Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

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...

You have been fed half-baked reports on the presidential title and its genesis. It is all about "Executive Authority." Mugabe, seen here with Happyton Bonyongwe, Head of the Central Intelligence Organisation and Commander of the Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwengwa, has retained all his powers and is simply rubbing salt into the MDC wounds. It did not start last month as most Zimbabwean media will have you believe! Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 September 2009 Since I was the first person to alert you to the fact that the State media had started using the titles above every time they referred to Mugabe, you have read all sorts of half-baked reasoning for the move. Certainly I have. And all that these sources say is: "they have been instructed." But I have followed this development closely from its gestation to fulfilment and I thought I would recap just how exactly this came about. So here goes. First of all, there came reports in the state media that the MDC was t...

Today, Morgan Tsvangirai's is accusedof trying to usurp the powers of the president and the cabinet. He is also publicly accused today of trying "smuggle into government things he failed to have factored into the GPA and is labelled "just a minister" by the Herald source, almost certainly a person in the President's office. Government sources are attributing the coments to George Charamba, who has been ordered by Mugabe to, publicly at least, pretend to show respect towards Tsvangirai. Robert "The Solution" Mugabe's office has publicly labelled Prime Minister Tsvangirai "just a minister." "He is the most senior minister, but a just minister all the same," says an "anonymous source" in the president's office on the front page of the State newspaper today. The article accuses the Prime Minister of "trying to smuggle into government things they failed to have factored into the GPA" Tsvangirai has apparently w...

At this spot off the Limpopo River, three countries meet: Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. Yes, those three different pieces of land in the picture are different countries. They are entirely self-governed countries and the thought that any one of them should tell another who to hire and fire in their own government is unthinkable. Tsvangirai understands this. His party does not. Therein lies the tomato. And the tomato. A couple of months back, in an article on this blog entitled Real Reasons for the Mugabe/Tsvangirai Clash to Come, I predicted that the biggest fight between Mugabe and Tsvangirai would be over the definition of the words "executive power". I also said at the time the Prime Minister would do well to steer clear of this, because everyone could see it coming. Besides, he would only be defeated by Mugabe because, lets face it, the MDC-T has lost its appetite for a scrap. And what do you know, the Prime Minister, after knocking his head against the brick wall ...

The significance of Mugabe swearing in Tsvangirai and his ministers was dismissed when I discussed it on this blog in February. The importance of that gesture is now becoming very clear as it emerges who it is that is, as Mugabe it, "firmly in control" It is a final defeat for the MDC and the Prime Minister, as events now show that they have responsibility, but not authority or power. And they are accepting this Laughter was echoing through the corridors of State House yesterday afternoon, where, uncharacteristically, the dictator Robert Mugabe had showed up for work, meeting with the three ZANU PF Politubro members who are now virtually his kitchen cabinet. It is the Politubro members who had called the meeting, concerned at the latest developments within the coalition government. Mugabe assured them that everything was in order and they need not worry. The reason for the laughter was the Prime Minister's office statement issued to the press over the weekend declaring th...