Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

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...

Jestina Mukoko and her fellow abductees arriving at court on December 24 last year, the first time they were seen in public after they had disappeared from their homes and places of work. They had been held incommunicado for up to three months, with the police saying they did not have them in their custody. The case against them (a banditry charge) was quashed by the Supreme Court because their "arrests" had been illegal and the group is now suing the Minister of State Security and his fellow conspirators for the abductions and illegal detentions. The State has abandoned the Minister, refusing to defend him in the lawsuit. Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 October 2009 Johannes Tomana, the Zimbabwe Attorney General, under fire from the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti who want him fired, has, in a shock move, left the Minister of State Security, Didymus Mutasa, exposed in the courts, refusing to defend him in a lawsuit filed by Jestina Mukoko and others. Mukoko, who was facing charg...

Jestina Mukoko soon after being freed on bail at the Avenues Clinic in Harare where she was being treated for torture injuries earlier this year. She was only released after Morgan Tsvangirai had been in office as Prime Minister for some time. The charges have not been dropped and the State keeps pushing back the start of her trial. She and others, including the parents of a 2 year old who spent months in a Maximum Security prison in Harare, still face the charges. But there is a grand strategy, which goes back to November last year and which has been published extensively on this blog Harare, Zimbabwe, 15 September 2009 I told you sometime around November/December last year that the ZANU PF government was so fed up with Morgan Tsvangirai that had now come up with a grand strategy to "finish it once and for all." The plan started with the arrest of hordes of MDC supporters and officials, including people like Jestina Mukoko and 2 year old Nigel Mutemagau, on charges of plotti...

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...

Jestina Mukoko is seen here on March 2, after she was freed on bail in a move that many said indicated the strengthening of Tsvangirai's influence in government. She was sent back to jail today after the state indicted her, showing yet again that Mugabe continues to use state apparatus for party purposes. The magistrate indicated that the matter was "now outof my hands." A couple of hours after the traditional Tuesday Cabinet meeting started here in Harare today, Jestina Mukoko and 15 other MDC activists were sent back to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. The Magistrate told a visibly stunned and shaken Mukoko that the matter was now "out of my hands". Which was very telling. Tsvangirai was alerted to the re-imprisonment of Mukoko as he sat at the oak Cabinet Room table with Mugabe, Mutambara and other ministers from all the parties. At the time of writing of writing this, it is not clear if Mugabe has allowed Tsvangirai to bring up the matter under Any Other B...

The latest from Zimbabwe. First, let's get one thing straight: my articles are normally fairly long if they have something important and complicated to explain. Those who are too lazy to read through them should refrain from commenting on them on the basis of the two or so paragraphs they have read, otherwise they make fools of themselves in their eagerness to "prove me wrong." Also please take note that our policy on the blog, going forward, is that we will not publish any information or comments from people calling themselves "Anonymous". That is all there is to it That said, let's go to the meat of this latest wonder. Since last Tuesday, state media has been showing Zimbabweans, apparently ZANU PF supporters, whom the reporters say are being horrendously beaten up by MDC supporters in the countryside. On Tuesday, it was weeping Mutoko villagers claiming that they have had property destroyed and they themselves beaten up thoroughly by these MDC supporters....

As Morgan Tsvangirai posed for this photo with Robert Mugabe and South African President Motlanthe after the swearing-in of the new inclusive cabinet ministers, his Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee, Roy Bennet, was under arrest and being driven by members of Military Intelligence to Mutare The latest "news" from Zimbabwe is that Roy Bennet has been arrested and was last seen at a fuel station on the outskirts of Marondera, on the road that leads to his home Province, Manicaland. The swearing in of all the other cabinet ministers continued and was finished a little while back after it was temporarily delayed as Tsvangirai, Mutambara and Mugabe met behind closed doors at State House to discuss the arrest of Bennet. Tsvangirai accepted whatever explanation was given to him by Mugabe and has since witnessed all his nominees (minus Bennet) sworn in by Mugabe. Of course, members of this blog know this story only too well, having read my posts here since a couple of months ba...

The latest news from Zimbabwe is rather shocking.  As Zimbabweans celebrate the unity between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, Jestina Mukoko, the human rights activist who is languishing in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison is so criticially ill that her lawyers and doctors fear she will not last much longer. Mukoko, who was denied bail again last week, suffers from chronic illness for which medication must be taken daily. Last week, after her denial of bail, she and some of her fellow detainees were taken to the Avenue Clinic, the one remaining excellent health facility in Harare (because it is privately run). They arrived at the hospital under heavy Prison guard. After examination, the medical staff at the private hospital were shocked at the condition of some of them, including Jestina Mukoko and advised that they should be immediately admitted for urgent treatment and round-the-clock observation. The prison authorities and guards who had accompanied them refused to hear of t...

Zimbabweans , and my readers from all over the world, take a good look at the photo above. This is what a two year old toddler looks like . A boy just like the sweet little kid above is imprisoned right now in one of Zimbabwe's most brutal and notorious prisons. His name is Nigel Mupfuranhehwe. His crime is that his mother is being charged with recruiting "bandits" to topple the government of Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe lawyers who are representing his mother and the other accused in the case say that this little child has been beaten in front of his mother to get her to confess. Imprisoning a two year old in a maximum security prison together with murderers and rapists and some of the worst kinds of people on earth boggles the mind. I do not know how the government of Robert Mugabe is justifying this cruelity to itself, but I am more shocked at our own reaction, our silence and complicity in all this. Where is our sense of outrage, Zimbabwe? Where is our humanity? In all the...