Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

These are some of the people reported to have been shot this afternoon when Nelson Chamisa supporters gathered in the streets to demand he be declared the winner of the Presidential poll, after the opposition MDC Alliance called for people to gather in the city centre and "defend their voted" before the official results are announced. The constant agitation by Nelson Chamisa, who keeps claiming he has won the election before results are announced has managed to get loads of crowds into the streets of Harare. First they were met by riot police as the crowds of hundreds of people tried to storm the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission National Command Centre at the Harare International Conference Centre. As they became more rowdy, blockading roads, burning buildings, the police remained restrained. That was when army trucks rolled into the city centre. The army had to fire live rounds, just now, apparently, because Tendai Biti has just said publicly that he and Nelson Cha...

Harare, Zimbabwe, 19 April 2010 A Zimbabwean man cycles home, during a break in one of the storms that have been pounding Zimbabwe this April. This is Domboshava, just outside Harare, on 16 April 2010 A schoolgirl plays around on her way back home from school, April 16 2010, Zimbabwe A woman walks out in the Domboshava savannah, just outside Harare, during a break in the heavy storms that have been pounding Zimbabwe of late These children claim they are repairing potholes and they stop cars to ask for donations from motorists for this "voluntary work". In Harare's poshest areas, they can be seen filling potholes with bricks, stones and earth. A few days later, the pothole will be back. Bigger. Deeper. But still they persevere. Motorists think it noble to give them handouts. At least they are not out committing crimes. Remand Prison in Harare. Notorious as a hellhole that has killed many people. As it happens, members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise Group (WOZA) spent the l...

Harare, Zimbabwe 18 April 2010 President Mugabe lights the Eternal Flame (also known as the Independence Flame) at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on 18 April 2010 This young lady had to be held firmly by her shirt in case she lunged at the president!! Security, security, securiy! No one can be trusted around Mugabe, it seems, not even children!! Robert "The Solution" Mugabe addresses the crowd at Zimbabwe Independence Celebration Ceremony in Harare on 18 April 2010. Mugabe insisted that the law compel companies to put 51% of their businesses in the hands of black Zimbabweans will go ahead, despite what Prime Minister Tsvangirai says. The elite Presidential Guard go through their paces at the Independence celebrations in Harare on April 18 2010 Mugabe reads the programme during the proceedings at the National Sports Stadium in Harare to mark independence from Britain Prime Minister Tsvangirai greets President Mugabe upon the president's arrival for Indep...

Here, you can see Town House, the City Council Head Office in Harare, controlled by the MDC, to the left of the picture. The Council is now under siege from ZANU PF, who are "siding" with voters by playing up the purchase of a US$150 000 car for the mayor while residents have no service delivery Again, Town House straight ahead, the scaffolding you see on the left is around Joina Centre, the Shingi Mutasa-owned building that stood for years as a ghost, unfinished, as Zimbabwe's economic collapse made building impossible. And this is Joina Centre itself, just opposite the Main Post Office in Harare. It is said although the outside has been finished and looks very nice, inside, the building is still just a shell. The owners took the decision to just finish off the facade so that the building does not continue to be an eyesore. And here are workers at Joina Centre, still sprucing up the outside When complete, Joina Centre will one of Zimbabwe's premier shopping malls. Th...

Going........... Gone............... Woken up by the flash of the camera, Mugabe glowers at the photographer who had caught him napping...! Harare, Zimbabwe, 02 September 2009 Robert Mugabe was livid when a photographer snapped while snoozing at the African Union in Libya on August 31. Mugabe was oblivious at first, deep in slumber, as the cameraman was some distance away as he snapped the first photo. When the second photo was taken, this time much closer to him, the flash of the camera woke him up. He immediately settled his eyes directly on the cameraman who had taken photos of him sleeping and stared him down, gloweing menacingly as the photographer took the last photo of him. The photographer moved off after that!!

Morgan Tsvangirai, with a gold watch around his wrist, addresses the press today at Harvest House, the MDC Head Office in Central Harare. He lamented the failure by Mugabe to swear in Roy Bennett and MDC Governors as well as the continued presence of the Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General in office. The press conference was called specifically to bed SADC to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the summit being held in Kinsasha in the next two weeks Harare, Zimbabwe, 01 September 2009 As it was confirmed today that SADC has not put Zimbabwe on its agenda for the Summit in the Democratic Republic Congo where Joseph Kabila takers over the body's chairmanship in two weeks time, Morgan Tsvangirai today addressed a press conference in Harare. He asked that SADC put Zimbabwe on the agenda, saying the regional body should place the Zimbabwe issue "for special consideration" on the Summit's agenda. I warned the Prime Minister's office that Zimbabwe had been left off the ...

This is actually the 4th Street Bus Terminus, where foreign currency dealers are back in full force (they ran away from the camera). The traders are capitalising on the fact that Zimbabwean exchange rates in the shops are pegged at 10 South African Rand for every US Dollar whereas the rates at the banks hovers between 7 and 8 rands per USD. So they offer "cross-rates" that are more attractive than either the banks or the shops. And this 7 Arts Theatre at Avondale Shopping Centre in Harare This week, 7 Arts is showing the film Yes Man, as you can see from advertising billboard above. Quite apt, do you not think?? By the way, most people are still not aware that Rainbow Cinemas in Zimbabwe, including the building above, are now owned by the former Television newsreader Supa Mandiwanzira I found this sculptor working a sculpture of a leopard at the Flea Market and he says business is not bad, although most, if not all (he said, "tingangoti vese" - "we could say al...

Ben Freeth's farmhouse on fire yesterday. The farmer, under siege from Mugabe's thugs, says the people who have invaded his farm watched as the house burned. They were driving around in Freeth's tractors and with his water pumps on board, which means he had nothing with which to try and douse the flames. They "did not come near us", he explains, saying they were laughing at him as his home burned. Harare, 01 September 2009 Ben Freeth and Mike Campbell, two farmers in the Chegutu area of Zimbabwe, have had their home at their farm, Mount Carmel, burned to the ground. Some workers' houses as well as their onsite factory also burned down to the ground. Freeth said he only managed to rescue his computer and family passports, adding that his family is now only left "with the clothes on our backs." The fire is almost certainly an arson attack, since there are ZANU PF invaders permanently at the farm and Freeth was away when the fire broke out. To make matt...

I quite liked the look of the multi-coloured canopy used to cover the huge car park at Avondale which is now used as the Flea Market This lady was busy packing goldfish at the Avondale Flea Market for a client when I showed up. The client was not too keen about being photographed, but I found her display of the fish and her tanks for sale delightful The Market is quite busy at weekends and remains the most well-known and best established Flea Market in Harare. The other markets that had cropped up were disbanded during Operation Murambatsvina, when "illegal businesses" were demolished by Mugabe's government in an effort o arrest the black market in foreign currency and also disperse opposition supporters in the urban areas Harare, Zimbabwe, 31 August 2009 Someone in the diaspora asked me on Facebook if I could show him what Harare is like now, so I took these photos at Avondale Flea Market and Shopping Centre at the weekend. The Flea Market is as vibrant as ever and it c...

The Mugabe Family at the Harare Showgrounds on Friday: from left is Robert Mugabe Jnr, Bona Mugabe, who is at University in Hong Kong and whose house there was the subject of international attention when it was photographed by the Sunday Times of London, then Chatunga Mugabe, the last born and Grace Mugabe, the First Lady. Harare, Zimbabwe, 31 August 2009 It appears Robert "The Solution" Mugabe's daughter, Bona, flew back with her father from Dubai last week and the whole family was at the Showgrounds for the opening of the Harare Agricultural Show by Jacob Zuma. I just wonder what the deal is with Robert Junior and Chatunga straightening their hair! I thought you may enjoy this photograph, published over the weekend here in Zimbabwe.

A dying woman lies outside Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday, Friday, August 21 2009. The woman was unable to get treatment at the flagship hospital because doctors are on strike for better pay and working conditions. An accident victim is wheeled away from Parirenyatwa Hospital, the man health facility in Zimbabwe, where doctors are on strike and are refusing to go back to work until working conditions and salaries are improved Harare, Zimbabwe, 22 August 2009 While Morgan Tsvangirai is busy trying to hoodwink the world and his delusional supporters outside the country that the country has recovered and is recovering, here is proof that this is nothing but a pack of lies. Doctors who are on strike, joined by nurses this last week, are still refusing to go back to work until their working conditions are improved. Not only are they working for a pittance, but they also complain about the conditions in which they are working, with medical supplies still in short supply ...

General Sibanda of the Army shakes Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's hand during Defence Forces Day ceremonies at Harare stadium on Tuesday. Air Marshal Perance Shiri can be seen behind the General saluting General Mujuru. Notice how Tsvangirai half-rises in his seat in respect as he shakes General Sibanda's hand. Harare, Zimbabwe, 13 August 2009 I did promise you that I would give you an update on the raging issue of Tsvangirai and the Defence Forces Commanders. Unfortunately, Blogger went down some time ago and has only just returned, so I could not post anything at all. Anyway. The Service Chiefs themselves have confirmed to people who asked them that they did not salute Morgan Tsvangirai. It was alleged that Air Marshal Perance Shiri and General Philip Sibanda of the Army had saluted the Prime Minister. According to sources close to one of the two, here is the true story: Tsvangirai was seated next to ZANU PF Kingmaker Retired General Solomon Mujuru at the start of proceed...