Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Botswana's president, Ian Khama, is seen here with President Obama in November last year. Zimbabwe has now released two Botswana game rangers who had been arrested for straying into Zimbabwean territory and charged with trespassing while carrying "weapons of war". Zimbabwe remains unapologetic and says Botswana should not complain because it has done the same to Zimbabwean policemen. The Zimbabwe Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced yesterday that the Botswana Minister of Foreign Affairs was "a liar". Harare, Zimbabwe 10 February 2010 The two Ministers of Home Affairs in the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government held a press conference on Monday in Harare where they effectively told Botswana to go and jump into the nearest lake. Botswana last week protested at the detention and trial of three game rangers in Hwange, near the resort town of Victoria Falls.  But that statement has now been overtaken by events, after the two Tswana rangers appeared before a magistrat...

ARVs: Zimbabwe has run out of the type of HIV/AIDS drugs used to treat those who have developed resistance to these normal ARV drugs and there is a fear that, within a short time, thousands of people could die as their immune systems are overwhelmed. The Government says it knows nothing about this, even though AIDS organisations have been inundated by HIV and AIDS patients in the last two weeks, who say they are on death's door because they are being told to go and find elsewhere if they can. Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 February 2010 Zimbabwe has run out of second-line HIV/AIDS anti-retroviral drugs, leading health and HIV/AIDS experts to predict massive deaths within a very short of time. Second-line anti-retrovirals are the medication taken by HIV/AIDS sufferers who have developed resistance to the first line of defence: the normal anti-retrovirals. This is mostly due to them not following the prescribed dosages. In the absence of the second line drugs, health experts say, patients will...

Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono (above), is still operating pretty much as though he were the de facto Prime Minister he was before the formation of the coalition Government between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe. Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 February 2010 Senior staff at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, headed by Mugabe's blue-eyed boy, Gideon Gono, have spent US$215 000 on food in the last month, with the money having been authorised by officials in Tendai Biti's Ministry of Finance. Biti is also the MDC-Tsvangirai Secretary-General. The Minister claims that this expenditure is being made without his knowledge and that he is being "circumvented"! Gono has been emboldened by Biti's failure to have him fired. Mugabe has personally and publicly said "Gono is not going anywhere, show me what wrong he has done." Quite a lot of wrong, he as done, it turns out. Recently, as Tendai Biti toured the world, going to America to lobby Congressmen to rem...

A Botswana Game Ranger poses for a photograph: three such rangers have been arrested in Zimbabwe and are currently on trial at Hwange Magistrates' Court in Zimbabwe. They had crossed into Zimbabwe in pursuit of rogue lions and were intercepted as they tried to reenter Botswana. Zimbabwe has refused to release them and, as a result, the Botswana government has recalled its top Defence and Intelligence attaches from Harare, demanding that Zimbabwe does the same before the end of this month. Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 February 2010 The Government of Botswana has recalled its military and intelligence attaches from Zimbabwe and has demanded that Zimbabwe recall its own attaches from Botswana within 30 days. The diplomatic chaos is a result of the arrest of Tswana (Botswana citizens) game rangers who had allegedly crossed into Zimbabwean territory illegally. They were, say Zimbabwe authorities, also carrying "weapons of war". The Botswana Foreign Minister, Phandu Skelemani, said in ...

Zimbabwe civil servants attend a rally in Harare on Thursday to press home their demand for decent wages. On Friday, Government was effectively brought to a standstill as the civil servants announced a strike action which will go on indefinitely. The civil servants currently earn around US$150 per month and are demanding a salary of US$630 as a minimum for themto go back to work. Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 February 2010 The Inclusive Government of Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe has effectively been shut down by a civil servants' strike, which the strikers say will not end until their demands are met. Teachers and all other civil servants have downed tools after the government failed to meet their demand of a minimum salary of more than US$600 per month. Tendai Biti, the Minister of Finance in the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government and also MDC-T Secretary-General, says the demands are ridiculous since the government is "not a productive entity". He says he can not "draw wa...

While Morgan Tsvangirai was busy enjoying himself at the Davos World Economic Forum (above), back home in Zimbabwe, he was having the rug pulled from under him by Mugabe, who has instructed all ministers, including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to report to the two Vice presidents of Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 February 2010 First of all, apologies to Isaac and other avid readers who have fired off emails DEMANDING that I update the blog!!!! (I appreciate your keen interest). The lapse in updating the blog has been the result of a few developments over here in Zimbabwe that took me away from my computer for a few days - out in the bush, my other means of connecting are not as reliable as the broadband in Harare. Now to today's story. In a stunning development revealed by The Independent here today, one of the men I have previously identified as one of the three most powerful men in Zimbabwe, Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, has written to all Minister...