Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

The wave of abductions from last year has started again, signalling to the MDC-T what awaits them if they walk out of the Inclusive Government. The effort is being led by the security establishment, which even Mugabe allegedly has a hard time controlling. It explains a lot of the behaviour from Morgan Tsvangirai right now, insisting on remaining in government to try and minimise the impact of the inevitable assault on his party by ZANU PF as elections approach, whenever that may be. Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 October 2009 The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has confirmed reports that started reaching us last night that one of their employees and activist, Pascal Gwezere was "abducted" last night by armed men in a double cab vehicle. The abduction took place in the township of Mufakose in Harare. Gwezere is a very close relative of MDC-T Morgan Tsvangirai, his mother is a sister to Morgan Tsvangirai's own mother. Gwezere works in the intelligence department of the MDC. This "a...

Jestina Mukoko soon after she was given bail while getting treatment for torture at the Avenues Clinic. She has now been freed totally by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, which found that her arrest and detention were illegal and violated her rights Harare, Zimbabwe 29 September 2009 Jestina Mukoko has been freed by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. Mukoko was freed yesterday and the case against her quashed in the grounds that her arrest and detention were unconstitutional. The surprising verdict, granting what is known in legal parlance as "permanent stay of execution", means that Mukoko will not be brought to trial in the case where she and others were facing banditry charges. Mukoko told the media that she "could not believe" that people could charge her with such a serious crime. The Zimbabwe Peace Project Director was abducted from her home in Norton at Dawn in December last year and disappeared for weeks, with the police saying they did not know where she was. She...

Jestina Mukoko soon after being freed on bail at the Avenues Clinic in Harare where she was being treated for torture injuries earlier this year. She was only released after Morgan Tsvangirai had been in office as Prime Minister for some time. The charges have not been dropped and the State keeps pushing back the start of her trial. She and others, including the parents of a 2 year old who spent months in a Maximum Security prison in Harare, still face the charges. But there is a grand strategy, which goes back to November last year and which has been published extensively on this blog Harare, Zimbabwe, 15 September 2009 I told you sometime around November/December last year that the ZANU PF government was so fed up with Morgan Tsvangirai that had now come up with a grand strategy to "finish it once and for all." The plan started with the arrest of hordes of MDC supporters and officials, including people like Jestina Mukoko and 2 year old Nigel Mutemagau, on charges of plotti...

Jestina Mukoko at her first release into hospital. She was later re-arrested and then again given bail. But the charges still stand and the trial dates have been set. This case dovetails with that of Roy Bennett, which Mugabe's men seek to expand. Which begs the question: Will Bennett actually ever be sworn in? On April 20 this year, a Monday, Robert Mugabe took Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai into his "confidence". In December last year, I told you that Mugabe's Plan B, in case Tsvangirai agreed to join government, was to isolate the Prime Minister, to get him stranded in office. The idea is to so paralyse the MDC-T with the charges of insurgency and banditry that the Prime Minister will find himself without a party backing him. What Mugabe told Tsvangirai was that some of his "hardline" people were talking "nonsense" about him (Tsvangirai) being involved in the alleged banditry plots. He asked the Prime Minister to leave them to him, he should g...

Jestina Mukoko is seen here on March 2, after she was freed on bail in a move that many said indicated the strengthening of Tsvangirai's influence in government. She was sent back to jail today after the state indicted her, showing yet again that Mugabe continues to use state apparatus for party purposes. The magistrate indicated that the matter was "now outof my hands." A couple of hours after the traditional Tuesday Cabinet meeting started here in Harare today, Jestina Mukoko and 15 other MDC activists were sent back to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. The Magistrate told a visibly stunned and shaken Mukoko that the matter was now "out of my hands". Which was very telling. Tsvangirai was alerted to the re-imprisonment of Mukoko as he sat at the oak Cabinet Room table with Mugabe, Mutambara and other ministers from all the parties. At the time of writing of writing this, it is not clear if Mugabe has allowed Tsvangirai to bring up the matter under Any Other B...

This picture of Jestina Mukoko was released by AFP a few hours ago. It shows Jestina Mukoko after she had been unshackled from her hospital bed at the Avenues Clinic. The visibly emaciated Mukoko remains in hospital, however, saying she may be in there for some weeks. She describes her ordeal as "painful". So she is free on bail (she had to pay US$600 bail and put up surety worth US$20 000), must report to Norton Police Station everyday and also surrendered her travel documents. Previous Article - Jestina Mukoko Released - Tsvangirai Rising

President Motlanthe of South Africa, who said at the weekend the issue of Zimbabwe's prisoners, including Roy Bennett and Jestina Mukoko has nothing to do with SADC and must be solved by the Inclusive government now in place in Zimbabwe The latest from here in Zimbabwe: Roy Bennet appeared in court today and was remanded in custody to March 4 2009 . He will spend that time in Mutare Prison, although there is a hearing tomorrow that is supposed to decide on his appliation for bail. This is unlikely to suceed, considering that the prosecution says he is a high flight-risk character who was actually caught trying to flee Zimbabwe. There is still no news on the other prisoners, Jestina Mukoko et al, who were supposed to be brought to court today. They failed to show up on Monday beause the police said they had no petrol to bring them to court. Crucially, it has now been publicly reported for the first time that the charges against Jestina Mukoko, Roy Bennett and others are simply a way...

Zimbabwe's new cabinet met for the first time yesterday and, according to a statement issued by Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi, discussed nothing of substance . Roy Bennett and Jestina Mukokos group were not discussed, even in the meeting between Mugabe and Tsvangirai immediately after the cabinet meeting. The meeting was held as is traditional under Mugabe, at Munhumutapa Building in the Cabinet Room. The statement says after meeting Mugabe, Tsvangirai then met with ministers in charge of security, including the ZANU (PF) heavyweight Emmerson Mnangagwa. Again, the imprisoned MDC leaders and activists were not brought up. Instead, Maridadi says the Prime Minister spoke about fresh land invasions. The cabinet meeting was "cordial" and encouraging, according to Tsvangirai's office. Meantime, as the story below says, Bennet appeared in court and was charged with four crimes. He is likely to be denied bail. Mugabe has, I am told, advised Tsvangirai to...

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai congratulates Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa soon after he was sworn in by Mugabe LATEST ROY BENNETT UPDATE: MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2009 06:30P.M. : Roy Bennett's court appearance has been postponed to Tuesday because prosecutors, supposedly coming from Harare, failed to show up. Although the MDC is now in charge of Home Affairs (their minister goes first at the ministry according to the agreement), the police managed to get a warrant from Home Affairs authorising them to detain Bennett for longer than the 48 hours allowed by law before the prisoner has to be either released or taken to court. In the last few days, I have been contacted by the BBC, Al Jazeera and others seeking a better understanding of what on earth is going on in Zimbabwe. On BBC World Service, I took part in a discussion with Basildon Peta, the Zimbabwe journalist now exiled in South Africa, Eleanor Sisulu (who constantly lives up to her Rooseveltian name) and Jenni Wiliams, pro...