Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Buttock-waving Mugabe women supporters and youths disrupted a Constitutional Conference in Harare last July 14 (above), leading to police being called in to restore order and guard the meetings. Now, ZANU PF, Mugabe's party, and MDC-Tsvangirai have joined hands to loots funds allocated to the process by donors. The donors have responded by refusing to pay for lavish bar bills, room service and US$40 daily "allowances"for almost a thousand delegates, including gatecrashers and street kids who were allowed to attend the last workshop earlier this month. The organisers from ZANU PF and MDC responded by looting US$4 million given to them by Finance Minister and Tsvangirai confidante Tendai Biti Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 January 2010 Donors like the United Nations Development Fund have dumped the corruption-ridden Zimbabwe Constitution-making process amid claims by ZANU PF that the move is informed by the failure of Western governments to craft a Constitution on behalf of Zimbabwe....

With civil society organisations like the National Constitutional Assembly of Zimbabwe "ready to die for a new constitution" not based on the dismal Kariba Draft agreed to between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in 2005, the process that was supposed to have started this month is now suspended. This comes as it is alleged that US$4 million given to the process has been "looted" and not a single thing required for the "outreach" purchased Harare, Zimbabwe, 21 January 2010 What did I tell you about celebrating "announcements of intentions"? Amid reports that US$4 million already given to the Constitution-making process for Zimbabwe's new Constitution, parliament has announced that the process has been suspended "indefinitely" until certain issues are sorted out. "All constitutional programmes have been suspended by the management committee. They felt there were other issues which needed attention before the outreach programme begins. ...