Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 December 2009 The MDC-T "transport manager", Pascal Gwezere is still languishing in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison after the State pulled every trick in the book to block his release on US$50 bail as ordered by the High Court. Yet there are policemen and soldiers being tried and sentenced for the very same thing and in whose trials nothing is said about Gwezere. Although he is said to have had named accomplices, none of these have been apprehended. The State simply threatens that it has several witnesses ready to testify against Gwezere. He stands accused of stealing 21 AK 47 rifles from Pomona Barracks in Harare. It is now understood that the witnesses are the so-called accomplices who have turned on Gwezere. They will implicate him as the ring leader of the plot and they will not be charged with any crime as reward. It's like in the Mafia movies, where a low-level operative is given immunity by the State in return for bringing in the Big Fish. Bi...

With pivotal people like Roy Bennett (above, at the High Court in Zimbabwe), being "harassed" and brought before the courts for lengthy trials, the MDC-Tsvangirai is adrift, putting all its efforts into seeing whether they can pack even more useless bodies into government. Mugabe thinks that is all fine: it leaves him free to continue with his plan to ensure that he gets back into a commanding position at the next elections. Harare, Zimbabwe, 17 November 2009 A Zimbabwean court yesterday threw out an application by Pascal Gwezere, an MDC-T Intelligence Department official (he is officially called a Transport Manager) t be removed from remand on charges of masterminding the theft of 21 guns from Pomona Barracks in Harare. Gwezere, however, was granted the application on the second charge he faces: getting military training in Uganda. Not that any of this makes the slightest bit of difference in practical terms to his plight. He effectively remains on remand, awaiting trial, wi...

Twelve soldiers who have "disappeared" from Pomona Barracks in Harare are said to be held at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, where they have been tortured so badly that their relatives are barred from visiting them. The soldiers apparently were arrested in connection with the alleged disappearance of 20 AK 47 guns from the same barracks. An MDC-Tsvangirai employee is currently before the courts facing the same charge. Harare, Zimbabwe, 08 November 2009 It is reported here today that twelve soldiers who disappeared from Pomona Barracks a few days ago are being kept at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, where they are being so badly tortured and in such bad shape that their relatives and friends are not allowed to visit them. Some of the soldiers' relatives do not even know that their kinsmen have been arrested, since they were taken straight from Barracks to Chikurubi. The soldiers were arrested in the wake of the theft of firearms from Pomona Barracks, a case that...

Morgan Tsvangirai meets with the SADC Troika Ministerial Team (and Secretay-General Tomaz Salamao) in his offices at the Presidential Office Building, Munhumutapa in Harare on 30 October. Tsvangirai's close relative and an MDC-T intelligence department worker, Pascal Gwezere, has now appeared in court after being "abducted" on 29 October from his home by armed men. As we explained in a previous article on this blog, he now faces charges of stealing weapons and training to overthrow "The Solution". Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 November 2009 As we revealed on 28 October as reports of the abduction of Pascal Gwezere echoed across Zimbabwe, the man indeed now stands accused of plotting to overthrow Mugabe and stealing arms of war from Pomona Barracks, a military camp from where weapons disappeared a couple of weeks back. Even though some remained skeptical, what we revealed in the story, published on this blog on 28 October has now been proved correct. Gwezere yesterday su...

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...