Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Jacob Zuma (above) thoroughly enjoying himself day before yesterday in Mozambique for the swearing-in ceremony of Mozambique's president Amando Guebuza for a second term. The SADc Troika also met in the Mozambique capital on the same day and issued a statement praising Zuma for his involvement in the Zimbabwe talks. Zuma now says Morgan Tsvangirai should compromise and forget about Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana, despite misleading local press reports last year that Zuma wanted Gono and Tomana to go. Harare, Zimbabwe, 16 January 2010 President Jacob Zuma of South Africa has effectively told Morgan Tsvangirai to zip it,accept that Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana, the MDC-persecuting Attorney-General of Zimbabwe, are not going anywhere and concentrate on satisfying Mugabe's demands instead. Zuma was speaking on South African radio when he advised Tsvangirai to "park" the disputed appointments that form part of the "outstanding issues" for the MDC. Jacob Zuma ...

Morgan Tsvangirai walks out of the building where the SADC Troika was meeting on Thursday in Mozambique. The leaders had just broken for lunch when this photo was taken. The incredibly vague language of the SADC Communique, which has now been made public, favours Mugabe more than it does Tsvangirai, although it is couched in diplomatic language that appears to call for both to talk and come to an agreement within 30 days. Crucially, Mugabe's "outstanding issues" are endorsed as valid by this communique. Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 November 2009 The SADC Troika Communique from the meeting in Maputo this past Thursday shows the regional body trying to do a balancing act between being seen to be doing something while at the same time maintaining its hand-off approach to Zimbabwe's problems. Of particular interest is the SADC "resolution" that Mugabe and Tsvangirai must start talking within 15 days and that the talks must not continue beyond 30 days. At the same time, ...

Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe (in the background) listen to proceedings during the opening of the SADC Troika Summit in Mozambique yesterday. Tsvangirai has now announced that he is ending his boycott of Cabinet and Council of Ministers, saying that he is giving Mugabe 30 days to implement the outstanding issues. The matter is dead now. Mugabe will not meet the deadline and Tsvangirai will quietly stay on in government, having achieved his objective of hoodwinking his supporters into thinking that he has stood up to Mugabe. He remains a powerless Prime Minister, referred to by Mugabe's most junior ministers as "just another minister". Harare, Zimbabwe, 06 November 2009 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has now destroyed the last vestiges of any credibility he might have had after announcing in Maputo last night that he is ending his boycott of Cabinet and Council of Ministers. It is important to note that he is doing this without any of the issues he raised being add...

Tendai Biti and Robert Mugabe at the presentation of the wishlist masquearding as a policy document - STERP - earlier in the year. With Biti not attending cabinet, Mugabe is now pushing SADC to "see reason" and saying he will have to do something to get the budget through cabinet if Biti will not attend to present it. There are two options being toyed with and both would put the MDC-T on the back foot, because they would be irreversible until the MDC-t starts attending cabinet again. It is one element of the subtle pressure Mugabe is putting on the MDC Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 November 2009 Tendai Biti, the Finance Minister of Zimbabwe, has effectively been barred from presenting the 2010 National Budget after Mugabe insisted that there will be no deviation from the normal procedures of crafting it and steering it through cabinet. The Budget is supposed to be presented to Cabinet first for approval, and then to parliament, which then votes on it.  The "disengagement" by...