No image available
/ 29 April 2008

Security Council takes up Zimbabwe vote

France’s United Nations ambassador called on Zimbabwe authorities on Tuesday to publish and accept the results of elections there as the Security Council met for its first session on the Zimbabwe crisis. Diplomats have said South Africa, which currently holds the Security Council presidency, was reluctant to have it take up the issue of Zimbabwe.

No image available
/ 1 April 2008

No deal, say Zim opposition and govt

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwe government both denied on Tuesday that they were in talks to arrange the resignation of President Robert Mugabe. At a news conference on Tuesday evening, Tsvangirai confirmed, however, for the first time personally that his party had won the elections.

No image available
/ 26 March 2008

Zim govt rubbishes vote-rigging claims

Zimbabwe’s justice minister has dismissed as ”utter rubbish” claims by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that the political playing field is uneven ahead of national polls. Zimbabweans are preparing to elect a new president, Parliament and local councillors on March 29, but the MDC has expressed fears of vote rigging.

No image available
/ 5 March 2008

Mugabe: Makoni candidacy a UK ploy

Simba Makoni’s decision to enter the presidential race is a ploy by former colonial power Britain to divide Zimbabweans, a state-controlled newspaper reported President Robert Mugabe as saying on Wednesday. Mugabe told ruling Zanu-PF supporters at a rally that voters have to ”bury British regime-change schemes”, the Herald reported.

No image available
/ 7 February 2008

Zim won’t grab free stake in mining firms

Zimbabwe’s draft mining Bill will not force firms to give a stake to the government for free as previously feared, and will be debated by Parliament after elections next month, a senior official said on Thursday. The government of President Robert Mugabe, who is running for another five-year term, published the Bill last November.

No image available
/ 19 November 2007

Zim govt seeks 25% stake in mining firms

President Robert Mugabe’s government published a draft Bill on Monday forcing mining firms to transfer majority shareholdings to local owners, including giving the Zimbabwe government a free 25% stake. The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill is expected to be presented to Parliament and to be approved before the end of the year.

No image available
/ 2 October 2007

Zim teachers strike for more pay as inflation bites

Zimbabwean teachers have gone on strike to press demands for huge wage increases as the Southern African country battles with the fastest rising consumer prices in the world. Critics say President Robert Mugabe has plunged the state deeper into economic crisis by ordering public institutions and private businesses to stop raising wages and prices without official authority.

No image available
/ 27 September 2007

Mugabe slams ‘Almighty Bush’ over human rights

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe accused United States President George Bush of ”rank hypocrisy” on Wednesday for lecturing him on human rights, and likened the US Guantánamo Bay prison to a concentration camp. ”His hands drip with innocent blood of many nationalities,” Mugabe said in a typically fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

No image available
/ 17 September 2007

Threat to take over Zim firms ‘not a joke’

The Zimbabwe government’s threat to take over companies defying controversial price controls is not a joke, Industry Minister Obert Mpofu was quoted as saying on Monday. Obert Mpofu told the ruling Zanu-PF party members meeting at the weekend in western Zimbabwe that the government had already started identifying companies it plans to take over.

No image available
/ 5 September 2007

Zimbabwe faces food-shortage crisis

The number of people facing serious food shortages in Zimbabwe is expected to grow to 4,1-million over the first quarter of next year, the Canadian ambassador to the African country said on Wednesday. ”This figure is expected to increase dramatically in the coming months,” Roxanne Dube said at a ceremony where Canada donated ,3-million to the World Food Programme.