Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

All grandiose talk of housing construction from Mugabe's government so far has been nothing but hot air. Private developers, people like Philip Chiyangwa, for instance, with his Pinnacle Properties, tend to do a much better job. But now Mugabe has decided to make yet another grand announcement about handing over a thousand hectares to the Angolans and Chinese to build whole towns. I am sure it is the last time we will hear about it, although the Chinese are likely to take the land anyway and do something else with it. Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 December 2009 Zimbabwe's government (still a ZANU PF government now getting Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC to do its bidding), has given a Chinese/Angolan company - Sonangol - one thousand hectares of land, purportedly to build new towns around the capital Harare. The land, in Mt Hampden (which Cecil John Rhodes' European settlers first targeted as the capital of a new Rhodesia or Zambezia) and Mazowe, is imply just a gift at the moment and...

Local Government Minister has had a decision he made to appoint a traditional leader in Hwedza nullified. Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 December 2009 Justice Anne-Mary Gowora at the High Court of Zimbabwe perhaps does not know how the ZANU PF patronage machinery works. That is why she has nullified the appointment of a Headman in Hwedza by Local Government Minister and Mugabe homeboy Ignatious Chombo. The Headmanship is for Goto Ward in the Hwedza Area. Strictly speaking, no matter what the modern laws say, Headmen are the responsibilities of the Chief of the area. Having a Minister appoint a Headman is akin to asking a Board Chairman to appoint a shop-floor supervisor, but that is how deeply ZANU PF is controlling the rural areas. This being Goto Ward, it would have been expected that traditional laws of natural inheritance dictate that Milton Goto, the obvious candidate, would have been appointed. But Chombo instead appointed a Madzimbamuto Chikowore to the job. This was in May 2007. Willard ...

Local Government Minister, ZANU PF's Ignatious Chombo, seen here investing Harare Mayor Much Masunda with his Mayoral regalia, has promised chiefs that will all get double-cab vehicles. He told them that Tendai Biti is the one stopping them from enjoying this benefit, but that ZANU PF is fighting him on their behalf. Harare, Zimbabwe, 15 November 2009 Local Government Minister and Mugabe homeboy, Ignatious Chombo, has told chiefs meeting in Mutare that ZANU PF is fighting the MDC-T Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, to be allowed to buy them 271 brand new luxury vehicles. Even headmen are being bought. The chiefs will get twin-cabs and the headmen will get single-cab trucks. "Tendai Biti is resisting, but we are fighting on your behalf," Chombo told the gathering. He is the one in charge of chiefs all over Zimbabwe and uses the power he has over them to remove those seen as sympathetic to opposition parties in Zimbabwe. Speaking at the same conference, Joice Mujuru, who ha...

It was at this ground that a vendor was killed on Monday by Harare Municipal Police, who are said to have tripped in and then kicked him in the groin as he fell. These vendors, whom I photographed earlier today, worked with Tonde, the deceased vendor and they pointed to a spot directly behind them, in an open space where children play football, as the spot where the vendor was killed. They are all back in business, saying they have not stolen anything from anyone. They blame "big politicians" for setting the police on them. Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 November 2009 Harare City Council has stopped all raids on "unlicensed" and "Illegal" operators (vendors) in the Zimbabwean capital after 19 more of its Municipal Police were arrested by the Zimbabwe Republic Police yesterday. The City Council had vowed that it would not stop its operation to "clean up the city", saying to me last week that this week they would be going after the illegal foreign currency d...

Zimbabwe's feared riot police battled to contain an irate crowd in Mbare on  Monday after a vendor had been killed in disturbances sparked by a crackdown started by municipal police. Three municipal police have now been arrested over the death Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 November 2009 Some Harare Municipal Policemen and 8 other people have been arrested in Harare over the disturbances that led to the death of a 25 year old vendor and sparked an all-day riot in Mbare on Monday this week. It has now emerged that the vendor died as a result of being tripped by a Municipal Policeman as he fled. It is further alleged that, as he fell, he was kicked in the groin. He died on the spot and the municipal police were unable even to remove his body because the crowd then turned on them and chased them off. Riot police had to be called in, but even they failed to quell the riot because they had come with only one truck. They eventually had to call for reinforcements, which were able to calm the situat...