Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee should first summon President Emmerson Mnangagwa to answer questions before it summons him, arguing that anything he has to say is, at law, hearsay and of no value to the Committee's cause Former President Robert Mugabe has told close friends and advisers that Temba Mliswa's Parliamentary Committee must first summon President Emmerson Mnangagwa to parliament before they even think of summoning him. Mugabe has so far totally ignored the summons delivered to him twice. The tactic he has used is one of simply not acknowledging receipt of any of the summons delivered to him. His aides have also been told not to tell Mliswa anything. In a stunning revelation of how government functioned in his last days, Mugabe insisted two nights ago (on Sunday night) that the actual running of government was under the current President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. And he is now claiming that it was President ...

The Chiadzwa Diamond Fields remain very much in the hands of those who have always controlled it and new revelations show that the facade being put up for the benefit of the Kimberley Process people is very thin Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 January 2010 I was shocked to hear the background of one of the key "new players" at the Chiadzwa Diamond Fields and I let you know some of the information here on this blog last year. But new information coming from within ZANU PF shows that the whole thing going on at Chiadzwa is a charade. For instance, the Kimberley Process people insisted that the Diamond Fields should be de-militarised and the Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe pretended that they had listened. There is now a private company running the security at the Diamond Fields, contracted by the companies that are supposed to be operating there. Except all is not what it seems. The new security company, a supposedly private concern, is in fact a company owned by a retired Colonel of the...

Mbada Mining, which I first exposed on this blog as a shadowy company operating as a front for the interests of powerful figures within the Zimbabwe ruling party, ZANU PF and Army Generals, was to hold a massive auction of more than 60kgs of processed diamonds at Harare International Airport today but there are indications that the auction was postponed to allow Kimberley Process people to come and observe it, since the diamonds from Chiadzwa have been banned from being traded. The announcement of the auction, however, was a ploy designed to achieve a specific end Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 January 2010 It was a breathtaking act of defiance and audacity. Mbada Mining, a shadowy company operating in the notorious Chiadzwa diamond Fields in Eastern Zimbabwe, had simply announced, out of the blue, that it would hold a Chiadzwa diamond auction at Harare International Airport, where 300 000 carats of diamonds would be sold to the highest bidders. Except, of course, they could not do that because ...

After causing havoc at the Chiadzwa diamond fields (above) in Eastern Zimbabwe, the country's authorities have now announced that they are going after "illegal gold panners" in such areas as Shamva and Bindura in Mashonaland Central. The announcement, made by police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena today, is being justified on the basis of looking out for the safety of these "illegal" miners as well as "environmental degradation". We all know what the true reason for this operation is, of course Harare, Zimbabwe, 25 August 2009 Zimbabwe police have revealed that twelve small-scale miners (gold panners) have died across the country as they sought to justify the announcement today of the launch of a crackdown on gold panners in Mashonaland Central Province. Wayne Bvudzijena, the Zimbabwe police spokesman, told reporters: "We have launched operations to stop this vice. Illegal gold panning is resurfacing in areas such as Shamva, Bindura and Concession in M...

Zimbabwe's diamonds are safe, for now, with the Certification team currently in the country saying those calling for a ban of the diamonds from Zimbabwe are talking nonsense and "we will not entertain them." It means Grace, Gono and their runners can continue smuggling loose diamonds in handbags from Zimbabwe to be polished and sold off in China. Mugabe's government is might pleased with this and the state media will be crowing about it tomorrow. Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 August 2009 Tomorrow the state media will be crowing louder than usual with regards to the proposed banning of diamonds from Zimbabwe by a Kimberley Process Team that was in the country more than a month ago. None other than the Chairman of the Kimberley Certification Process Scheme, Benhard Esau, is leading a team currently visiting Zimbabwe and he held a press conference here in Harare today. During the press conference, he said: "There are members of the Kimberley Process trying to convince other ...

With Zimbabweans like the ones above in Glen Norah continuing to queue for water from boreholes in cities across the country, the government of Morgan Tsvangirai is planning a US$5 million retreat to review their 100-day wishlist, which has brought not a single benefit to the people. Harare, Zimbabwe, August 19 2009 The government of Morgan Tsvangirai is to spend US$5 million on a "retreat" in Nyanga even as Harare begs for a mere US$3 million to get it back on its feet. The "retreat" is being held to "brainstorm" the 100-day plan that was unveiled by Tsvangirai after yet another retreat, which was held in Victoria Falls some three months ago. The retreat came up with laughable targets for ministries, some of which included such banal targets as "hiring a consultant". None of the targets set by Tsvangirai's government have been met. State media has been having a field day with the failures, apparently unaware of the fact that playing up these...