Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

George Charamba, aka Nathaniel Manheru, who bade us farewell in the pages of the Mugabe newspaper, The Herald last Saturday, has smuggled himself back into the newsroom under yet another alias, Eagle Eye. No one is fooled No sooner had we bade farewell to the son of Manheru, Nathaniel Manheru than he replaces himself with.....himself. This time, though, under another name, the Manheru name, soiled by its partisan defence of tyranny, is no longer comfortable in the stench-filled corridors of this new sulphourous concotion called the Coalition Government. This time, George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman, now optimistically calls himself "Eagle Eye". (I think "A View From The Gutter" is more appropriate.) Worse, he is feeling more provocative than ever before , ending his long missives with "Pamberi chete-chete" - the ominous slogan of ZANU PF during that run-off electoral con job in June 2008. Back then, the full slogan was "Mugabe chete-chete" -...

85 year old Robert Mugabe, the dictator of Zimbabwe, eats cake during his birthday celebrations in Chinoyi earlier today, where he insisted that his Presidential powers are still "intact" despite the coalition arrangement with Morgan Tsvangirai Well, that was to be expected. The SADC Finance Ministers, meeting in the lazy opulence of Cape Town in South Africa, decided not to decide whether or not to commit any funds to the recovery of Zimbabwe's economy and even social fabric. At the end of their meeting, they said they will speak to a few other people and see who can chip in with something. It is an unenthusiastic response to the much-touted unity between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. But this should not surprise anyone. I did point out on this very blog that there was little likelihood of donors wanting to rush in with foreign currency that would only be used to prop up a bloated behemoth of a government, whose focus is worse than that of a drunk. Seventy minist...

Morgan Tsvangirai visiting cholera victims at a Harare hospital earlier today I was discussing Morgan Tsvangirai's "null and void" statement with Dr Makoni yesterday afternoon and was struck by a comment he made with regards to the tone of this statement. "Iyi yangova "ndinogarira vana vangu iyi" - there is no love there anymore, I will just stay on in the marriage for my kids". As he said, the MDC seem to have decided now that since they are in for a penny, they might as well be in for a pound. There is no withdrawal from the government. They may collect evidence to present to SADC in six months' time, but that is all they can do at the moment as Mugabe and ZANU PF stomp on the spirit and even the letter of the agreement. Latest news from here in Zimbabwe says the MDC, after their executive council met today in Harare, are not entirely sure how to react to the arrests of their supporters and leaders by "some people". This is supposed to ...

By law, Morgan Tsvangirai has to have a portrait of Robert Mugabe in his office, where he is seen in the picture above during his press conference yesterda y Robert Mugabe and his new best friend, Morgan Tsvangirai , are planning on completely ignoring the people of Zimbabwe and implementing their own constitution, drafted in the smoky engine bay of a leisure boat on Lake Kariba. Mugabe confirmed this last night in his interview with Tazeen Mandizvidza of the the ZBC. He says a constitution will be put to a referendum in about 24 months, but adds that the constitution is already in place, saying "they" already have one. "They call it the Kariba Draft Constitution," he said, as if this has nothing to do with him at all. Which, in some ways, is true. Tsvangirai, as has now become the norm since he joined government, is likely to just nod or, at the very worst, mumble some misgivings before diving right in there to swim with Mugabe.  They have no intention of holding a...

Robert Mugabe's birthday television interview, a tradition every year since the days of Jonathan Moyo, is being broadcast here in Zimbabwe as I write this. Notably, Mugabe frankly admitted that his daughter, Bona, is staying at the house in Hong Kong (pictured above), "with a friend." "It's for our girl," said Mugabe, "and her friend, another girl. Then we had to have enough room for, masecurity people, you know." Mugabe denies that he bought the house, however. He says he is renting it only "for our girl, while she is studying there. When they finish their degrees, then they come back home." The house was exposed by the London Sunday Times, whose photographer, Richard Jones, had a run-in with Grace Mugabe at the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong, where the Firt Lady had gone to fetch Bona for her holidays back in Zimbabwe. She is reported to have puched him repeatedly in the face and head, wit her diamond ring causing bleeding and injuries t...

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, flanked by Deputy PM Arthur Mutambara at a press conference this afternoon where he announced that he was nullyfying President Mugabe's appointment of Permanent Secretaries. Morgan Tsvangirai was summoned to State House today by Robert Mugabe about an hour after the Prime Minister  issued his statement nullyfying all appointments of Permanent Secretaries announced by Mugabe yesterday. Tsvangirai, during his press conference at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, said the PermSecs who were in the jobs on September 15 should stay in their posts and also directly challenged Mugabe by declaring the appointments "null and void". The meeting at the State House is still going on, I am told. Tsvangirai's statement was particularly noteworthy for the pains it took to avoid Mugabe's name and even the Office of The President. Tsvangirai merely said "no civil servant" has the power to unilaterally appoint Perm Secs. He also stated...