Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono (right) seen here with Mugabe a his (gonos) brothers funeral some time back, has not died but was indeed involved in an accident along Chiredzi Road. The main news in Zimbabwe has just confirmed that Gono is not dead but has been silent on his accident, although my sources at the Reserve Bank confirm that Gono was involved in the accident Harare, Zimbabwe, 25 June 2010 Today, Zimbabwe was flooded with SMS messages claiming that Gideon Gono, the powerful Zimbabwean Central Bank Governor had been in an accident and died. But a call to my sources at the Reserve Bank only confirmed that the Governor had indeed been in an accident on the road from Chiredzi. According to my sources, as far as they know, Gono did not die in the accident. Local television news tonight also reported that Gono has not died and is alive and well. He was at work today, according to the news. The bit about him being at work is rather doubtful because the Governor was i

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai At the Press Conference today when he fired Energy Minister Elias Mudzuri and shifted some deck chairs on the Titanic Government. Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 June 2010 Clearly, the knives are now out for those said to be plotting against Morgan Tsvangirai's Life Presidency of the MDC that carries his surname. The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe has fired one of the two heavyweights against him in the party. Elias Mudzuri, the Minister of Energy, is now no Minister at all, "redeployed to the party", according to Morgan Tsvangirai. Tendai Biti the PM left alone. This is basically a shot across the bow for the Finance Minister. Now he knows Tsvangirai means to be elected president at the next Congress and still has power to destroy careers for the leaders of the MDC-T. Indeed, the tone of the press conference left no doubt at all that the Prime Minister had said he was firing Mudzuri for incompetence. Mudzuri also suffered for what Tsvangirai considered

This is what a Limpopo man died for: the match between Germany and Australia on June 13 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Limpopo is on the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The 61-year old man fought for the remote with his wife and children and resorted to changing channels by hand when they overpowered him. At which point they beat him to death. All because they wanted to watch a gospel show and not soccer Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 June 2010 David Makoeya, a South African man in the Limpopo province of South Africa, on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, was beaten to death this last week by his wife and two children after insisting on watching Germany play Australia in the World Cup on television. Makoeya, who was 61, had his remote control confiscated by his wife, who insisted that she and the children wanted to watch a gospel show at that time. Furious, Makoeya attempted several times to take back the remote but failed. At which point he then stood up an

The Econet Founder and Rockefeller Foundation Trustee, Strive Masiyiwa, is now said to have effectively taken over the MDC. Those in the MDC-T aligned to Tsvangirai believe that the man wants the job of leading Zimbabwe and the opposition for himself, but they may be mistaken. What is not in doubt is that Masiyiwa will be a nominee, from the floor, for president of the MDC-T at the next Congress. Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 June 2010 Lets cut right to the chase: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai lost control of the MDC-T six months ago, it has now emerged. Yes, the latest news from Zimbabwe is that the Prime Minister lost his party to Strive Masiyiwa, the founder of Econet and a man many believe would make a good president, seeing as he has already done wonders in the private sector, is a staunch christian and is unlikely to filch funds from the state like some of the so-called leaders we have now have been known to do. News of Strive's takeover of the party has been clouded for some time

Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's Prime Minister in a government with Robert "The Solution" Mugabe, is seen here sitting with his new girlfriend, Locadia Tembo, at an evangelical function in Harare last week. Tembo appeared to get along well with Tsvangirai's daughter, Vimbai, with whom she was in deep conversation throughout the proceedings Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 June 2010 Prime Minister Mini-me, Morgan Tsvangirai was at a evangelical function last week with his new girlfriend, Locadia Tembo. Tembo was reported by The Standard as being in deep conversation with Tsvangirai's daughter, Vimbai throughout the service, which was being conducted Joyce Meyer. Naturally, there was a photographer just waiting to pounce and the picture duly made it to the front page of The Standard this week. When contacted for comment, Tembo told the reporter to write whatever they wanted to write because they have been writing all along without talking to her. Locadia sat just behind

"Oh my God! Is that a gun you are holding, Morgan!" Tendai Biti and Morgan Tsvangirai are shown here before they came into office (but not power) in the Inclusive Government and before Tsvangirai doctored the MDC-Tsvangirai constitution to abolish term limits for the presidency of his party. Harare, Zimbabwe, 13 June 2010 Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, on 2 June called a surprise emergency meeting of the MDC-Tsvangirai National Leadership to confront Tendai Biti, the Minister of Finance and MDC-T Secretary-General over allegations that the Minister was undermining the Prime Minister and blocking funding. Tsvangirai produced a report, which he claimed had been compiled by the Security Department of the MDC-T. The report alleged that Biti and his loyalists were busy going around the country "re-organising" party structured to pack them with their own sympathisers ahead of the MDC-T Congress slated for some time next year. The meeting was attended b

Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 June 2010 While Econet is claiming that it is now the largest mobile phone network in Zimbabwe, most of its vaunted huge subscriber base have been failing completely to make phone calls since last week. The company to have greedily chased numbers while completely neglecting its infrastrcuture. While putting out dubious claims of base stations being built, it is clear Econet has fallen into the same trap as befell Netone a year or so ago: failure to invest in infrastructure in order to continue giving service to customers. Super dividends and profits are being declared by Econet, which it now turns out is a bad move because that money should have gone to ensuring good quality service. People on Econet right now just get the message: "Disconnecting" when they are trying to call out. This has been happening for a week and just as the World Cup starts. Previously, these companies (like Econet) could blame their incompetence on the bad politics and the bad eco

Minister of Energy and MDC-Tsvangirai alleged "Organising Secretary" appears incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery. The Minister went on national television to lie to the nation that he had ordered ZESA not to implement power cuts during the world cup. But a large section of the Harare population failed to watch the opening matches on Friday because of ZESA went ahead anyway and cut them off Harare, Zimbabwe 12 June 2010 A whole cabinet Minister, a man from the Tsvangirai MDC who is now Minister of Energy, Elias Mudzuri, faced the cameras last week and lied through his teeth, as has been proven over the last couple of days. Mudzuri told the nation that there would be no power cuts and load-shedding for the duration of the World Cup tournament in South Africa, which most people in Zimbabwe will be following. (I myself am not a soccer fan at all, by any stretch of the imagination. I am more a cricket and tennis person and I have actually never attended a soccer match

Simba Sakutukwa (centre in the above photo) has died. He was one of Dr Simba Makoni's most trusted confidants. He passed away on Monday night after a rather short and sudden illness Harare, Zimbabwe, 10 July 2010 A close confidant and friend of Dr Simba Makoni passed away on Monday night in Harare after a short illness. Simba Sakutukwa was Head of Logistics during Makoni's campaign for President in 2008 and headed the Administration Cluster of Makoni's party, Mavambo. He fell ill two about two weeks ago upon his return from Bulawayo where he had gone to set up structures of Mavambo in the company of other party activists. Sakutukwa was 57 years old and the details of his demise are still coming in. Dr Makoni issued the following statement on Tuesday: "Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn (M.K.D) President, Dr Simba Makoni, on behalf of M.K.D and his own behalf would like to extend heartfelt condolences to the Sakutukwa family on the untimely death of a National Steering Committee (NSC

Harare, Zimbabwe, 06 June 2010 A parliamentary committee consisting of MDC and ZANU PF Members of Parliament has proposed that the army presence at Chiadzwa be beefed up to cover even more of the area in order to "curb illegal mining". Although it had been announced months back that the army was moving out of the diamond fields, the Committee lets the cat out of the bay by not calling for the army to return, but calling for them to remain. The manner in which the announcement is being made is also rather confusing. The committee is not, in effect, recommending. The language used by the Chairman of the Protfolio, ZANU PF's Chindori-Chininga, suggests that decisions have been made. One of these decisions is to force whatever investors are given the green light to mine the 75 000 hectares of diamond claims to use security recommended by the government. The recommendation is already being actioned. The army "will"train a special unit to secure diamond fields and thi

Marondera MP and MDC Secretary for Welfare, Ian Kay 9above in blue shirt) is in police custody after police raided his home. They said they had a warrant to search for dirty magazines, weapons and drugs. In the end, they say they found expired drugs in his home, which he was giving away to his constituents because government hospitals have nothing of the sort. Harare, Zimbabwe, 06 June 2010 Marondera farmer and MDC-Tsvangirai MP, Ian Kay, has been arrested by Zimbabwe police who raided his home in the extremely posh Harare suburb of Helensvale (where Mugabe also lives now in his private mansion after abandoning State House and turning it into an office). The police say that they were looking for "offensive material", including pornography, drugs and even weapons of war. There is no word on whether they found any titillating stuff at the MPs house, but the fact that they have arrested him is very telling. Police have him at Harare Central on charges of distributing expired med

© Zimbabwe Standard Newspaper This is Locadia Tembo, who is now apparently Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's girlfriend. Her relationship with the Prime Minister, who heads Zimbabwe's opposition, the MDC-Tsvangirai, which is in a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF, has caused a rift in the opposition party, with senior figures alleging that she may be part of a CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) plot to infiltrate the Prime Minister's party. This is because she a sister to ZANU PF's MP for Goromonzi, a rural constituency Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 June 2010 Discontent within the Executive of the MDC has apparently reached such high levels now that there is a real risk of a split being caused as a result of a relationship the Prime Minister and leader of the MDC-T, Morgan Tsvangirai, has started with a woman who allegedly has strong links to the the party of President Robert Mugabe, ZANU PF. Tsvangirai is said to be in a relationship with Loc

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, seen here on May 11 in conversation with US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (centre) and Senator Russ Feingold (also of President Obama's Democratic Party) at the US Capitol in Washington DC came back home only at the end of May and had a frosty meeting with Mugabe on Monday this week. Nothing came of it, with Mugabe telling Tsvangirai to " go and report to America and Britain" if he wanted. Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 June 2010 On Monday this week, Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe who is in bed with the MDC-T of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, reportedly came out to express open hostility towards the Prime Minister, telling to "go and report to the British and the Americans" that he (Mugabe) was refusing to swear in Roy Bennett and reverse the appointments of senior judges (which Mugabe did without consulting Tsvangirai). Morgan Tsvangirai himself has been busy galivanting around the world, visiting, amongst other countrie

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe waves the national flag upon his arrival at the National Sports Stadium, where Zimbabwe were playing a historic friendly soccer match against Brazil yesterday It's a goal! - A ball finds the back of the net during the Brazil-Zimbabwe soccer encounter at the National Sports Stadium yesterday. Of course, it could only be a goal from the Brazilians, since Zimbabwe came nowhere near the Brazilian goalpost!! Fans troop into the National Sports Stadium in Harare yesterday, to watch Brazil run circles around an outgunned and outclassed Zimbabwe National Soccer Team. Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 June 2010 Five-times Soccer World Cup Champions, Brazil, clobbered a hapless Zimbabwe team in Harare yesterday in front of President Robert Mugabe, who arrived at the stadium waving the Zimbabwe flag and hoping for an upset win by the Zimbabwe Warriors team. Of course, nothing of the sort was ever going to happen. Unlike our superlative cricket team, the Zimbabwe soccer