Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

These are the Chimanimani Mountains in Eastern Zimbabwe, where some more diamonds have been found and a new rush has started. Lebanese buyers are said to be the most active and persistent as they deal with the new illegal diamond miners, called panners because of the rudimentary equipment they traditionally use to extract the precious stones and minerals. Now that the government of Zimbabwe has publicly said it will intervene, it will not be long before we see another bloodbath like the one witnessed at Chiadzwa in Marange, at the original diamond fields of Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe, 01 February 2010 As more and more of the Zimbabwe's Manicaland Province area is discovered to contain even more diamonds than previously thought, Lebanese citizens have emerged as the major driving force behind the new surge in informal mining of the precious stones in the area. The area that had been previously identified as rich in diamond deposits in Eastern Zimbabwe's Manicaland Province (Mara

Robert Mugabe is greeted yesterday (Saturday 30 January 2010) at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending the African Union Summit, at which, surprisingly, Zimbabwe has been elected into the Peace and Security Council of the continental body, the African Union. Mugabe is currently on a high, after getting the aid of the British in putting Morgan Tsvangirai on the back foot, getting the support of regional and African leaders for his calls for Tsvangirai to make Britain and "her allies"lift"sanctions against him. Harare, Zimbabwe, 31 January 2010 In February 2009, Morgan Tsvangirai threw Robert Mugabe a lifeline, thereby assuring the loser of Zimbabwe's last credible presidential poll a continued stay in office. Now Mugabe is using the very same lifeline given to him by Morgan Tsvangirai to strangle the MDC-Tsvangirai leader. Tsvangirai is feeling the heat. As I predicted early last year (when I said it will not be long before we hear Morgan Tsvang

Robert "The Solution" Mugabe addresses the media at the end of the ZANU PF Politburo meeting on Wednesday 27 January 2010 at ZANU PF Headquarters along Rotten Row in Harare. The president of Zimbabwe says the Politburo has directed that no more concessions be made to the MDC-Tsvangirai until sanctions (illegal sanctions, he calls them) are lifted unconditionally by Britain, American and the European Union and their allies. Mugabe had earlier informed ministers from ZANU PF that Jacob Zuma and other SADC presidents had told him that they support this stance Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 January 2010 Robert "The Solution", the Houdini president of Zimbabwe, appears to have done it again, claiming to three senior ZANU PF ministers that he spoke to Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, this week and got an assurance from him that the issue of sanctions was of real concern to the South African Development Community (SADC) leader because it was a "threat to regional secur

Dr Evil, aka, Robert "The Solution" Mugabe, seen here leaving ZANU PF Headquarters in Harare on Wednesday, 27 January, surrounded by some of his security guards. The guards are only part of his vast motorcade, guzzling enough fuel to drive to London and back every week. Morgan Tsvangirai, aka Prime Minister Mini-me Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 January 2010 Morgan Tsvangirai, aka Prime Minister Mini-me of Zimbabwe, is demanding what Dr Evil, aka Robert "The Solution" Mugabe has in terms of security, essentially signalling that there will be no change in the way Zimbabwe is governed should Prime Minister Mini-me replace Dr Evil as President of Zimbabwe. In the ongoing discussions around "outstanding issues" in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, Morgan Tsvangirai wants to be given the same level of security as Mugabe. The President of Zimbabwe currently moves around with a convoy around 15 cars, including an ambulance that is equipped to be a mobil

Peter Hitschmann arrives at Harare High court in Zimbabwe on Thursday last week for the trial of MDC-T Treasurer Roy Bennett, in which he is a key witness for the State. The presiding judge has now ruled that he is a "hostile"witness against the State, allowing Attorney-General Johannes Tomana to cross-examine him in order to discredit his new testimony that the confession upon which Roy Bennett's current prosecution is based was obtained under torture. Harare, Zimbabwe, 25 January 2010 Zimbabwe's Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana, has managed to get his own main witness declared "hostile"to him by the judge presiding over the ongoing trial of MDC-T Treasurer-General Roy Bennett. It means that Tomana has managed to score a victory most observers said was unlikely and strengthen the Attorney-General's hand considerably in the trial of the embattled Tsvangirai confidante, Roy Bennett. Justice Bhunu said that he was impeaching Hitschmann on the basis of his

Zimbabwe police appear to have decided that chasing after protesters does not pay but that crime is the route to go. Several have been arrested in the last few months for robberies, mostly armed robberies, in a move that also shows that there are others within the force whose suffering has not blunted that their sense of right and wrong. Still, the underpaid civil servants in Zimbabwe, including policemen and Intelligence agents will continue to engage in these activities until and unless their working and remuneration conditions are improved Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 January 2010 Struggling Zimbabwe police officers have been in the news of late quite a lot for engaging in crime activities and the latest case involves a police officer and a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operative, together with car dealers. Police in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe have now arrested four people, including the police officer and CIO operative. They have been charged with armed robbery a

A mother buried her baby alive in Zimbabwe last week. The baby miraculously survived a whole night buried in the "grave", which was really just a pit. She has been hauled before a traditional court and fined a goat and a cow by Chief Negomo. It reminds me of the infamous incident when my friend Noreen Welch and the late Tsitsi Vera were suspended by Zimbabwe Television after failing to contain themselves while reading the story of a woman who had gone to the toilet on a train and given birth thinking she only needed to relieve herself, unaware that she was pregnant. This is much sadder, obviously and the mother deserve much more than being fined a cow and a sheep Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 January 2010 A new-born baby buried alive by her mother survived for a whole night in the grave before being rescued by an alert man who lives near the graveyard. Phibian Chinehasha (the surname means "that which has anger"in the Shona language of Zimbabwe) says he became suspicious aft

Zimbabwean farmers face a bleak season as rains refuse to fall, leading Cabinet to announce that it will meet next week "over the dry spell", although it is unclear what exactly they intend to do to God about this.. Of course, this is all a convenient scapegoat for the failure by the Inclusive Government of Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe to turn its attention away from the feeding trough to the farming season. Fertiliser is in short supply and seed was late arriving in Zimbabwe. Now the MDC-T will also adopt Mugabe's perennial excuse for bad planning - "there was a drought"! Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 January 2010 Zimbabwe's completely useless and lunatic fringe, masquerading as a Cabinet, has announced that it will convene an urgent meeting "over the dry spell"that is threatening to plunge the country into another year of food shortages. What exactly they intend to do at this meeting about this "Act of God"remains a mystery. The drooling

Buttock-waving Mugabe women supporters and youths disrupted a Constitutional Conference in Harare last July 14 (above), leading to police being called in to restore order and guard the meetings. Now, ZANU PF, Mugabe's party, and MDC-Tsvangirai have joined hands to loots funds allocated to the process by donors. The donors have responded by refusing to pay for lavish bar bills, room service and US$40 daily "allowances"for almost a thousand delegates, including gatecrashers and street kids who were allowed to attend the last workshop earlier this month. The organisers from ZANU PF and MDC responded by looting US$4 million given to them by Finance Minister and Tsvangirai confidante Tendai Biti Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 January 2010 Donors like the United Nations Development Fund have dumped the corruption-ridden Zimbabwe Constitution-making process amid claims by ZANU PF that the move is informed by the failure of Western governments to craft a Constitution on behalf of Zimbabwe.

Morgan Tsvangirai is booed as he leaves the podium at Southwark Cathedral in London after he failed to finish his speech to Zimbabweans there on June 20 2009. The MDC leader and Zimbabwean Prime Minister had just called for Zimbabweans to return home because it was now safe despite all evidence to the contrary. Tsvangirai subsequently told a reporter in South Africa that he stands by the statement that Zimbabweans outside the country must return and that he would no longer support their claims for asylum since things had normalised back home. Tsvangirai supporters should have no problems following this instruction since they believe that he is never wrong Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 January 2010 Although ZANU PF youths and even the military continue to run riot in the rural areas of Zimbabwe, threatening "a bullet to the head"for anyone voting for Morgan Tsvangirai in the next elections, most MDC supporters in the Diaspora (especially United Kingdom and America), continue to defend

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai playing buddy-buddy with newly sworn-in Vice President John Nkomo in Harare last month. The Prime Minister has egg on his face again today after announcing one of Mugabe's "promises" as fact to his supporters, only to have ZANU PF announce yesterday that the MDC was simply "making noise"! Although his supporters refuse to see it or accept it, the Prime Minister in way over his head. Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 January 2010 Robert "The Solution"Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, has gone back on yet another promise to Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's hapless Prime Minister and Mugabe's ally in the coalition government currently ruling Zimbabwe. This time, Mugabe is going back on his word concerning the appointment of ambassadors from the MDC-Tsvangirai party. When an "agreement"was reached between Mugabe and Tsvangirai over Zimbabwean ambassadors, Tsvangirai announced that the Zimbabwe president has agreed that o

After invading farms (above) in Zimbabwe, ZANU PF went on to dish out these farms to people with no resources to work the land, while some senior politicians from both ZANU PF and MDC managed to lay their hands of multiple farms, hoarding them in the hope that they would get title deeds and eventually sell the farms (perhaps even back to their former owners). This makes the likelihood of a Land audit to investigate productivity and those with more than one farm highly unlikely. On Tuesday, a ZANU PF Minister told Zimbabwe television that there will no land audit until sanctions on Zimbabwe are lifted Harare, Zimbabwe, 21 January 2010 Robert Mugabe's party has ruled out carrying out a Land Audit demanded by the people of Zimbabwe, the MDC, opposition parties and donors who want to pour in aid for agriculture in Zimbabwe. And they are blaming "sanctions" for their refusal to allow an audit to gauge whether there are black farmers with multiple farms and to also see whether

With civil society organisations like the National Constitutional Assembly of Zimbabwe "ready to die for a new constitution" not based on the dismal Kariba Draft agreed to between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in 2005, the process that was supposed to have started this month is now suspended. This comes as it is alleged that US$4 million given to the process has been "looted" and not a single thing required for the "outreach" purchased Harare, Zimbabwe, 21 January 2010 What did I tell you about celebrating "announcements of intentions"? Amid reports that US$4 million already given to the Constitution-making process for Zimbabwe's new Constitution, parliament has announced that the process has been suspended "indefinitely" until certain issues are sorted out. "All constitutional programmes have been suspended by the management committee. They felt there were other issues which needed attention before the outreach programme begins. "

Harare, Zimbabwe, 20 January 2010