveness. We are sure that the overwhelming majority, while disapproving of the conduct for [...]
- Strike Forces Postponement Of Bennett Trial The treason trial of MDC Treasurer General and Deputy Agriculture Minister-Designate Roy Bennett failed to take off Monday due to the on-going strike by civil servants. “The matter has been postponed indefinitely until the strike is over. All matters at the High Court have to be recorded and the clerk of court is not available. We [...]
- Samantha Tshuma Crowned Miss Tourism If it had been up to the crowd, Bulawayo beauty Samantha Tshuma, would have been crowned the winner during the very first round of the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe pageant last night (6 Feb 2010). She had the packed auditorium of the Harare International Conference Centre cheering for her from the very beginning of the evening. The [...]
- Police grab diamonds from central bank Harare – A 29kg consignment of diamonds from Zimbabwe’s controversial Chiadzwa diamond field has disappeared after being removed on Thursday night by police from the central bank, in violation of orders by the country’s supreme court, lawyers said at the weekend. The incident is the latest turn in the long-running legal dispute between British-registered mining company [...]
- Zimbabwean Man Claims He Is Zuma’s Son Johannesburg: - A 30 year old Zimbabwean man is claiming to be President Jacob Zuma’s son. According to the South African Saturday Star, Dudzai Nyamuramba of Wedza, says Zuma met his mother, Maggie Sandimunyonga, while in exile in Mozambique. His mother, he says, has since died. Nyamuramba said he longed to meet his father. He was arrested [...]
- Farm Film an Exercise in Dangerous Help By Blessing-Miles Tendi The documentary “Mugabe and the White African”, directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, is an intimate account about Michael Campbell, one of the few white farmers left in Zimbabwe since Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF began a violent land seizure program in 2000. It portrays the 75 year old Michael’s struggle to resist [...]
- Mugabe pays security goons $5,000 a day By Jon Swain in Harare WHEN President Robert Mugabe arrived in Geneva to attend an international telecommunications summit last October, he was greeted at the airport by a crack team of security officials from Zimbabwe’s secret service, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Sent to Switzerland several days in advance to prepare for his visit and ensure it [...]
- Jessie Majome on Rules for our Rulers This week on Rules for our Rulers, SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma speaks to Jessie Majome the Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs. Majome is the Chairperson of the Sub Committee on Information and Publicity in the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee and talks about the problems they are facing. She says as far as the [...]
- Tsvangirai rejects Mugabe directive By Constantine Chimakure Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected a circular emanating from President Robert Mugabe’s office directing ministers to report to his two vice-presidents – Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo – instead of to him as cracks in the shaky inclusive government continue to widen. Tendai Biti, who is Finance minister, MDC-T party secretary-general and a [...]
- Botswana-Zimbabwe dispute escalates PRESS RELEASE: BOTSWANA’S INTERVENTION IN THE ARREST OF WILDLIFE OFFICERS GABORONE, 04th February 2010 - The Government of Botswana wishes to express its deep disappointment over the detention of the three wildlife officers in Zimbabwe despite attempts at finding an amicable diplomatic solution. Efforts by Botswana have included phone calls by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and [...]
Reuters: Zimbabwe News
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay * Court support staff boycott work as civil servants strike * Bennett trial postponed indefinitely
- ANALYSIS-Unity govt must make Zimbabwe a respectable demo... * Coalition's big problem is agreeing political reforms
- DIARY-Southern & South Africa to September 2010 This diary is updated daily. All times are provisional and in GMT; add two hours to get South African time.
- Zimbabwe government workers strike for higher pay HARARE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe state workers went on strike on Friday to press for a five-fold wage hike, a move that could cripple public services and hamper the struggle by the fragile power-sharing government to fix the economy.
- INTERVIEW-Millions at risk if AIDS focus fades, says expert * Attention must be on prevention in hyper-endemic nations
- INTERVIEW-Zimbabwe mines group proposes 10 pct local owne... CAPE TOWN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A key Zimbabwe mining group has proposed that locals have 10 percent ownership of foreign-owned companies, and not the 51 percent the government wants under a draft law that has shaken investors and could further damage an already ravaged economy.
- Travel Picks: World's top experiences for thrill-seekers SINGAPORE, Feb 5 (Reuters Life!) - Take a deep breath, get strapped in and feel the buzz. Travel guide Lonely Planet, brings you the thrill-seekers'list, from its 1000 Ultimate Experiences book. This list is not endorsed by Reuters.
- DIARY-Southern & South Africa to July 2010 This diary is updated daily. All times are provisional and in GMT; add two hours to get South African time.
- DIARY-Southern & South Africa to July 2010 This diary is updated daily. All times are provisional and in GMT; add two hours to get South African time.
- INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-IMF to decide on Zimbabwe's voting rights HARARE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will decide later this month on whether to restore Zimbabwe's voting rights in the fund, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe - Google News
- 2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe Commissions - Voice o... Times Online2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe CommissionsVoice of AmericaAn important part of the September 2008 political agreement that gave birth to Zimbabwe's unity government a year ago was a new leader for the electoral ...Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delayReuters South AfricaZimbabwe state workers strike for 500% pay increaseISI - Emerging Markets (subscription)Zimbabwe economy dip feared as nationwide strike beginsAfrik.comAllAfrica.com -People's Daily Online -Earthtimes (press release)all 186 news articles »
- Botswana Recalls Diplomats From Zim - Mmegi Online AFPBotswana Recalls Diplomats From ZimMmegi OnlineDespite efforts by Botswana to have the case resolved diplomatically, Zimbabwe has gone the judicial route. Since last week, the Botswana officers have been ...Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on ranger disputeAFPBotswana recalls military attaché from Zimbabwepostzambia.comBotswana recalls Zimbabwean diplomatsSunday StandardBBC News -Botswana Press Agency -AllAfrica.comall 32 news articles »
- Mpofu In Zimbabwe Diamond Scandal - The Zimbabwean IDEX OnlineMpofu In Zimbabwe Diamond ScandalThe Zimbabwean... has been fingered in the controversy surrounding the whereabouts of diamonds forcibly taken by police officers from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) ...Zimbabwean mines minister in trouble over diamond mine partnersEarthtimes (press release)ZIMBABWE POLICE CONFISCATE DIAMONDS FROM CENTRAL BANK ALLEGEDLY DEFYING COURT ...TacyFurther Twists in the Fate of the Marange DiamondsIDEX OnlineVoice of America -Politicsweb -Israel Diamond Portalall 30 news articles »
- Zimbabwe: One Year On - Why Obama Has Failed Africa Vol. ... Zimbabwe: One Year On - Why Obama Has Failed Africa Vol. 3AllAfrica.comToday we see Zimbabwe being attacked by United States (US) and British media terrorism. Their attack is under the guise of bringing "democracy" to Zimbabwe, ...and more »
- Our vital contribution in Zimbabwe - The Guardian Telegraph.co.uk (blog)Our vital contribution in ZimbabweThe GuardianThe Anglican church in Zimbabwe has an uneven record. But now we are leading reconstruction At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Morgan Tsvangirai, ...Zimbabwe Anglicans Struggle to Worship in ChurchVirtue OnlineArchbishop praises courage of Anglicans in ZimbabweChristianTodayENGLAND: Zimbabwe's Anglican church showcased in Southwark Cathedral ...Episcopal-LifeLondon SE1 -Montreal Gazetteall 16 news articles »
- Zimbabwe: Country's Beauty Crowning Tonight - AllAfrica.com New Zimbabwe.comZimbabwe: Country's Beauty Crowning TonightAllAfrica.comHarare — TONIGHT Zimbabwe finds its new lady ambassador. At the Harare International Conference Centre one of the 27 finalists will win the Miss Tourism ...Miss Zimbabwe thanks MugabeNew Zimbabwe.comSamantha Tshuma Crowned Miss TourismNehanda RadioMiss Tourism Zimbabwe 2010 CrownedZimDailyNew Zimbabwe.comall 6 news articles »
- Zimbabwe: Civil Servants Down Tools - AllAfrica.com Zimbabwe TimesZimbabwe: Civil Servants Down ToolsAllAfrica.comAddressing a joint rally that brought together unions representing different arms of the civil service in Harare yesterday, Zimbabwe Teachers' Associa-tion ...Striking workers lay additional demandsZimbabwe TimesWages: Civil Servants Threaten Indefinite StrikeTHISDAYall 5 news articles »
- Zimbabwe: Sanctions Motion Finally Read in House - AllAfr... Times LIVEZimbabwe: Sanctions Motion Finally Read in HouseAllAfrica.com... on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy PM Arthur Mutambara to engage Western countries to remove the illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe. ...Zimbabwe Power Sharing Process Snags on Issue of Western SanctionsVoice of AmericaZimbabwe MPs riot over sanctionsDaily NationZimbabwe stalemate persistsMail & Guardian Onlinezim NET radio -Voice of America -AllAfrica.comall 80 news articles »
- Control Risks says Zimbabwe political risk is too high fo... Control Risks says Zimbabwe political risk is too high for mine developmentISI - Emerging Markets (subscription)A senior mining specialist at the World Bank, Boubacar Bocoum, said that while several companies are positioning to invest in Zimbabwe , it is probably not ...
- Zimbabwe mobile operator, Econet Wireless, launches new p... Zimbabwe mobile operator, Econet Wireless, launches new prepaid serviceISI - Emerging Markets (subscription)Zimbabwe mobile operator, Econet Wireless, is launching a new prepaid service targeting low-income earners in rural areas, the state-owned Herald newspaper ...
The Herald
- Organ to investigate violence
- Copac dismisses concerns over UNDP document
- Legislator gets death threats
- Civil servants down tools
- Property owners bleed city council
- Masunda calls for disciplined force
- Parly committee backs PSC restructuring
- Man loses US$85 000 to bogus prophets
- 11 more Zimbabweans die in SA crash
Harare Tribune
- Mugabe directive demoting Tsvangirai rejected Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected a circular emanating from President Robert Mugabe's office directing ministers to report to his two vice-presidents - Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo - instead of to him as cracks in the shaky inclusive government continue to widen.
- US spending freeze to erode gains against HIV/AIDS A US decision to freeze spending on treatment for HIV in several African countries has prompted concern that some of the gains made against the AIDS epidemic since 2003 could be reversed.
- Meeting over ranger dispute Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday.
- Cracks widen in the GPA, talk of impending collapse The tension between Zimbabwe's two main coalition partners escalated sharply Tuesday when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's top aide angrily denounced President Robert Mugabe's ZANU(PF) for waging war against the democratic reform process.
- ANC: Nothing wrong for Zuma to have a 'love child' South Africa's ruling party on Monday dismissed a storm over President Jacob Zuma's lovechild, as political opponents told him to stop behaving like a 'gigolo' and get sex addiction therapy.
- ZANU-PF: No GPA concessions until 'illegal' sanctions are... Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party will not make concessions in talks with its partners in the unity government until sanctions imposed by Western nations are lifted, the party said on Wednesday.
- Pfumvu Paruzevha: Drought causing misery in rural Zimbabwe Garai Hokonya, 53, a smallholder farmer in Chivhu district, about 120km southwest of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, has resigned himself to the unpalatable truth that the 12 hectares of maize he planted by hand are being devastated by an unseasonal and prolonged dry spell.
- GPA talks deadlocked, again Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party wants to declare a deadlock in its negotiations with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF so that their dispute can be referred to regional leaders.
- State case against Bennett undermined Zimbabwe's high court on Monday struck out evidence from the main witness in the treason trial of a top aide to Premier Morgan Tsvangirai, after a judge accepted he had been tortured into testifying.
- AIDS levy expansion a mistake - Analysts A plan to expand the three percent AIDS levy to include those in the informal sector could have a negative impact on the lives of Zimbabweans, analysts have warned.
AllAfrica News: Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe in Pledge Over Genocide Suspect Zimbabwe has pledged to assist Rwanda locate one of the most wanted genocide suspects believed to be hiding in the southern African country.
- One Year On - Why Obama Has Failed Africa Vol. 3 Today we see Zimbabwe being attacked by United States (US) and British media terrorism. Their attack is under the guise of bringing "democracy" to Zimbabwe, led by US imperialist fronts like, the National Endowment for Democracy and the British Westminster, friends of Zimbabwe. In reality what they mean by democracy is "bourgeois democracy." According the great late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, under bourgeois democracy, "freedom is confined to the political sphere, and has no relevance to economic matters."
- Shabanie Mine Shooting - Fire Destroys Case Record SHABANIE Mine's wage dispute, which last year saw police shooting two workers during a peaceful demonstration, has taken a new twist following a break-in at the offices of lawyers representing employees in the case.
- Zambezi Express On Regional Tour Siyaya Arts will next month take its breath-taking musical, dance and theatre production Zambezi Express on a tour of southern African countries.
- Two Million Face Starvation As Crops Fail Over two million Zimbabweans face starvation before the harvest season in March, a huge jump from the December figure of 1,74 million, a survey conducted by a USAid food monitoring agency has revealed.
- Ziyapapa Moyo's Family Blasts Zanu PF ELLINA Mnkandla Moyo, the wife of the late veteran nationalist Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, was buried last week without any state assistance.
- Poaching Threat to Wildlife Zimbabwe may never know the extent of the wanton poaching that has decimated the country's wildlife now because the government does not have the money to carry out a game census.
- Workers Left in a Lurch After Training Centre Changes Hands ABOUT 50 workers at St Lucia Park Training and Conference Centre in Harare face a bleak future after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority donated the place to Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
- Minister Returns Govt Vehicles MINES Minister Obert Mpofu has returned two top-of-the-range vehicles an Isuzu and a Pajero he illegally took away from the Ministry of Industry and International Trade when he changed portfolios last year.
- Bickering in GNU Dampens ZSE Trade THE value of trade on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) declined by a third in January from the previous month as political uncertainty and the liquidity crunch took a toll on the market despite a slash in transactional costs.
Yahoo News: Zimbabwe
- Minister: Zimbabwe can't afford demands of striking worke... Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said Monday that his government had no money to pay tens of thousands of striking civil servants the salary increases they were demanding. On Friday, the Zimbabwe Public Service ...
- Why is the US, EU and Britain interested in Zimbabwe (All... Zimbabwe is endowed with Uranium, Platinum, Chrome, Gold, Diamonds, Methane Gas, Coal, asbestos, copper, nickel, iron ore, tobacco, and cotton. US imperialism sees Tsvangarai's MDC as the weapon to stop the people of Zimbabwe's advance on these valuable resources.
- Zimbabwe : U.S. Delegation to Review Govt Power-Sharing D... A US Congressional delegation will visit Zimbabwe this month to review the power- sharing deal, the embassy confirmed last week. The delegation will also review US humanitarian work in Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabwe Open Gets Sunshine Lustre (AllAfrica.com) FOUR of Sunshine Tour's big five Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken, JBE Kruger and James Kamte have signed up for the revived Zimbabwe Open to be held in April.
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay (Independent O... The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees.
- Zimbabwe : Sombre Birthday for Ailing GNU (AllAfrica.com) ZIMBABWE'S unity government will mark its first anniversary this week but there is will be no popping of champagne corks.
- Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on ranger dispute (AFP via ... Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday.
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay (Mail and Guar... The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees.
- Rayner heads to Zimbabwe for Twenty20 (CricInfo) Ollie Rayner, the Sussex offspinner, has joined the Zimbabwe domestic side Mid West Rhinos for their Twenty20 competition
- Zimbabwe Consumer Council says cost of basic foodstuffs r... Washington - The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said Friday that the cost of essential food items needed by low-income families rose more than 7 percent in January. CCZ Executive Director Rosemary Siyachitema told VOA that retailers have boosted prices in expectation of higher pay for state employees.
BBC News: Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe mine abuses 'continue' A rights group says it remains concerned about "abuses" at diamond mines in Zimbabwe after an auction was cancelled.
- Defiant Mugabe rallies Zanu-PF Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe urges his Zanu-PF party to be defiant, and prepare for future elections.
- Zimbabwe predicts economic upturn Zimbabwe's first budget since its unity government began sharing power 10 months ago predicts a healthy economic future.
- Zimbabwe's MDC calls off boycott Zimbabwean PM Morgan Tsvangirai ends his party's boycott of the unity government with President Robert Mugabe.
- Zimbabwe escapes diamond sale ban Zimbabwe escapes suspension from the world diamond trade scheme over allegations of soldiers killing miners.
- Anger at Zimbabwe UN envoy snub The UN's torture investigator expresses anger after he was denied entry to Zimbabwe, amid rising tensions there.
- 'Violent attacks' on Zimbabwe MDC Zimbabwe's MDC says there are increased "violent attacks" on its members, threatening hopes of saving the unity government.
- In pictures: Orphans' plight See and hear the plight of orphans in Zimbabwe
- Eyewitness: School of fear Rural teacher tells of continued militia threats
- 'Why I booed Morgan Tsvangirai' Refugee tells why he booed Morgan Tsvangirai
The First Post: Latest
- From Rajasthan to Hampshire: Royals form first global cri... Cricket's unexpected recent penchant for innovation shows no signs of abating after the world's first global sporting franchise was unveiled - at the usually stuffy surroundings of…
- Google develops phone-call language translation Google has announced ambitious plans to combine its voice recognition and text-translation software to develop a smartphone that can instantly translate foreign languages - meaning people who…
- Daily animal picture: Tiger threesome Two white tigers mate next while a third looks on at the Singapore zoological garden. Photo: Roslan Rahman
- Ian McKellen latest to criticise Government's anti-paedop... Sir Ian McKellen has added his voice to criticisms of the Government's controversial Vetting and Barring Scheme after he claimed some theatres are having to avoid shows…
- Transfer Talk: Marouane Chamakh picks Arsenal as Cesc Fa... After Arsenal's defeat to Chelsea two things were apparent. Firstly, they need more options up front and secondly, their fragile midfield cannot afford to lose Cesc Fabregas.…
- Keira Knightley and Rachel Weisz up for Olivier theatre a... Two British actresses better known for their roles in Hollywood films - Keira Knightley and Rachel Weisz - have been nominated for major London theatre awards. They…
- Picture of the Day: Ukrainian women make naked election p... A security guard removes activists of Ukrainian women's movement FEMEN who were protesting at the polling station where pro-Russian opposition leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich was to vote in…
- The Mole: Who's shameless now? Cameron goes over the top ... The Mole wrote on Friday that David Cameron would miss the expenses saga because it gave him the perfect opportunity to grab the moral high ground and give…
- Hurricane Brees and the New Orleans Saints' fairy tale S... The fairy tale that culminated last night in Drew Brees leading the New Orleans Saints to an unexpected victory in the Super Bowl began in 2005. The…
- In pictures: Saints march to Super Bowl victory The underdog New Orleans Saints have upset the Indianapolis Colts to win their first ever Super Bowl 31-17 in Miami, Florida. Quarterback Drew Brees (above) hit a record-equalling 32 passes…
CNN.com : Zimbabwe
- Nestle reopens Zimbabwe factory Nestle, one of the world's largest food companies, has reopened its factory in Zimbabwe after receiving assurances from the government that its business will not be interfered with again, an official with the Swiss-based company said Tuesday.
- 22 dead from measles in Zimbabwe Twenty-two people, mainly children below the age of 5, have died of measles in Zimbabwe, the country's state media reported.
- Nestle shuts Zimbabwe factory, citing intimidation Nestle, one of the world's largest food companies, has shut down a factory in Zimbabwe after a dispute with the government, it announced Wednesday.
- HIV+ soccer team scores against stigma Somebody told me about a group of HIV positive ladies in the Epworth Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic in Zimbabwe who had formed a football team and every time they won a match, they would march through the clinic in their football jerseys singing uplifting songs in order to inspire other HIV-infected people like them.
- Zimbabwe schools begin fightback Zimbabwe's education system is beginning to battle back from years of neglect and an exodus of teachers.
- Mugabe denies blame for Zimbabwe woes Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, in a rare interview Thursday, depicted himself as an African hero battling imperialism and foreign attempts to oust him rather than the widespread perception of a dictator clinging to power at the expense of the welfare of his people and country.
- Zimbabwe: Long road to recovery Zimbabwe appears to be showing signs of recovery, but it is starting back from a very low base.
- U.N. official: Zimbabwe's woes 'pose signficant challenge' The "humanitarian situation remains serious" in Zimbabwe amid cholera, starvation and a continuing economic crisis, a United Nations official said Wednesday at a World Humanitarian Day ceremony in Harare.
- Voices from afar: Zimbabwe's writers connected to their c... This week on African Voices, two Zimbabwean writers share their own very personal experiences and recollections of their homeland.
- Zimbabwe military blamed for bloodshed in diamond mining Illegal diamond mining by Zimbabwean troops is leading to bloodshed and attacks against civilians, said a global watchdog group formed to cut the flow of so-called "blood diamonds."
ZWNEWS
- Zuma team due in Harare today
- Diamond appeal back in court
- Zimbabwe Consumer Council says cost of basic foodstuffs r...
- In God we trust
- Private schools sprout in Zim as public system struggles
- Electing to rape
- Share your ideas
- Zimbabwe - Arms and Corruption: Fuelling Human Rights Abuses
- Kariba draft constitution
- Diamonds in the Rough
Zimbabwe Metro
- Is Mugabe preparing a coup? Is Mugabe preparing a coup?. Such a development would have immediate and immensely grave implications for South Africa , and would represent a military-political stabilisation of the entire region.
- Highlanders raise US$10 from more than 200 members! Bulawayo soccer giants, Highlanders(Bosso) who are saddled with debts only managed to raise US$10 from the more than 200 members who attended the club’s annual general meeting in the city at the weekend.Bosso chairman Themba Ndlela confirmed the development but took a swipe at the club members for failing to donate at a time when the country’s oldest club is mired in a debt of a staggering US$144 000.
- Bulawayo beauty Samantha Tshuma crowned Miss Tourism Zimb... If it had been up to the crowd, Bulawayo beauty Samantha Tshuma, would have been crowned the winner during the very first round of the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe pageant last night (6 Feb 2010). She had the packed auditorium of the Harare International Conference Centre cheering for her from the very beginning of the evening. The judges agreed with them it seems and Samantha was unanimously crowned Miss Tourism Zimbabwe 2010.
- Mpofu: Investors are “guaranteed security of tenure” !! Zimbabwe's minister of mines Obert Mpofu kept a straight face at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week when he said foreign investors in his country's mining industry are "guaranteed security of tenure".
- It Cost US$350,000 dollars to protect Mugabe during a For... A recent report has revealed that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is so paranoid about his security during his foreign visits that he pays a special allowance of 5,000 dollars a day to his guards.
- Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on Ranger Detentions Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday.
- Minister Mpofu Returns Govt Vehicles: State Asetts Looted MINES Minister Obert Mpofu has returned two top-of-the-range vehicles - an Isuzu and a Pajero - he illegally took away from the Ministry of Industry and International Trade when he changed portfolios last year.
- WOZA Activists Released Without Charge The 22 members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) who were arrested on the 2nd February in Pumula have been release without charge. The women were arrested in a suburb of Bulawayo for discussing about the constitutional reform process in the country.
- The ‘warlord’ at police HQ The demand by Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri (pictured) that the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) should cough up nearly US$3 million for police protection during its outreach exercise should be proof to all just why we need a new constitution.
- Zimbabwe police ’snatch consignment of diamonds from ce... A 29-kilogram consignment of diamonds from Zimbabwe's controversial Chiadzwa diamond field has disappeared after being removed on Thursday night by police from the central bank, in violation of orders by the country's supreme court, lawyers said at the weekend.
Great Zimbabwe News
- Fifa back Zifa statutes ZIFA’S volatile election season took a new twist yesterday with World soccer governing body Fifa endorsing the association’s 2008 constitution which was amended on December 19 last year.
- Civil service strike looms in Zimbabwe Members of the National Joint Negotiating Council meet today in a make-or-break meeting following the expiry of the 14-day ultimatum given to the Government by civil servants who are demanding a minimum wage of US$600.
- Chiadzwa diamonds in fresh controversy The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy has raised concern over the "careless manner" in which Government has handled the mining and marketing of the Chiadzwa diamonds.
- ITU praises Mugabe for ICT thrust THE secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union, Dr Hamadoun Toure, yesterday praised President Mugabe for promoting the development of information communication technologies in Zimbabwe.
- Mr Chaibva, my apologies, Cde Chaibva! MDC national executive member rejoins Zanu-PF. As unlikely as it may sound, it is true and official. MDC national executive member Cde Gabriel Chaibva has broken ranks with his party to rejoin Zanu-PF to work on consolidating the country’s liberation war legacy.
- Zimbabwe in another diamond rush ITS diamond rush time again in Zimbabwe and some are making it big! A new diamond rush has hit Chipinge, Chimanimani and unsecured parts of Chiadzwa with illegal panners and foreign dealers once again descending on Manicaland Province.
- 7500 Zimbos to be deported from Britain Britain will press ahead with the deportation of some 7 500 Zimbabwean asylum seekers in Britain.
- Tsvangirai under fire over sanctions Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has come under fire for failing to take advantage of the World Economic Forum underway in Davos, Switzerland, to speak out against the West’s illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabweans urged to unite against constitutional reform ... Zimbabweans should unite in opposition to the "war" to derail the constitution-making process, the Parliamentary Select Committee has said. In apparent reference to attempts by some civic bodies to belittle the process earlier this week, the Select Committee said the boycott call by some groups was an attempt to derail Zimbabwe’s full liberation from colonial bondage.
- Mutambara describes West thinking on Zimbabwe as unstrategic British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Mr David Miliband earned himself the ire of Zimbabwe’s deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara who described his thoughts on illegal sanctions as unstrategic.
Global Post : Zimbabwe
- Opinion: No fights in Zimbabwe's Quill Club Zimbabwean culture of civility means few showdowns at bars or in politics.read more
- The man who stood up to Mugabe Zimbabwean opposition politician Roy Bennett goes on trial for treason.read more
- Opinion: Zimbabwe's New Year looks a lot like the old Uneasy status quo may continue in 2010. Mugabe's regime may be doomed, but it is clinging on.read more
- Zimbabweans dream of a rainy Christmas Images of Santa mix with tropical thunderstorms and visits to rural Africa.read more
- Can Zimbabwe re-attract tourists? Mugabe's angry rhetoric and violent farm seizures blamed for decline in visitors.read more
- Zimbabwean refugees face crime, harassment in South Africa Situation improves slightly in Zimbabwe, but immigrants in Johannesburg stay put.read more
- Where the turkey is called chompipe and other Thanksgivin... Tales from Thanksgivings on four continents, not including North America.read more
- Obama denounces Mugabe's rule Women of Zimbabwe get Kennedy human rights award from US president.read more
- Mugabe at UN food summit, as Zimbabwe goes hungry Zimbabwe agriculture continues to suffer as Mugabe seizes farms of white and black alike.read more
- Mugabe maintains media grip Zimbabwe's state broadcaster maintains steady stream of TV and radio propaganda.read more
NYT > Zimbabwe
- Rising Anger at Other Africans Fuels South Africa Attacks Refugees from Zimbabwe, its deeply troubled neighbor, are easy targets.
- Obama Issues Sharp Rebuke of Mugabe In honoring Zimbabwe’s tenacious women protesters at the White House on Monday, President Obama bluntly referred to Zimbabwe’s president as a dictator.
- Triumph of a Dreamer Of all the people earning university degrees this year, perhaps the most remarkable story belongs a one-time impoverished cattle-herd from Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabwe: Opposition Lawyers Ask for New Judge in Bennett... Lawyers for Roy Bennett, a senior leader in the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, accused trial judge Chinembiri Bhunu of bias based on comments he made in a related case in 2006.
- Group Won’t Suspend Zimbabwe on Mining Abuses Members of the United Nations-endorsed Kimberley Process will send a monitor to decide whether future exports of rough diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe can be certified as conflict-free.
- Tsvangirai Calls Off Cabinet-Meetings Boycott Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe said that his party had called off its boycott of cabinet meetings, but it was unclear what Mr. Tsvangirai received in return for backing down.
- Africa’s Diamond Trade Under Scrutiny The viability of the Kimberley Process, the international effort to halt the trading of so-called blood diamonds, is on the line this week and the test case is Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabwe Expels U.N. Investigator The official, Manfred Nowak, was supposed to meet with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai but was instead detained at the airport and ejected from the country.
- African Pair Reigns as Doubles Queens This week, Cara Black and Liezel Huber will attempt to win their third straight Tour championship against a field that includes the Williams sisters, who are in pursuit of their No. 1 ranking.
- Zimbabwe Police Raid Rivals’ House A rift widened within a power-sharing government after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party stopped dealing with President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF.
ZimbabweNews.net
- Zimbabwean mines minister in trouble over diamond mine pa... Harare - Controversy deepened Monday over the Zimbabwean government's handling of the Chiadzwa diamond field in the eastern Zimbabwe, with revelations of serious irregularities by the mines minister a...
- Zimbabwe strike forces Bennett trial delay By Nelson Banya Harare - The trial of Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett was postponed indefinitely on Monday as court workers joined a wage strike by government employees. Court officia...
- 2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe Commissions Tsvangirai Says Early Elections Could Solve Zimbabwe's Political Problems Two widely respected Zimbabaweans have been appointed to head up the new human-rights commission and the electoral commission....
- 2 New Chairmen to Head Key Zimbabwe Commissions Tsvangirai Says Early Elections Could Solve Zimbabwe's Political Problems Two widely respected Zimbabaweans have been appointed to head up the new human-rights commission and the electoral commission....
- Why is the US, EU and Britain interested in Zimbabwe opinion Today we see Zimbabwe being attacked by United States (US) and British media terrorism. Their attack is under the guise of bringing "democracy" to Zimbabwe, led by US imperialist fronts like,...
- U.S. Delegation to Review Govt Power-Sharing Deal A US Congressional delegation will visit Zimbabwe this month to review the power- sharing deal, the embassy confirmed last week. The delegation will also review US humanitarian work in Zimbabwe. The...
- Zimbabwe Open Gets Sunshine Lustre FOUR of Sunshine Tour's big five Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken, JBE Kruger and James Kamte have signed up for the revived Zimbabwe Open to be held in April. The once prestigious tournament went off ...
- Sombre Birthday for Ailing GNU ZIMBABWE'S unity government will mark its first anniversary this week but there is will be no popping of champagne corks. On February 11 last year then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn i...
- Zimbabwe and Botswana to meet on ranger dispute Zimbabwe and Botswana officials are to meet this week to resolve a diplomatic stand-off over the detention of three Botswanan game rangers who strayed across the border, state media reported on Sunday...
- Rayner heads to Zimbabwe for Twenty20 Rayner didn't feature in the Sussex side as they won the 2009 English Twenty20 Cup which secured them a place in the Champions League, but with Rory Hamilton-Brown's departure to Surrey there will be ...
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