President Robert Mugabe ignored warnings from senior security officials that his government had ”got it all wrong” in executing the controversial Operation Murambatsvina. The Mail & Guardian has learnt that the security organ had told Mugabe three weeks ago that the local Government Minister had overstepped by ”demolishing people’s houses rendering them homeless”.
Zimbabwean doctors are threatening to down tools. They don’t want money but fuel. About 300 junior doctors countrywide face this predicament. They are classified as special services but complain that they are not getting the preferential treatment their jobs demand.
The Zimbabwe government sourced foreign currency on the black market to fund ”sensitive” projects to do with ”national security” even as it clamped down on the private sector for doing so. President Robert Mugabe’s presidential trips abroad, the procurement of indelible ink from Switzerland prior to the disputed 2002 presidential poll and cash-strapped parastatals benefited from this practice.
Zimbabwe’s worst economic recession in years has given rise to a thriving black market in fuel, basic commodities and foreign currency. Basic foodstuffs are no longer available in shops. Shortages have pushed prices up by about 100% in the past six months.
The Zimbabwean government has cracked the whip on an errant deputy minister for violating government policy and has ordered the minister of anti-corruption and anti-monopolies to launch an investigation into his activities. Bright Matongo has been personally instructed by President Robert Mugabe to vacate land owned by Tom Beattie.
President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace will splash out close to R3-million on a 10th wedding anniversary party at their rural home in Kutama, about 60km west of Harare. Several Southern African regional leaders are expected to attend, including best man at the wedding, former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano.
The newly appointed Deputy Information Minister in Zimbabwe, Bright Matongo, and a group of 15 war veterans have violated a court order and invaded farmland, the first such incident since the March parliamentary elections. Tom Beattie has had his possessions thrown out of his farmhouse and has been given an ultimatum to completely vacate the land by the weekend.
Zimbabwe’s state security and immigration officials have been delaying the release of 62 mercenaries from the Chikurubi prison since Monday. The lawyer for the men, Jonathan Samkange, told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday afternoon that ”technically my clients have been released from the custody of prison authorities. They were handed over to immigration who are treating them as illegal immigrants.”
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has filed petitions with the electoral court challenging the results of 13 of the 78 constituencies won by Zanu-PF in last month’s parliamentary election. MDC spokesperson Paul Themba-Nyathi said on Wednesday that his party had filed the petitions as a test case to show how the poll was rigged.
Cellphones are fun gadgets, especially the SMS feature. This hitherto unregulated communication tool provided comic relief during the hurly burly of Zimbabwe’s election week. The first hit days before the poll: ”MDC stands for Mugabe’s Departure is Certain.” Zanu-PF supporters hit back: ”Terri Schiavo dies after days of starvation: who is politicising food?”