Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Morgan Tsvangirai seen here in South Africa. He has now returned home and is meeting with Mugabe as I write this. I will update you as soon as this meeting is finished. It is unlikely that anything of substance will come out of it, though. Mugabe has taken the strategy of making "promises" which will allow Tsvangirai to get back into cabinet and start engaging ZANU PF without losing face. These promises will, of course, never be honoured. And Tsvangirai knows this Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 October 2009 A few minutes ago, along Herbert Chitepo Avenue in Harare, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai pulled me (and other motorists) to the side of the of the road with his motorcade (three brand new Toyota Land Cruisers, a maroon Mercedes Benz S340 and a Double Cab Toyota Hilux). The Landcruisers (which are not marked) are the ones with sirens, leading the way and clearing people out of Tsvangirai's way. The Prime Minister was on his way to his meeting with Mugabe, which is going on as ...

25 February 2009: Morgan Tsvangirai, flanked by Arthur Mutambara, announces that the appointments of Permanent Secretaries are null and void. Yesterday, he capitulated and ALL of Mugabe's Permanent Secretaries have been reappointed, as announced by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda. Tsvangirai has accepted this, driving his National Council even crazier with rage that he would accept such a slap in the face. Every single Permanent Secretary appointed by Mugabe has been reinstated and confirmed in the post, President Mugabe's Office said last night. On Tuesday, in a meeting of the Principals soon after Cabinet, Mugabe asked Mariyawanda Nzuwa, Chairman of the Public Service Commission and Misheck Sibanda, Secretary to the President and Cabinet, to come in and explain to Tsvangirai why none of his suggested nominees were qualified to be permanent secretaries of any ministry They did this Mugabe then threw in a sweetener and said he would give the MDC-T...

The MDC-T party has won over its president, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the argument over outstanding issues. Despite the Prime Minister's insistence that the government is working very well and nothing was amiss except a few men with hard heads, the MDC-T announced Sunday that it is referring the "Outstanding Issues" to SADC. Morgan Tsvangirai himself told a rally at Macheke Stadium in Masvingo that he is "bound" by the decision of his party to take the matter to SADC and the African Union. It was admission that he did not agree with this route. But Tendai Biti managed to rally the Council to his side and made the announcement. In a direct challenge to Tsvangirai's claim that "there is no deadline," Biti pointedly announced on Sunday: "We had given the three principals a deadline to have solved the outstanding issues by last month, but there was no progress." So, there WAS a deadline? Tsvangirai knows he can not get any joy from ...