Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

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...

Five warthogs, like the one seen above in a Zimbabwe park, collided with a plane on Tuesday at Harare International Airport, grounding the small Chinese-made Air Zimbabwe MA60. Two passengers were injured during the evacuation that followed, but not seriously.  Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 November 2009 Five warthogs (wild pigs) grounded a Chinese-made Air Zimbabwe plane at Harare International Airport yesterday, after the plane collided with them as it taxed down the runway for take off. The plane, an MA60, was damaged at the at the front and two passengers were injured in the incident. The Minister of Transport and Communications, Nicholas Goche, says the warthogs had likely escaped from Mbizi Game Park near the airport. The incident apparent happened soon after the plane carrying President Joseph Kabila had taken off from the same airport. In a statement released yesterday, Goche said: "An Air Zimbabwe MA60 aircraft impacted with warthogs during the take-off roll on November 3, 2009 at...

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...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 21 October 2009 Air Zimbabwe, the wholly government-owned Zimbabwe National Airline has not paid its workers since February this year and owes them a total of US$1.4million, according to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Patson Mbiriri. "At the moment, we can not find a suitor for the airline as no one is willing to take over liability for our debts," Mbiriri told State media yesterday. "We are currently living from hand to mouth in most sectors of the economy," he added. The airline has now approached government to help with retrenchment packages for its workers, Mbiriri said, admitting that the airline is "overstaffed" and this was hampering efforts to find an investor. Air Zimbabwe currently employs 175 technicians, for instance, which is way too much for its fleet of three functioning jets. The Chief Executive of the Airline admits that the national carrier "is in intensive care" while ...

I found this grainy picture showing Mugabe leaving for Namibia last week on Tuesday. The photo was taken at Harare International Airport and it was the last time Mugabe was in Zimbabwe until last night, despite state media announcing on Wednesday that "he returned home last night", meaning Tuesday night, the same day this photo was taken. Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 August 2009 Robert "The Solution" Mugabe arrived back at Harare International Airport last night at exactly 6:30 on board an Air Zimbabwe plane. Mugabe, who has been in Dubai for medicals was met at the airport by Air Marshal Perance Shiri (Commander of the Air Force), Constantine Chiwengwa (Defence Forces Supreme Commander), Joice Mujuru (Vice-president) and the Secretary to the Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda. It now also emerges that State media misled the nation when they announced that Mugabe had returned home on the same day that he went to Namibia. A highly placed source informs me that Mugabe commandeered an A...