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/ 14 February 2008
A lawmaker for Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF has appeared in court charged with leading supporters in a riotous protest brandishing a gun, a state daily reported on Thursday. The government-mouthpiece <i>Herald</i> said Isaiah Shumba, a former deputy education minister, was released on bail by a magistrate in south-eastern Masvingo on Wednesday.
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s former finance minister, Simba Makoni, pledged on Wednesday to heal the Southern African country’s wounds as he unveiled his strategy to end President Robert Mugabe’s 28-year rule in polls next month. He expressed confidence of toppling Mugabe after accusing him of engendering fear and despair.
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/ 12 February 2008
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said he is ”raring to go” in general elections next month despite the first challenge for 20 years from within his ruling party. Mugabe is seeking another five-year term in the March 29 presidential, parliamentary and council elections.
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/ 11 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s mining sector has lost more than half its skilled personnel in the last year, with workers lured abroad by the chance of boosting their pay more than ten-fold, an industry body said on Monday. According to a new study carried out by the Chamber of Mines, there are now 1 116 vacancies for professional and technical staff following the departure of workers.
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/ 11 February 2008
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed on Sunday he would stand for president at elections next month, quashing speculation he would give a former minister a clear run against Robert Mugabe. Former finance minister Simba Makoni announced last week that he planned to challenge Mugabe at the March 29 elections.
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/ 10 February 2008
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who only days ago looked assured of re-election next month as a result of splits in the opposition, now has to contend with a growing mutiny within his own ranks. Analysts who had regarded Mugabe as a shoo-in at national polls are revising their forecasts.
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/ 6 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s ruling party on Wednesday formally expelled a former ally of President Robert Mugabe for launching a challenge to the veteran leader in next month’s elections, a Zanu-PF official said. Veterans of the country’s liberation war have branded former finance minister Simba Makoni a traitor after he entered the race on Tuesday.
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/ 6 February 2008
Veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war warned a former ally of President Robert Mugabe who will run against him in next month’s elections that he was a traitor, government newspapers reported on Wednesday. Former finance minister Simba Makoni, a senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF, entered the presidential race on Tuesday.
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/ 5 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s former finance minister, Simba Makoni, a senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF party, announced on Tuesday that he would challenge President Robert Mugabe as an independent in elections next month. The announcement by the widely respected Makoni comes after the breakdown of talks between the two factions of the main opposition.
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/ 4 February 2008
The Zimbabwe opposition’s failure to bury its differences means President Robert Mugabe is a virtual shoo-in for a sixth term of office, analysts said on Monday. Sunday’s announcement that the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would field separate candidates against Mugabe has led commentators to close the book on the contest.
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/ 1 February 2008
Simon Kamunhukamwe just shrugged when Zimbabwe’s official inflation figure topped 26 000%. Exploding prices have become a part of life and protesting against the economic meltdown can be risky, especially as President Robert Mugabe digs in for elections next month.
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/ 1 February 2008
The alleged British mastermind of a foiled coup in Equatorial Guinea has been deported from Zimbabwe to Malabo, even though he was still appealing against his extradition, his lawyer said on Friday. Jonathan Samkange said he had only learned that Simon Mann had already been flown out of Harare on Friday morning.
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/ 31 January 2008
A court in Zimbabwe dismissed an appeal against the extradition of Simon Mann, a former British special forces officer accused of leading a coup plot to topple the government in the oil-rich West African nation of Equatorial Guinea, his lawyers said on Thursday. Mann’s lawyers had argued he would face torture and a likely death sentence if extradited Equatorial Guinea.
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/ 31 January 2008
Former Test cricketer Mark Vermeulen has been cleared of arson attacks on the Zimbabwe Cricket Board’s headquarters after a court found he was suffering psychiatric problems, his lawyer said on Thursday. Eric Matinenga said Mishrod Guvamombe, the presiding magistrate at Wednesday’s hearing in Harare, had delivered a ”special verdict”.
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/ 31 January 2008
Platinum miner Zimplats Holdings said on Thursday its revenue jumped 57% in the last quarter of 2007 on the back of higher production, but concerns remain over power supply problems. Revenue for the three months to December was ,67-million, up from ,57-million in the previous quarter.
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/ 31 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s High Court ruled on Wednesday that a former British special forces officer could be extradited to Equatorial Guinea to face coup-plot charges, rejecting arguments that he might be tortured. Simon Mann was jailed in 2004 and was briefly released after serving his sentence in May last year.
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/ 29 January 2008
A Zimbabwe court on Tuesday ordered the release of a controversial British property tycoon who was arrested last week for breaching foreign-exchange laws and possessing pornography, his lawyer said. Van Hoogstraten was arrested last Thursday at his Harare home.
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/ 29 January 2008
ÂProsecutors on Tuesday implicated British tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraaten on pornography charges involving scores of young Zimbabwean women and gave evidence of how he had been trapped in illegal black-market currency dealing. Van Hoogstraaten professes to be a friend of President Robert Mugabe, whom he describes as ”100% decent and incorruptible”.
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/ 29 January 2008
A Zimbabwean tribunal has begun proceedings to decide whether the nation’s Attorney General should be removed from office for allegedly abusing his power in a case involving a fugitive banker, state media said on Tuesday. Attorney General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was suspended in December after police charged him with corruption.
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/ 28 January 2008
The Zimbabwe government on Monday slapped down opposition demands for a new constitution to be adopted before a March general election, saying it would only be put to a referendum after the polls. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the state-run <i>Herald</i> newspaper that "the state was not in a hurry to craft a new constitution".
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/ 26 January 2008
A white Zimbabwean farmer has been ordered to vacate his farm after the Supreme Court dismissed his application to stop the government from acquiring it, the government mouthpiece Herald reported on Saturday. Justice Luke Malaba dismissed the constitutional challenge by Michael Campbell, a former owner of Mount Camel in Chegutu.
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/ 25 January 2008
The realisation of promises by the government of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe of a record crop yield during this summer’s farming season will not be met, the country’s agriculture minister admitted on Friday. In October, the government declared that the summer would result in ”the mother of all agricultural seasons”.
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/ 25 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party described a decision on Friday by President Robert Mugabe to call general elections for March 29 an "act of madness", but stopped short of calling for a boycott. "It’s an act of madness and arrogance," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.
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/ 23 January 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of running a dictatorship on Wednesday after he was briefly detained by police and needed court approval to address supporters. He told supporters his detention in the early hours by police who picked him up while he was sleeping was a bad omen for elections due in March.
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/ 23 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party was given permission on Wednesday to stage a protest rally against President Robert Mugabe after its leader Morgan Tsvangirai was briefly detained by police. Police had slapped a blanket prohibition on the protest called by the Movement for Democratic (MDC) as a show of strength.
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/ 23 January 2008
Police took away Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday, his lawyer said. ”The police are saying they want to know what he is planning to do today,” said lawyer Alec Muchadehama.
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/ 22 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s bank chief Gideon Gono did not hold his long-awaited name-and-shame meeting with a parliamentary committee this week because Parliament has adjourned until April, state radio said on Tuesday. Gono was on Monday scheduled to give a damning report on top officials he calls cash barons.
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/ 22 January 2008
President Robert Mugabe’s government has ordered banks to end a banknote shortage or risk being closed, state media reported on Wednesday. Banknotes have joined the long list of basic commodities in short supply in the Southern African country, which is grappling with an acute economic crisis blamed on Mugabe’s policies.
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/ 22 January 2008
Police released Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai hours after taking him away in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change planned the march to press President Robert Mugabe for a new Constitution.
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/ 22 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s central bank chief has accused local banks of creating ”artificial” cash shortages by failing to collect money from the country’s main bank for distribution to clients. Some banking institutions ”have been noted to be engaging in imprudent and unethical practices”, Gideon Gono, central bank governor, told journalists and bankers on Monday.
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/ 21 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) set the stage on Monday for a new showdown with the security forces by vowing to ignore a ban on a mass protest against President Robert Mugabe. MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said there was no reason why a previous agreement to stage the demonstration should be ripped up.
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/ 21 January 2008
Nationwide power failures shut down basic services across Zambia and Zimbabwe for hours over the weekend, and Eskom said it would suspend exports to neighbouring countries amid mounting anger over power cuts that have wreaked havoc in the continent’s economic hub.