The Zimbabwean government is due to accord Zimbabwean musical icon Oliver Mtukudzi ambassadorial status with full diplomatic credentials in a bid to revive the county’s flagging tourism industry. The hospitality industry has long lobbied for the popular musician to get the status of ambassador, said Karikoga Kaseke, CE of the state sponsored Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.

Resentment of European Union imposed sanctions on Zanu-PF officials has led the Zimbabwe government to reject efforts to bolster coffee production in the country’s rich eastern highlands. The rejection of a â,¬3-million lifeline for coffee growers is likely to be the death knell for the sector.

The Zimbabwean government’s efforts to lure back skilled labour that has left for greener pastures is doomed to failure given the skewed economic environment, which forced them to flee the country in the first place, economists have warned. President Robert Mugabe recently appointed a six-member team to scout for talent in the sectors most affected by the skills drain, particularly medicine, mining, engineering and education.

Zimbabwe’s Central Bank governor Gideon Gono’s increasingly high political profile has given rise to widespread speculation that he could be gunning for the presidency, government insiders have revealed to the Mail & Guardian. A senior state official and Zanu-PF party central committee member said there is a strong feeling within both the party and government that the Central Bank governor now has presidential ambitions.

As the economic situation in Zimbabwe deteriorates, security forces are being trained by Chinese military advisers in how to counter popular revolt. Both the police and the army have been undergoing training in how to ”deal with urban disturbances” after an intelligence report was issued on the potential for massive civil unrest.

The daughter of Zimbabwean Vice-President, Joice Mujuru, has helped herself to Ashcott farm, situated on prime agricultural land about 150km northeast of the capital, Harare. Armed with an offer letter issued by Intelligence and Land Reform Minister Didymus Mutasa, Kumbirai Madzima and her husband, Tapiwa, arrived three weeks ago on the farm.

There is a section of Zimbabwe’s beleaguered society that is literally smiling all the way to the bank ahead of Monday’s deadline, under which locals are supposed to have deposited the old currency to pave way for a new set of bearer cheques — and that is the country’s commercial traders. The looming deadline has provoked panic buying.

About an hour before President Robert Mugabe addressed the sixth session of Parliament on Tuesday morning his Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, was already in police cells facing corruption charges. Around noon Mugabe spoke about corruption. ”Another regrettable development is the incidence of cases of corruption,” he told both lower and upper house members in Parliament.”

A former Zanu-PF provincial chairperson has spilled the beans on how the ruling party rigged the 2002 presidential election, which President Robert Mugabe won against most expectations. Dr Daniel Shumba is a retired army officer, former provincial chairperson of Zanu-PF and central committee member who was kicked out of the party last year.