Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

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...

After agreeing to be sowrn in by Mugabe like any other Minister (as opposed to insisting on being sworn in by the Chief Justice), Tsvangirai remains very much in Mugabe's shadow despite winning elections in March 2008. Confirmation of my story a couple of weeks back about Tsvangirai giving in to Mugabe on most of his "disengagement" issues has now been provided by a report compiled by the South Africans on the progress of the ongoing talks in Harare . Harare, Zimbabwe, 20 December 2009 The Zimind has in its possession the report compiled by a SADC Facilitation Team appointed by Jacob Zuma, the South African president, which confirms what I told you last week about Tsvangirai losing out heavily to Mugabe in the ongoing talks in Harare. (See my article "Tsvangirai Loses Out Heavily To Mugabe In Ongoing Talks " ) The talks talks are a result of Tsvangirai's temporary "disengagement" from ZANU PF, Cabinet and Council of Ministers. Back in October, when...

Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, outside the High Court in Harare this morning. The judge in his case has now delivered his ruling on a crucial Defence application that would have had the effect of stopping the trial and referring the Attorney-General to the Law Society of Zimbabwe for dereliction of duty, as he sought to present improperly obtained evidence in the case. That application has been thrown out. The Defence gets the consolation of being allowed to lead evidence that the testimony of the star witness was obtained through torture, a move the AG opposed. Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 November 2009 Judge Justice Bhunu delivered a ruling this morning that effectively takes the Bennett case back to Square One. In his ruling, the judge rejected an application by lawyers for Bennett seeking to bar the evidence by Peter Hitschman, which they were arguing was procured by means of torture. They also insisted that the witness has now subsequently declared that he can not testify against Benn...

Zimbabwe Riot Police Patrol the Entrance to the High Court before the arrival of Roy Bennett for his terrorism trial in Harare today. Justice Bhunu, the presiding Judge, has now indicated that he is ready with his ruling on the applications brought by the Attorney-General and by Bennett's lawyers. The ruling will be delivered at 11:00a.m. Zimbabwe time tomorrow. It is an crucial ruling with far-reaching implications for the justice delivery system in Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009 Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, the judge in the terrorism trial of Roy Bennett this afternoon informed Roy Bennett's lawyers that he has reached a decision on the applications brought by them and by Attorney General Johannes Tomana. Bhunu had earlier today indicated that he would only deliver his ruling on Wednesday. I am not sure whether Bennett's lawyers should be celebrating or not because of this fast-tracking. Although Judges in Zimbabwe are beginning to assert their independence, th...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 October 2009 In a shocking and virtually unprecedented move, the Zimbabwe Attorney General, Johannes Tomana has taken personal charge of the prosecution of Roy Bennett and appeared for the State today in court where the Defence was seeking to have the trial of the MDC Treasurer-General postponed. Tomana's move means that Mugabe and ZANU PF are now taking the gloves with regards to Bennett. They did not expect him to be given bail, but he appeared before one of the most impartial judges in Zimbabwe today, Justice Hungwe, who granted him the bail under the same conditions as he has been since his arrest earlier this year. Tomana appeared personally in court leading the prosecution that also includes Michael Mugabe, the law officer in the AGs office who has been leading the prosecution of Bennett up until today. But, to show just how serious this matter has now become for ZANU PF, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Florence Ziyambi, has also been brought onto th...

Bennett on his release from Mutare Prison on Friday, 16 October 2009 Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 October 2009 In a move that has been misinterpreted by international observers as "hope for the Coalition Government", the High Court in Harare postponed the trial of Roy Bennett on weapons and treason charges, which was due to start tomorrow. To understand how this plays into Mugabe's hands, you need to recall that the Defence team had forced the State to show its deck by going to the Mutare Magistrates' Court to apply for Bennett to be taken off remand because the State was taking its time bringing him to trial. They did not have a case. They had not given Bennett's lawyers the papers containing the outline of their case against Bennett. They had not given any indication that the trial was about to start any time soon This suited Mugabe, who did not want to swear him in and was using the fact that he had not yet stood trial and been acquitted to hold on to this position. Th...

Roy Bennett is seen here with Morgan Tsvangirai in South Africa last year. Bennett had fled to South Africa because ZANU PF heavyweights were relentlessly pursuing him after he was released from jail, where he had been sent for assaulting Patrick Chinamasa in parliament. He came back to Zimbabwe around the time of the inauguration of the Inclusive Government, believing that as a member of a party (the MDC) now to be in government, he would be protected. He was alerted to his imminent arrest the day before ministers were sworn in and he tried to flee the country through Charles Prince Airport in a private jet, but was abducted from there and sent to Mutare Prison. His ordeal has been ongoing since then. Harare, Zimbabwe, 15 October 2009 Information just getting to us says Robert "The Solution" Mugabe has "suggested" that it is best for Roy Bennett to be granted bail when he appears before the High Court for his application on Monday. Mugabe still wants to maintain t...

Roy Bennet upon his release from prison earlier this year. He had been abducted from Charles Prince Airport where it was said he was trying to flee the country illegally. His trial has been in limbo until his lawyers forced matters yesterday by applying to have him removed from remand. The State immediately said it was now ready to have him stand trial at the High Court. A ruling on the matter is expected today. Harare, Zimbabwe, 14 October 2009 The State yesterday gave notice to a Magistrate in Mutare that, not only has it finalised its case against MDC Deputy Minister of Agriculture-designate Roy Bennett, but also that indicting him, they will seek to have him refused bail and locked up throughout his trial. Beatrice Mtetwa, who is representing Roy Bennett, wants the court to dismiss the case against Bennett and is arguing that the State only revealed yesterday that it was ready to indict him without giving him notice of this fact. But Prosecutor Michael Mugabe says, "The State ...

Morgan Tsvangirai, with a gold watch around his wrist, addresses the press today at Harvest House, the MDC Head Office in Central Harare. He lamented the failure by Mugabe to swear in Roy Bennett and MDC Governors as well as the continued presence of the Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General in office. The press conference was called specifically to bed SADC to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the summit being held in Kinsasha in the next two weeks Harare, Zimbabwe, 01 September 2009 As it was confirmed today that SADC has not put Zimbabwe on its agenda for the Summit in the Democratic Republic Congo where Joseph Kabila takers over the body's chairmanship in two weeks time, Morgan Tsvangirai today addressed a press conference in Harare. He asked that SADC put Zimbabwe on the agenda, saying the regional body should place the Zimbabwe issue "for special consideration" on the Summit's agenda. I warned the Prime Minister's office that Zimbabwe had been left off the ...

Roy Bennett, seen here on his release from prison on March 12 this year, is set to have another set of charges levelled against him. This time, he will be accused of dabbling in illegally dealing in diamonds from the Marange Diamond Field in Manicaland, his home province. Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 August 2009 Roy Bennett is having another case cooked up for him by ZANU PF in order to ensure that he goes to jail. So determined is ZANU PF on the matter that even today, in article discussing the "outstanding issues", state media mentions that there has been agreement on Ambassadors and governors to be sworn in but makes no mention whatsoever of Roy Bennett. The case being cooked up against Bennett is as follows: The state will allege that Bennett, who is from Manicaland province, was an "illegal diamond mining baron". Patently false witnesses have been lined up to give depositions that Bennett hired and employed several diamond miners (makorokoza) at the Marange Diamond Fi...

Ever masters at fooling themselves and relying on outsiders to do what their party can not do, MDC-T apologists and supporters were telling us all last year and even into this year that when Jacob Zuma, when he took over as president of South Africa, would read the riot act to Mugabe. Here are the two men warmly greeting each other last month in South Africa. Tsvangirai is in South Africa this week to meet Zuma and ask him to do something about the outstanding issues. Tsvangirai has gone quiet on Bennett and the Governors as his majority in parliament evaporates before his very eyes. Morgan Tsvangirai, who I told you last week had been informed by the dictator Robert Mugabe that Roy Bennett would not be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture after all because the basis for dishing out ministerial posts in the Inclusive Government (the MDC-T majority in parliament), had now ceased to exist, betrayed the fact that this is indeed the case when he met with Zimbabweans in South Africa y...

Roy Bennet leaving Mutare Prison on March 12 this year, a full month after his fellow ministers and Deputy Ministers from the Tsvangirai MDC had been sworn in by Mugabe. Sunday 12 July is four-month anniverary of that release, and he is still not sworn in. Mugabe makes promises, Tsvangirai and his apologists swallow them........ The idiotic lie that Roy Bennett will be sworn in at the same time as the MDC-T Governors, which is supposedly to happen next month, is still being regurgitated by Tsvangirai apologists, even as the MDC-T itself as a party acknowledges that it has been sold a dummy by Mugabe. You will recall that in March this year, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara took up the issue with Mugabe because Tsvangirai was too scared to confront Mugabe on it. Mutambara was told by Mugabe that Bennett would not be sworn in because he has a serious case against him pending in the courts. Mutambara pressed the point and asked The Solution what would happen if Bennett was acquitted...

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...

Zimbabwe's dictator, Robert Mugabe, has NOT agreed to swear in Roy Bennett, despite reports to the contrary this last week in some sections of the online media. The truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe's Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has admitted defeat on this one and the "acceptance" to swear in Bennett by Mugabe was leaked by his office so that the issue dies down. Mugabe's position has NOT changed, but the Prime Minister and his party are desperate to make the world believe that they have at least "won" something. Here's where we are: You will recall that I am the one who broke the story about Mugabe's refusal to swear in Roy Bennett, a white Zimbabwean, into the office of Deputy Minister of Agriculture. I did so right here on this blog while Bennett was still in Mutare prison. It was right here on this blog that I told you of my call to the Prime Minister's office on the day of his accident (before it happened), telling them that I ...

Regular readers will not be surprised that yet another scoop that I published here has now been independently confirmed. The latest in the long line of the scoops I have given you to be proved right is the story that Mugabe wants Roy Bennett to be withdrawn as the MDC nominee for Deputy Minister of Agriculture. This scoop I gave you in the article entitled: Roy Bennett Must Be Withdrawn , which I published here on Thursday, March 5 2009. Well, SWRadio have now independently confirmed this, with an MDC source telling them exactly what I told you. My source was within ZANU PF. When I got the news, I contacted friends in the Prime Minister's office. I remember very clearly that I spoke on the phone with one of the Prime Minister's very close aides only a couple of hours before the crash that killed Mrs Tsvangirai. In that scoop I published on March 5, I wrote : Mugabe considers it an insult to have to swear the man into the office of Deputy Minister of Agriculture. And I am sure ...

Morgan Tsvangirai is saluted as he arrives for the memorial service of his late wife at the Methodist Church in Malbereign in Harare, yesterday. Above, Tsvangirai can be seem sitting with his children: Edwin, Gari and Vimbai Zimbabweans gathered at Glamis Stadium for Susan Tsvangirai's send-off rally cheered and clapped loudly when Edwin Tsvangirai, first born son of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, told them in his address: "I also want to thank His Excellency the President of The Republic of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe, for words that have changed my understanding of him." The gathered crowd, MDC supporters, cheered this statement although they had not been anywhere near the Methodist Church in Malbereign where Mugabe made the remarks. They, therefore, had no idea what Mugabe had said..... This shows the power of leadership in a country like Zimbabwe, where our people rarely, if ever, wish to exercise their own minds , preferring instead to believe and follow whatever t...