Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's dictator, whom Morgan Tsvangirai says "is the solution" to Zimbabwe's problems, did not sound like a solution as he defiantly addressed his party's Congress in Harare yesterday (above). He made it clear that he is sick and tired of the arrangement with Morgan Tsvangirai and that it can not end soon enough for him Harare, Zimbabwe, 13 December 2009 Robert "The Solution" Mugabe yesterday revealed his revulsion at the arrangement he has with Morgan Tsvangirai, which led to the formation of Zimbabwe's current coalition government. It can not end soon enough for him because it irks him greatly that he has had to make this arrangement. Like I said before, the impression created in the minds of Zimbabweans now is that it is Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC who are desperate to have this coalition last, especially since it is Morgan Tsvangirai who has spoken publicly about the possibility of the current arrangement lasting five years ...

Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe is seen in this photo. Parliament has been told that foreign airlines are avoiding Zimbabwe's airspace, with the result that the country is losing potential revenue from overflying rights from these airlines. The Met Department is supposed to provide accurate and reliable weather conditions reports to these planes but has been unable to do this due to lack of funds. With the FIFA 2010 World Cup coming up, here is proof that the Inclusive Government continues to pursue skewed policies that ignore critical sectors with the potential to contribute to the country's revenue streams. As I have said before, it appears these people have no idea what they are doing. A little education is indeed a dangerous thing!! Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 December 2009 Priorities, priorities. Ministry of Transport Permanent Secretary, the "apolitical" Mr Mbiriri, last week told parliament that foreign airlines are avoiding Zimbabwean airspace like the plagu...

Health workers protest in Harare recently (they were told by the MDC-T Minister of Health that his job was not to sort out their problems. "My job is to concentrate on policy," he told their representatives). Now it emerges that poor pay and working conditions are the least of Zimbabwean workers' problems. Jobs are still being lost and the Inclusive Government, despite its best efforts to lie, can now no longer hide its failures Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 November 2009 Here a shocker of Zimbabwe news. Two thousand Zimbabwean workers have been retrenched so far this year, parliament was told yesterday by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Elijah Mutemeri, coordinator for ZCTU, told a parliamentary committee that most of these were retrenchments from companies facing viability problems, while the rest were simply victims of companies that are closing down. The ZCTU, being a body concerned with workers, has simply concentrated on ensuring that the workers get their dues...

Zimbabwe is experiencing acute fertiliser shortages and it is too late to do anything about it now, meaning that next year's harvest is already in jeopardy. Agriculture remains the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy and a key anchor for any prospects of recovery. While the main parties fight over positions and power, they have neglected the actual governing of the country and the formulating of policies and strategies that could easily have averted this crisis Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009 A colleague who has detailed information on the state of preparedness in the Agricultural sector in Zimbabwe revealed yesterday that Zimbabwe is set to suffer massive food shortages next year as a result of a disastrous agricultural season. Although the country has enough seed (especially seed for the country's staple food, maize), there is a massive shortage of fertiliser and it is too late for anything to be done about it. While the Inclusive Government of Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert ...

Ministers from MDC and ZANU PF take the oath of office in front of Mugabe and Tsvangirai in February this year. Mugabe announced yesterday through his Ministers of Information and Agricultural Mechanisation that he may appoint Acting Ministers to take over from MDC-T ministers because government business is being affected by the Prime Minister's decision not to attend cabinet. Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 October 2009 Robert The Solution Mugabe has now come up with another one, this time sending his ministers to spread word that he is considering firing "key" MDC-T ministers and appointing Acting ministers in their stead. This is not posturing or empty threats. Instead, it is a well-calculated move designed specifically to divert attention. Here's how. After Mugabe appoints the Acting Ministers, what will happen is that he would have set the agenda. The end result will be that, all of a sudden, the appointment of Acting Ministers will suddenly become THE issue. People will st...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 27 October 2009 The three main political leaders in Zimbabwe (referred to rather ambitiously as "The Principals") met late afternoon on Monday in a tense meeting that lasted four hours, with Mugabe insisting that he will not budge on any of the issues Tsvangirai wants addressed. Mugabe suggested that it was "pointless" to discuss the matters Tsvangirai has brought up because there was a SADC ministerial mission that is coming to Zimbabwe and he would rather wait to hear what they, as "impartial outsiders" say about who has failed to implement the GPA. This is a direct contradiction of the position taken by the State media today, who were briefed by the President's office that the SADC ministerial team was no coming to Zimbabwe to deal with the issue of the MDC-T disengagement from ZANU PF and the Zimbabwe cabinet. The team mission, duly reported state media, was decided on at the SADC Summit in the DRC in September, before the MDC-T a...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 October 2009 The highly inefficient and struggling Zimbabwean National Airline, Air Zimbabwe, is set to be privatised, according to the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government (which is still operational, by the way, because the MDC "disengaged" from ZANU PF and NOT Government). Last week, I told you about the airline's failure to pay its workers since February this year, when the Inclusive Government was formed. The airline previously relied on Gideon Gono and the Reserve Bank for funds to pay salaries and operating costs. It emerges now that the airline has a debt totalling US$28 million. They can not retrench staff because they do not the money for the required retrenchment packages. (like other government-owned companies, the airline has an unhealthy and bloated staff complement as a result of ZANU PF patronage). The culture of entitlement at the airline and in ZANU PF generally has seen the workers gang up through their union to resist any move to retrenc...

Morgan Tsvangirai is seen here with Arthur Mutambara in February announcing that the appointments of Permanent Secretaries by Mugabe without Prime Ministerial consultation was "null and void". He was subsequently sold (and bought) the dummy that the PermSecs were non-partisan civil servants!! This time round, Mugabe is throwing Tsvangirai another lifeline on one of the outstanding issues, allowing the Prime Minister to save face while accepting to go back into Cabinet and rescind his decision to disengage from ZANU PF. Mugabe has studied his Prime Minister (and the MDC-T) well. Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 October 2009 Robert "The Solution" Mugabe is getting very good at reading Morgan Tsvangirai, his Prime Minister and leader of the MDC-T. Today, it is announced that the MDC ministers nominated by Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara will be posted to their missions in December. Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (who vowed at the beginning of the...

His Excellency, the Other President of The Republic of Zimbabwe, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, is seen here addressing parliament. ZANU PF is now trying to find ways to implement the wide powers Mugabe has secretly given to Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank. The latest effort, though, is clumsy, relying as it does on a redundant Reserve Bank Act. Biti appears unfazed by all this noise Harare, Zimbabwe, 23 October 2009 We have, yet again, been proved right. This time, it is the Gideon Gono and Reserve Bank versus Tendai Biti saga. As I told you last month, Mugabe has secretly bolstered Gideon Gono's powers to be almost on par with those of Tendai Biti, the Minister of Finance and MDC Secretary-General. It is the implementation of these powers that is proving a prickly pear. Hence the resort to legalistic contortions. Today, ZANU PF, through the state media, is attempting revisionism at its most ridiculous. They now claim that the Reserve Bank Act give Gideon Gono and not Ten...

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, seen here two months ago in Uganda with Deputy Prime Minister Khupe from MDC - Tsvangirai and President Museveni of Uganda, has said he will remain in government and try to reconcile the two warring parties that have now "disengaged" Harare , Zimbabwe, 20 October 2009 Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has said before that if Morgan Tsvangirai left the Inclusive Government, then the MDC, which Mutambara leads, would also walk out of the government. However, the DPM seems to be having second thought.  Yesterday, he held a press conference where he announced that he will not be walking out of the GNU with Mugabe. Instead, he appears to be positioning himself as a mediator in the dispute between the two, since he can speak to both of them. "We are in the middle to promote dialogue, to push the national agenda", said Mutambara, adding that he and his ministers will continue to attend Cabinet meetings. Mutambara reveal...

Roy Bennett and his wife relax on Friday night at a friend's house in Mutare after he was released on bail by the High Court. There had been a tense moment when prison officials at Mutare prison refused to release him until they got clearance from Prosecutor Michael Mugabe. This despite the High Court stamp. Meantime, Mugabe is acting as if the MDC has not done anything at all, least of all caused a "constitutional crisis". Harare, Zimbabwe, 18 October 2009 Robert "The Solution" Mugabe has completely ignored Morgan Tsvangirai's announcement of a pull-out from government, sending a message through his secretary on Saturday to the Prime Minister saying that he expected him still for the regular Monday meetings at State House. According to Mugabe and ZANU PF, the MDC pull-out is "improper, unprocedural, null and void." They argue that the Prime Minister did not notify the Government of his actions or what exactly he meant in practical terms. "Sho...

Morgan Tsvangirai addresses the press conference earlier today when he announced that he is "disengaging" from ZANU PF, Cabinet and Council of Ministers. The full verbatim text of his speech is below Harare, Zimbabwe, 16 October 2009 (After introductions and giving background to the Inclusive Government and the SADC Summit of January 26 2009) 264 days later, outstanding and non-compliance and toxic issues continue to impede the progress of the Transitional Government. Despite countless meetings among the Principals, despite countless press conferences, despite numerous correspondences with SADC and SADC leaders and despite SADC summits, the above issues remain outstanding to date. It is regrettable to note that provincial governors have not been appointed to date, despite agreements on every item. Equally it is unacceptable that the issue of RBZ Governor and the AG has not been resolved despite the self-evident illegality of their appointments. More indecently (sic) is the fa...

"I meet him whenever I request," Morgan Tsvangirai boasted with regards to Mugabe only two months ago, in an interview with a western journalist. It appears that does apply any more, with Robert "The Solution" Mugabe refusing to see his Prime Minister since Wednesday despite repeated attempts by Tsvangirai to set up a meeting. James Maridadi, the PM's Spokesman, confirmed that Mugabe has turned down Tsvangirai's requests daily since Wednesday. Harare, Zimbabwe, 16 October 2009 Remember Morgan Tsvangirai telling an interviewer two months ago that he meets Mugabe "whenever I want"? It appears that is not happening any more. The Prime Minister's office confirms today that Tsvangirai has been trying to meet Mugabe over the issue of Roy Bennett since Wednesday but that the President has been refusing to see him. Tsvangirai, whom the MDC Spokesman Nelson Chamisa denies has boycotted government business (he says the PM just had to attend to matters at...

At a luncheon after the opening of parliament, Mugabe not only admitted that he did not know how many ministers his and Morgan Tsvangirai's bloated Inclusive Government has, but also distanced himself from his own parliament-opening speech saying "That was not my speech, I was forced to read it. I was reading other people's views." He also falsely claimed Mavambo, the party of Simba Makoni was complaining about being left out of the Inclusive Government, which he said was "also Exclusive". Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 October 2009 Robert "The Solution" Mugabe has admitted that his and Morgan Tsvangirai's Inclusive Government is bloated. So bloated, in fact, that he says "I don't know how many minister we have and thoughts they have on development." Admitting to my assessment here yesterday that hi speech was largely a load of nonsense, Mugabe also tried to disown the speech that he delivered in parliament yesterday: "The speech I mad...