Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Simba Makoni, who will head the interim leadership of the new political party, to be called Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn (MKD)., which officially launches tomorrow. Tomorrow, Wednesday 1 July 2009, Dr Simba Makoni finally launches the Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn party. Yes, the party will be known as Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn The launch will be held at Stoddart Hall in Mbare, a teeming high-density suburb of Harare, the capital city. The function starts at 10:30a.m. The party launches with an interim leadership to be headed by Dr Makoni and will start rolling out formal structures all over the country soon after that. Already, I understand delegates from all the provinces of Zimbabwe have registered for the event, the most exciting political development in the country since the launch of the Inclusive Government of Robert Mugabe (The Solution) and Morgan Tsvangirai. In a sign of just how little things have changed, the new party had to seek police clearance to hold the launch meeting, and the clearance was d

SITTING PRETTY: Robert "The Solution" Mugabe is now supremely confident and secure in his position, thanks to Prime Minister Tsvangirai. None of this is likely to change Nothing will come of it, of course. You have, I am sure, heard by now that the MDC-T boycotted cabinet today. They were protesting the moving of cabinet from Tuesday to Monday. They figured the move by Mugabe, who leaves for an African Union Summit in Libya on Tuesday (today), was designed to deny the Prime Minister the opportunity to chair cabinet. The boycott is mere posturing, of course. The threat by Deputy PM Thokozani Khupe that the MDC-T reserves the right to disengage from the Coalition government is also hollow and only serves to drive the final nail into any prospects for recovery. More importantly, though, people must also realise that this is mere posturing, designed to hoodwink the public into thinking the MDC-T has finally retrieved its spine from the trash can. After all, Simba Makoni is launch

Morgan Tsvangirai, who, it turns out has lied to Zimbabwe three times now in the last two months, is seen here leaving No 20 Downing Sreet after meeting Gordon Brown. It is now clear that the Prime Minister also wishes to be a dictator: "You'd better listen to me," as he said to Zimbabweans who booed him last weekend On three seperate occasions this year, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told the media, the nation (at the May Day Rally at Gwanzura stadium, in the presence of Dr Simba Makoni and thousands others) and in a meeting with the leadership of the National Constitutional Assembly, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai stated that the Kariba Draft Constitution would NOT be used as the basis for a new Constitution. He lied. Last week, his party, the MDC-T, as well as MDC and ZANU PF, published the Kariba Draft as an insert in the State media. The draft is now officially the basis for any new Constitution. It may look like thePrime Minister and his party have capitulated

UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE: (Canoeing on The Zambezi): The inclusive government does indeed appear to be all at sea right now, with Mugabe sending his own begging mission to The East after Morgan Tsvangirai came back empty-handed from Europe and the USA. The dictator has also been having a bit of fun at the expense of the Prime Minister. It emerges the Prime Minister has been calling home to speak with Mugabe during his three-week tour of Europe and the United States. I am told the first time it happened, Mugabe told Tsvangirai, "Thank you for calling, Prime Minister, let me secure the line first and then call you back."! But the real news is how Mugabe is playing the part of victim convincingly. Here's what happened. The president told the Prime Minister that he (The Solution) would have gone to the UN himself, but had decided on sending Joice Mujuru because "it is not wise under the current circumstances for both you and I to be out of the country." I think

1958-2009 A file picture of Michael Jackson, who Died Yesterday aged 50 Michael Jackson died of a heart attack in Los Angeles yesterday. Paramedics were called to his home in Bel Air at about 12:26 p.m anf ound him not breathing. A doctor was attempting CPR. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead after a bried period in a deep coma. Jackson, one of the most talented musicians of his generation, was 50. He leaves three children, aged 7, 12 and 11. Two boys and a girl. Jackson was in Zimbabwe a few years ago, looking for invesment opportunities and he drove around town with Philip Chiyangwa, Mugabe's nephew. He also got to meet Mugabe and his family while in the country. Nothing was heard of the investment plans after that. RIP Michael Jackson.

Showing his age: The Solution, Robert Mugabe, struggles up the steps at Gideon Gono's farm with King Mswati of Swaziland earlier this month. The dictator has now come out smash all the toys his and Tsvangirai's Inclusive Government was playing with. It really is a crisis There goes the neighbourhood. Yesterday, Robert "The Solution" Mugabe dealt a massive, irreparable blow to any prospects of economic recovery and investment in Zimbabwe. Speaking to his party's National Consultative Assembly, Mugabe said he was dead set against the dollarisation of the economy and that he is going to change it. His exact words were "Tiri kuongorora kuzvichinja todzokera kumari yedu." Which means, "We are looking at changing all that and going back to using our own currency." Good God! What has got into the man, this Prime Minister's "Solution"? Anyone who was thinking about investing in Zimbabwe will now back off sharpish. This is guaranteed. Dol

Morgan Tsvangirai chats to clients at Stanbic Bank during last year's cash shortages. Stanbic appears now to be one of the worst banks in Zimbabwe, destroying confidence in the banking system by taking more than three days to do an electronic transfer that should be instant, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. For three days now, Stanbic Bank in Zimbabwe (part of the Standard Bank of South Africa Group) has been failing to make an electronic transfer of funds from a funded account at their bank to the payee at Barclays Bank. An electronic transfer is supposed to be instant or at worst to be effected overnight. But three days later, Stanbic are still to make the payment. There is no explanation about why this is so. The acount from which they should transfer the money is funded, they accepted the order and stamped it. Which begs the question: What is Stanbic doing with people's money held by them? It also raises other questions. Such as: With a banking system so utterly u

President Rupiah Banda, the Zimbabwe-born Zambian Head of State, remonstrates with the monkey that had just urinated on him at the Zambian State House, where he was holding a press conference. Pic Source A cheeky monkey urinated on President Rubiah Banda of Zambia at a State House press conference yesterday. No, this is not a joke. Banda, who had called the press conference to discuss vice-presidential candidates and the Zambian economy, looked up and shouted at the monkey: "You have urinated on my jacket!" The press conference was held under a tree in the Zambia State House grounds, where Kaunda famously strolled with Rhodesian PM Ian Smith accompanies by zebra and the other wildlife that is kept there. Banda was in Zimbabwe in April this year, where he officiated at the opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Born in Zimbabwe, the Zambian president also paid a visit to Gwanda in Matabeleland, where he grew up. The monkey that urinated on the President Banda appare

Miners at the vast Chiyadzwa Diamond Field in Zimbabwe. There is a new push to ban diamonds from here on the international market Just as Morgan Tsvangirai ends his begging trip to the USA and Europe, news comes that Zimbabwe diamonds will now almost certainly be banned totally from the world market. The current chair of The Kimberley Process, Namibian Deputy Mines Minister Bernhard Esau, told a conference of the Kimberley Process group in Windhoek today that "gaps can be strengthened" with regards to the process in Zimbabwe. It was a surprising thing, coming as it does from a government that supports Mugabe heavily. The group pointed to the Marange massacres of illegal miners as a top concern for them and it is the Marange diamonds that they do not want out in the market. The Zimbabwe government now denies the killings. It's strange, because it was the MDC-T Deputy Minister of Mines who defended the ZANU PF abuses in Marange. "There are unsubstantiated reports of a

Deputy PM Arthur Mutambara at the World Economic Forum a couple of weeks back. He is spearheading a doomed drive to "rebrand" Zimbabwe. Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara personally called yesterday to invite us to a "Rebranding Zimbabwe" workshop due to be held here in Harare tomorrow (25 June 2009). Unfortunately, Dr Makoni had a prior engagement and had to send regrets for this event. (Some exciting things are happening here and Zimbabwe will experience a political earthquake in the next few days!) But it all just got me thinking: This is an exercise in futility. Some things will actually need to change before Zimbabwe can spend money on rebranding. Right now, the only thing that has changed is that the two MDCs are now part of ZANU PF. Other than that, repressive laws are still in operation, for example. Journalists are still barred from Zimbabwe, sewage continues to flow in the streets, democracy activists continue to be harassed and arrested, WOZA proteste

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai addresses the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London yesterday June 23 2009. It is now clear that there really are two governments in Zimbabwe, working at cross purposes There is no government in Zimbabwe, of that we can be certain. We will break it down like this: The Prime Minister is supposed to be in charge of policy formulation and implementation. His title misleadingly suggests that he is also Head of Government. Which he is not. Webster Shamu, minister of information, made that clear. Instead, we were told that Tsvangirai is the leader of government business in parliament and that is all there is to it. In other words, and if we are to put it in local parlance, "Tsvangirai anotonga muparliament chete " – meaning "Tsvangirai only governs in parliament." So that is the attitude: you have a majority in parliament, and that is where you can prance around and call yourself boss. But every cabinet minister has a right to

This was the last straw desperate MDC-T and Tsvangirai apologists were clinging to, that Jacob Zuma would read Mugabe the riot act, unlike the hated Mbeki. On Saturday, Mugabe was pallying around with Zuma at the SADc Heads of State meeting in Johannesburg as can be seen here. Then King Mswati emerged to tell reporters that no one had written to them to complain about Zimbabwe and they will, therefore, not be discussing it. The MDC-T leadership meets today in Harare in a panic response to this development. They will only issue more meaningless deadlines and resolutions that are not very resolute at all. I did tell you, did I not, almost a month ago, to hysterical cries of protest from MDC-T and Tsvangirai apologists ,that outstanding issues will remain outstanding. It is now official. King Mswati, who was living it up with Gideon Gono and Robert "Tsvangirai's Solution" Mugabe at Gono's farm a couple of weeks back, has said that "no official" complaint has be

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai leaves No. 10 Downing Street after a meeting with embattled British PM Gordon Brown. Tsvangirai had earlier dismissed Sekai Holland and the Diaspora as "paranoid" and "obsessed". Looks very pleased with himself, doesn't he? Not only has Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe called his own minister of National Healing, Sekai Holland, as well as Zimbabweans in the diaspora "paranoid", but he has also stated that "if you wanted a Mugabe ouster, you should have staged a revolution." Tsvangirai made the comments during an interview on Monday with BBC Radio Four. Mike Thompson, the interviewer, tried to bring up the subject of the continued harassment of MDC-T officials, MPs, Civil rights activists and journalists by referring to an interview he had in Zimbabwe two weeks ago with Sekai Holland. He resisted naming the Minister, but that did not stop Tsvangirai. "I know who we are talking. We are

Morgan Tsvangirai being welcomed to No. 10 Downing Street by Gordon Brown earlier today. The Zimbabwe PM has now told reporters in London that the British will "not appreciate" Zimbabweans claiming asylum in Britain because "things are fine back home" now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his office were warned through the official media yesterday as Joice Mujuru flew off to the United States to attend a UN Summit. They were warned that the Prime Minister's office has breached not only protocol but also the Official Secrets Act, a breach of which constitutes "treason" under current law. Why? Well, as you all know by now, the state media has all but ignored the Prime Minister's tour overseas (except for today when The Herald splashed on its front the story about Tsvangirai being booed by Zimbabweans in London.) So Tsvangirai published his own paper, with pictures of him meeting Obama et al. He distributed it free. The state media has reacted by p

Part of the crowd that whistled, jeered and humiliated Tsvangirai on Saturday in London. The PM later told a press conference that Zimbabweans in the UK were ignorant and that he does not get this kind of treatment "when I meet Zimbabweans back home." Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe shouts back at protesters who had just disrupted his speech, chanting: "Mugabe must go!" on Saturday at the Southwark Cathedral' He just sat back down next to Elton Mangoma and Tendai Biti when he exploded, shouting back at the chanting crowd and waving his hands dismissively The BBC has released a video showing the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai, unable to make his address at Southwark Cathedral amid booes and jeers. He started off by saying: "I want to state something here and I will state it boldly..." At which point a member of the audience interjected and said: "Mugabe must go!" Tsvangirai continued: "Zimbabweans must come h

Morgan Tsvangirai slinks off as he is jeered by Zimbabweans in London at Southwark Cathedral. This was just over two hours ago as I write this. Tsvangirai had to cut short the event and leave after it became clear that the majority of the people present did not want to hear his apologies and lies about the "stability" of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai was forced to cut short his address to Zimbabweans at Southwark Cathedral in London after they started jeering him. This happened about two hours ago. According to the BBC website , Tsvangirai told his audience that his and Mugabe's government has ensured that there is "peace and stability" in Zimbabwe. It was at that point that the crowd started jeering them, with some holding banners calling for Mugabe to go. As we all know, Tsvangirai now says there is no need for Mugabe to go. In fact, he says Mugabe "is the solution" to Zimbabwe's impasse, telling an audience at Wits University in South Africa last

I do this now and again, when something really stunning catches my eye. This photo is a shot from a webcam in Hungary, which took a picture of a curious bird in flight. The bird was staring straight into camera when the the shot was taken. The camera is set to take a shot once every minute, making the coicidence of the moment even more stunning. Yeah, we got birds in Zimbabwe, so I am still on-topic for the blog! Source

Showing strain: The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai at a press conference with the EU leadership in Brussels earlier today, June 18 2009 The MDC-T and its cohorts must make up their minds fast. This thing of "fighting from within" simply will not work, has never worked and has no hope of working. I said as much in January when I asked what the Prime Minister would be "struggling" against when he himself is in charge of policy formulation and implementation. If the MDC-T has decided to appease Mugabe, they should go all the way and stop wasting the people's time with this Hoky-Poky dance they are engaged in. Morgan Tsvangirai, his party and his supporters are all agreed now that Mugabe is The Solution to Zimbabwe's problems. They keep telling us as much every time they open their mouths. Mugabe hears this. He believes it. It tells him the MDC-T recognises that he is the glue that is holding Zimbabwe together. That is exactly what the Prime Minis

Irene Khan, Head Honcho at Amnesty International is seen here at a press conference in Harare earlier today. She said human rights violations persist and said the Unity Government had failed to arrest this trend. In Zimbabwe today, Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, issued a damning report of the Unity government to journalists. But even this was couched in diplomatic-speak, which is uncharacteristic of the organisation. Khan said commitment was lacking from "sections" of the government, without naming names. She did, however, state that "persistent and serious human rights violations continue." Quite sensibly, she also added, "The government must give as much attention to securing human rights reforms as they are to seeking economic resources ." This will no doubt get The Solution's back up. It will be dismissed as talk of regime-change agenda. It is all quite predictable that way. The Mail and Guardian says: "Khan said a